Australian and New Zealand university students’ participation in
international exchange programs
Amanda J Daly
School of Business, Christchurch College of Education
PO Box 31-065 Christchurch NEW ZEALAND
amanda.daly@cce.ac.nz
Abstract
With increasing competition within the marketplace, graduates require skills such as intercultural
competencies to make them more employable. Study abroad and student exchange programs are
effective means by which students may gain such international knowledge and skills. Moreover,
studies in the US and Europe have shown that students acknowledge that participation in student
exchange programs are beneficial, but very few students take this opportunity. Unfortunately,
data relating to Australian and New Zealand students’ plans for participating in exchange
experiences is not readily available. This study aims to develop the body of knowledge
surrounding Australian and New Zealand student exchange programs. Staff at the International
Offices of 27 Australian and four New Zealand universities completed surveys, which examined
the demographics of students participating in programs from 2000-2001. Overall, the findings
indicate that despite greater government focus on internationalisation and student exchange
opportunities, less than one percent of Australian and New Zealand students participate in student
exchange programs.
Keywords:
Participation, university student exchange programs, Australia and New Zealand
Introduction
It is widely acknowledged that globalization and technological innovation are changing the
structure of the global marketplace (Industry Task Force on Leadership and Management Skills,
1995)1. With this shifting nature of business environments, organizations are seeking employees
with skills and characteristics that would allow them to be more competitive in the international
arena. Therefore, graduates need to obtain and develop such international skills to make them
more employable (Australian International Education Foundation, 1998; Webb, Mayer, Pioche, &
Allen, 1999). Hence, it is argued that it is the role of universities to prepare students to work in
the new international context, thus meeting the needs of business and society (Fantini, AriasGalicia, & Guay, 2001; Higher Education Council, 1990). One of the most effective means for
graduates to develop international skills and communication competencies is through
international academic mobility programs such as study abroad and student exchange (Clyne &
Rizvi, 1998; Fantini et al., 2001; Gochenour, 1993; Lawson, 1969; Wallace, 1993). Thus,
international experience is proposed to be fundamental to education.
1
Also known as the Karpin (1995) report
Internationalization and student exchange programs
Within the community, there is a growing interest in international education. For example, in a
poll examining college and university freshmen’s intentions for international study, half of the
respondents planned to study another country’s culture and history, and 57% indicated a
preference to enrol in foreign language courses. And, almost half of all new students identified
that they were anticipating studying abroad as part of their course (ACE, 2000). Less than one
percent of American higher education students are studying abroad each year, and only eight
percent of students study a foreign language at the tertiary level (Cushner & Karim, in progress;
Fantini et al., 2001). Likewise, less than one percent of Canadian university students study abroad
as part of their degree (Knight, 2000 cited in Fantini et al., 2001). While in Europe, five percent
of undergraduate students are participating in exchange programs annually (Hamilton, 1998 cited
in Clyne & Rizvi, 1998).
Unfortunately, data relating to Australian and New Zealand students’ plans for enrolling in
international courses and participating in exchange experiences is not readily available.
Historically, many Australian students studied overseas to gain postgraduate qualifications, but
less than one percent of all undergraduates are currently completing some part of their courses
overseas (IDP Education Australia, 1995). Indeed, Hamilton (1998 cited in Clyne & Rizvi, 1998)
found that only 0.2 percent of all Australian University students participate in exchange
programs. However, a greater number of students are still gaining some level of international
education experience. For example, Back, Davis & Olsen (1996), found that over five percent of
students from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology are studying overseas annually
through exchanges, study tours, conferences, visits, clinical placements or work experience.
