Abstracts
Abstract
Despite Canada’s success in attracting international students to its postsecondary campuses, it sends very few domestic students abroad, and especially so from its college sector. This paper offers a brief overview of Canada’s policy approach to study abroad, literature review on students’ participation in study abroad, and outcomes of a study on students’ (perceived) barriers at a college in Ontario, Canada. Students at the college were surveyed to examine their attitudes towards study abroad participation and their perceived barriers regarding study abroad. The study found that students were overwhelmingly interested in study abroad but perceived strong barriers to participation, findings which are consistent with the literature: financial, academic, social/familial barriers, and accessibility, safety, and support concerns. These findings suggest that through expansion of national programming, coordination of provincial strategy, and inclusive, accessible policies and programming at the institutional level, more college students will be able to receive the many documented benefits of study abroad experiences.
Keywords:
- study abroad,
- college students,
- academic mobility,
- Canadian higher education
Résumé
Bien que le Canada réussisse à attirer des étudiants étrangers sur ses campus postsecondaires, il envoie très peu d’étudiants nationaux à l’étranger, en particulier dans son secteur collégial. Ce document présente un bref aperçu de l’approche politique du Canada en matière d’études à l’étranger, une revue de la littérature sur la participation des étudiants aux études à l’étranger et les résultats d’une étude sur les obstacles (perçus) par les étudiants d’un collège en Ontario, au Canada. Les étudiants de ce collège ont participé à un sondage sur leurs attitudes au sujet de la participation aux études à l’étranger et les obstacles qu’ils perçoivent à cet égard. L’étude a révélé qu’une majorité considérable d’étudiants étaient très intéressés par les études à l’étranger, mais qu’ils percevaient des obstacles importants à leur participation, ce qui conforme à la littérature : soucis financiers, académiques, sociaux/familiaux et ennui d’accessibilité, de sécurité et de soutien. Ces résultats suggèrent que grâce à l’expansion des programmes nationaux, à la coordination des stratégies provinciales et à des politiques et programmes inclusifs et accessibles au niveau institutionnel, un plus grand nombre d’étudiants pourront bénéficier des nombreux avantages attestés des expériences d’études à l’étranger.
Mots-clés :
- études à l’étranger,
- étudiants d’enseignement supérieur,
- mobilité académique,
- enseignement supérieur canadien
Appendices
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