Benefits and Challenges of Academic Mobility for PhD Students

Extract

[...] After collecting numerous responses on a questionnaire with the theme of mobility of students working on a thesis in education sciences, the analysis of the data is presented below. Firstly, we will focus on the data related to satisfaction regarding the funding of mobility stays, and then, secondly, we will focus on the difficulties related to the financial question necessary in a situation of mobility. I. Link between emotions and mobility: Etu2-16 explains that "when we think about doing a thesis, we think about the objective, that is to say why we have to do a thesis and how we can do it, and it also raises the question of time and funding. [...]

[...] Conclusion Thus, the analysis highlights two main axes. Firstly, incorporating periods of mobility abroad is beneficial for students' academic paths, who highlight many positive aspects: personal and professional discoveries, insight into the reality of the field, participation in seminars, meetings with the supervisor? However, many regrets related to the difficulties encountered by students cloud the picture: financial difficulties, decrease in resources and therefore purchasing power, difficulties in obtaining a visa, work overload, time spent in the foreign country sometimes too long or too short?. [...]

[...] Etu 6 explains: 'Already this has made my income not like it was before and on the other side, expenses increase (EMOT_Difficulty / ? T_Finance). II. Des future PhD students motivated, but sometimes deprived of mobility However, if geographical mobility is still limited today, it is mainly due to persistent difficulties, which are found in the students' responses. Firstly, it should be noted the impact of the cost of this mobility: the funding is significant, and not everyone can necessarily have access to a scholarship (such as Etu2, who received a mobility aid from OFICI (T_Finance)) and does not have the necessary income to finance stays abroad. [...]

[...] T_Travail_Mobilite). The ability to directly enter into contact with the thesis supervisors is seen as an immense source of satisfaction, it is indeed one of the reasons why students want to go abroad: being able to discuss directly is much more beneficial than exchanging by email or phone, whether it is with the thesis supervisors or the many people who can be met during this stay (EMOT_Satisfaction/T_Mobilite). Some even emphasize that without this mobility, they would never have had the title of doctor, so going abroad opens doors and is almost a sine qua non condition for the validation of the thesis and the desired diploma. [...]