The Social Selectivity of Internal Mobility Among German University Student
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Claudia Finger The Social Selectivity of International Mobility among German University Students A Multi-Level Analysis of the Impact of the Bologna Process Discussion Paper SP I 2011–503 December 2011 Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) Research Area Education, Work, and Life Chances Research Unit Skill Formation and Labor Markets Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH Reichpietschufer 50 10785 Berlin Germany www.wzb.eu Copyright remains with the author(s). Discussion papers of the WZB serve to disseminate the research results of work in progress prior to publication to encourage the exchange of ideas and academic debate. Inclusion of a paper in the discussion paper series does not constitute publication and should not limit publication in any other venue. The discussion papers published by the WZB represent the views of the respective author(s) and not of the institute as a whole. All discussion papers are downloadable: http://www.wzb.eu/en/publications/discussion-papers/... Abstract This discussion paper deals with the social selectivity of internationally mobile German students prior to and after the Bologna Process thereby linking two mobil- ity dimensions that a very rarely brought together – social and spatial mobility. Tackling this issue on multiple levels, I ask how student mobility is understood within key Bologna documents (declarations and communiqués) and how this is re- lated to the social selectivity of international mobility among university students in Germany before and after the begin of the Bologna process (1998/99). At the Euro- pean level, I examine the Bologna model of mobility as it is presented within central documents of the Bologna Process using a theory-guided qualitative content analy- sis. Sociological Neo-Institutionalism serves as theoretical and analytical framework to investigate institutional facilitators and barriers to the diffusion of the mobility model to the national and individual levels. Afterwards, I contextualize the German higher education system and describe the specific reception and translation of the Bologna model of mobility by German actors in higher education. At the individual level, Bourdieu’s theory of educational reproduction is applied to the case of inter- national student mobility to explain the socially stratified mobility behavior of German students with regard to the decision to go abroad, the country of destination and the duration of a study-related stay abroad. Further, I analyze the impact of the Bologna Process using survey data provided by the German National Association of Student Affairs (Deutsches Studentenwerk) of two cohorts: pre-Bologna (1997) and post-Bologna (2006). The main findings suggest that the social background of stu- dents is especially important when it comes to the decision to go abroad. However, if students have broken through the first obstacle and decided to go abroad, the influ- ence of the social origin on the country of destination and the duration of mobile periods declines. The correlation between social origin and international mobility has, thus far, not weakened over the course of the Bologna Process. Rather, it has increased over time, indicating an incomplete diffusion in Germany of the relatively vague contents of the Bologna model of mobility from the European to the individ- ual level. This result suggests that the Bologna process goals of enhanced spatial and social mobility have not (yet) been achieved. Zusammenfassung Dieses Discussion Paper behandelt die soziale Selektivität internationaler Mobilität deutscher Studierender im Bologna-Prozess und versucht, dabei zwei Mobilitätsdi- mensionen zu verbinden, die so bisher nur selten kombiniert wurden: räumliche und soziale Mobilität. Auf verschiedenen Ebenen wird untersucht, wie Studieren- denmobilität in zentralen Bologna-Dokumenten (Erklärungen, Communiqués) ver- standen wird und inwiefern dieses Verständnis mit der sozialen Selektivität inter- nationaler Studierendenmobilität zusammenhängt. Auf der europäischen Ebene werden hierzu mithilfe einer theoriegeleiteten qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse zentrale Bologna-Dokumente untersucht und beschrieben. Der soziologische Neo-Institutio- nalismus dient dabei als theoretischer sowie analytischer Rahmen, mit dem eine mögliche Diffusion des Bologna-Mobilitätsmodells von der europäischen zur nationa- len und individuellen Ebene erfasst werden soll. Anschließend werden das deutsche Hochschulsystem sowie die Aufnahme und Übertragung des Mobilitätsmodells durch zentrale deutsche Hochschulakteure dargestellt. Auf der letzten, der individuellen, Ebene wird schließlich Bourdieus Theorie der sozialen Reproduktion auf internatio- nale Mobilität übertragen, um so die sozial stratifizierten Mobilitätsentscheidungen deutscher Studierender im Hinblick auf die Entscheidung, überhaupt ins Ausland zu gehen, auf das Zielland sowie auf die Dauer des studienbezogenen Auslandsaufent- halts zu erklären. Auf den vorangegangenen Kapiteln basierend werden außerdem Hypothesen zum Einfluss des Bologna-Prozesses gebildet, die im Anschluss mithilfe einer Pre-Bologna- (1997) und Post-Bologna-Kohorte (2006) der Sozialerhebung des Deutschen Studentenwerkes analysiert werden. Die Ergebnisse verweisen darauf, dass der soziale Hintergrund der Studierenden besonders für die Entscheidung, überhaupt ins Ausland zu gehen, großen Einfluss hat. Wenn die Studierenden diese erste Hürde genommen und sich für einen studienbezogenen Auslandsaufenthalt entschieden haben, verliert ihre soziale Herkunft allerdings an Bedeutung für die Wahl des Ziellands und die Dauer des Aufenthalts. Der Zusammenhang zwischen der sozialen Herkunft deutscher Studierender und ihrer Entscheidung, ins Ausland zu gehen, nahm im Laufe des Bologna-Prozesses nicht ab. Er stieg über die Zeit sogar an, was auf eine unvollständige Diffusion des ohnehin relativ vage formulierten Bo- logna-Mobilitätsmodells von der europäischen über die nationale zur individuellen Ebene hindeutet. Acknowledgements This discussion paper is a revised version of my Master’s Thesis, submitted to the MA Program “Sociology – European Societies” at the Freie Universität Berlin, in summer 2011. I am deeply grateful to my supervisors, Justin Powell and Heike Solga, for their continuous support and always constructive and helpful comments. I would also like to thank the other members of the INVEST team, Nadine Bernhard, Lukas Graf and Anne Piezunka, as well as the WZB doctoral colloquium for the beneficial discussions we had. I also thank the Higher Education Information System, espe- cially Wolfgang Isserstedt, for the provision of the data of the 15th and 18th Social Survey and Ulrike Schwabe from the University of Bamberg for her support with the German chapter. I also owe my gratitude to my family and friends whose support always helped me through my doubts. Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 2. Student Mobility: Prior Research, Definitions, Developments ..................... 3 2.1 Social Selectivity of Student Mobility within the Bologna Process: The Research Puzzle ............................................................................................................ 3 2.2 Definition(s) of Student Mobility .................................................................................. 6 2.3 Development of Student Mobility ................................................................................ 7 2.3.1 Ideas and Programs ............................................................................................................. 7 2.3.2 Quantitative Development ............................................................................................... 9 2.4 International Mobility of German Students: A Statistical Profile ................ 10 3. European Level: The Bologna Model of Mobility .................................................. 13 3.1 Theoretical Framework: Neo-Institutionalism ...................................................... 13 3.1.1 Basic Neo-Institutional Assumptions: Definitions and Mechanisms .......... 13 3.1.1.1 The Three Pillars of Institutions ................................................................................... 13 3.1.1.2 Legitimacy, Diffusion and Loose Coupling ............................................................... 14 3.1.1.3 The Neglected Link: Institutions and Individual Behavior ............................... 16 3.1.2 Neo-Institutionalism and the Diffusion of the Bologna Model of Mobility ............................................................................................................................... 17 3.1.3 Consequences for the Research Design ..................................................................... 19 3.2 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 20 3.2.1 Data Selection ........................................................................................................................ 20 3.2.2 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 20 3.3 Findings: Characteristics and Composition of the Bologna Model of Mobility ............................................................................................................................... 23 4. National Level: The Bologna Model of Student