The number of Trinity students opting to spend time studying abroad through Erasmus and non-EU exchanges has increased by 28 percent and 200 percent respectively since 2011-12, but numbers remain much lower than the number of exchange students coming into the College.
A report on student mobility, submitted to University Council in March by Trinity Global Relations and seen by The University Times, revealed that between 2011-12 and 2015-16 the number of Trinity students taking part in the Erasmus programme has increased by 28 percent, from 285 students to 364. In the last year alone, this figure has increased by 15.5 percent.
Erasmus is an exchange programme between 37 countries set up by the EU in 1987. While this programme allows for exchanges within Europe, Trinitys non-EU exchange programme opens allows students to study abroad in America, Asia and Australia.
When asked about the benefits of the Erasmus scheme Dale Whelehan, Education Officer with Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), said in an email to The University Times: “[It] is integral to gaining transferable skills that simply can not be taught in the formalised curriculum. The skills of independence, communication, negotiation through language barriers etc. are just a sample of a few of these skills.”
“It allows students to compare teaching methods between their home and host institution as well as their perception on certain issues. Pedagogically, it is a wonderful opportunity for a students to add breadth to their learning”, he continued.
The number of students availing of this programme has also increased by 200 percent since 2011-12. Between 2014-15 and 2015-16 there was an increase of 47 percent in students choosing to study in non-EU institutions, from 53 students to 78 students. However, the report also noted that for the same two years, only 49 students in 2014-15 and 71 students in 2015-16 came to Trinity through an exchange programme.
Despite the increase in students going on exchange there is still a huge difference between the number of outbound and incoming students each year overall. While many international students come to Trinity each year, not as many Trinity students go on an exchange. The report noted this is problematic as it causes “imbalanced exchanges”, leading to a rising student population.
Whelehan discussed some of the challenges which may be leading to this imbalances, referring to his own faculty of Health Science as “perhaps the greatest example of restrictions”.
“Given the implications of being binded with a professionally accredited body, the standards and quality of the education you receive on erasmus would have to be approved by the accredited body to ensure you have fulfilled all the requirements. Similarly, within the AHSS [Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences] and EMS [Engineering, Maths and Sciences] faculty, I believe that the academic year structure and overall course content and objectives can limit a student. I am hopeful that these issues will be addressed under the Trinity Education Project.”
The report cites College’s new marketing plans to advertise the programme more, as well as providing clearer explanations of the curriculum students would follow in their host university as reasons for the upturn in numbers.
Whelehan suggested that improving the transparency of the process as a way to increase uptake in exchange programmes. He said: “Systems and structures should be put in place that allow students to get easy access to information about deadlines for applications and module choices before it’s too late. Similarly, the administration behind incoming and outgoing erasmus students needs review, with many students having come to me with problems about registration.”
Whelehan went on to say: “It needs to be encouraged by staff to their students. Many students are hesitant to study abroad for fear that there will be negative implications education wise when they return. We should be fostering the sense that an erasmus programme is a wonderful opportunity, where you can learn so much that simply can’t be taught in a 11am lecture in the Ed Burke.”
In a further effort to make that attitude a reality and studying abroad more accessible to all students, Trinity’s Global Relations Office have introduced Summer Exchange Programmes. These programmes are targeted at those students for whom leaving Trinity during term time is not an option or that do not wish to leave during the academic year.
This issue of unequal exchanges has not been a problem in the Schools of Law, Business and Medicine. These schools have seen an equal or greater number of outgoing students as incoming. These three schools operate the largest in-school exchange programmes within Trinity.
In the School of Law, the number of incomings students was equivalent to those outgoing, at 17 students for 2014-15. In the Business School, there are a greater number of outgoing than incoming students, 21 and 12 respectively in 2014-15. However, the School of Medicine only allows for outgoing students, seeing 301 students studying abroad in 2014-15.
Currently, 23 percent of Trinity students eligible to take part in an exchange are doing so. However, Trinity’s Global Relations Office hopes to continue the increase in uptake. They will examine reasons behind the low numbers of students opting to study in Chinese universities and within other certain networks, such as Unitech, an international programme, made up of technical universities and companies, aimed at Engineering students.
The Global Relations Office aims for both a further expansion of the College-wide exchange programme and the in-school exchange programmes that have proved successful in the Schools of Law, Business and Medicine.