International education exchange programs in Australia
Both Australia and New Zealand are members of the University Mobility in the Asia and the
Pacific (UMAP) program, which was established in 1993. It may be seen as a similar initiative as
the European Union’s SOCRATES-ERASMUS and the United States’ ‘Junior Year Abroad’
(Australian International Education Foundation, 1998). The aims of UMAP include increasing the
number of active bilateral agreements among higher education institutions in the Asia Pacific
region and thus, promoting internationalization of curricula and teaching through exchanges of
staff and students (IDP Education Australia, 1995). Many student exchanges take place outside of
the UMAP program. A survey conducted by the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (2000),
identified the distribution of Australian students to all countries participating in exchange
agreements. Table 1 details the growth in the number of exchange students sent from Australia
under UMAP (Australian Vice Chancellor’s Committee, 2000).
Table 1. Exchange students sent from Australia under UMAP 1993-1997
1993
1994
1995
1996
YEAR
NO. OF STUDENTS
634
1009
1298
1308
1997
1401
Several studies report the relative importance of student exchange programs through comparing
sojourning groups with those students who remain in the homeland. For example, Yachimowicz
(1987) found that American college students, who studied abroad for one year, demonstrated an
increase in cultural and political knowledge while those who did not participate in the program
did not demonstrate such learning. Similarly, qualitative analysis of Zhai’s (2000) study revealed
that students’ global perspective, intercultural sensitivity and openness to cultural diversity were
enhanced after participating in an exchange program. Although students, who remained at home
and studied international curricula, did increase in levels of international understanding and
knowledge, this was not to the same extent as exchange program participants (Bates, 1997;
Carlson & Widaman, 1988; Zhai, 2000). Cushner and Karim (in progress) express concern that
the internationalization initiatives currently implemented in American institutions provide
students with only basic levels of international skills and competencies.
Issues surrounding participation in exchange programs
Clyne and Rizvi (1998) identified reasons that positively influenced Victorian students’ decision
to study overseas. In addition to issues surrounding a desire to travel, meet new people and
experience other cultures, respondents also identified that they wished to develop international
skills such as language skills, intercultural competencies and global awareness. Moreover,
students felt that participating in a student exchange would increase their marketability in the
Australian workforce, giving them an advantage compared to their peers upon graduating.
The New Zealand Vice Chancellors’ Committee (2002) highlighted that few New Zealand
students have participated in exchange programs due to “financial and language difficulties”. In
studies in the U.S. and Australia, cost appears to be the major reason for non-participation in
exchange programs (Chieffo, 2000; Clyne & Rizvi, 1998). Other negative factors identified by
both participants and non-participants of exchange programs include concerns about how to
adjust to a new institution and new country, communication and language barriers, travelling
alone and personal safety, making friends, and failing the subjects (Clyne & Rizvi, 1998).
Kim (1998) purports that cultural distance affects the decision to study overseas. Specifically, the
more different the host country is from the home culture, the less likely it will be chosen. Perhaps
this provides an explanation as to why the USA, Canada and UK rank so highly as preferred
destinations for Australian and New Zealand students. That is, students may decide to participate
in the exchange program, but are not influenced by a desire to learn about and experience a new
and different culture, rather preferring a country similar to their own. However, at this stage, the
influencing factors surrounding Australian and New Zealand students’ decisions to participate in
exchange programs may only be speculated, as information about students’ attitudes and
openness to participate is not readily available.
Methodology
Staff at the International Exchange offices at thirty-eight Australian and seven New Zealand
universities agreed to complete a self-administered questionnaire that was then distributed via
email. Across the two countries, 33 surveys were returned, thus a response rate of 73% was
achieved.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire comprised three sections, with a total of 47 questions. The first section
included questions about the university’s strategic plan in relation to internationalization,
and the structure of the exchange programs. In the second section, respondents were asked to
provide non-identifying details of students participating in exchange programs this year. This
included providing details of the number of students on exchange in each country and information
in relation to the program in which they are enrolled in Australia and New Zealand. In the final
section, participants were asked to provide details of the total number of students participating in
programs during 1996-1999.
This paper reports the data gathered from the second section of the questionnaires.
Results
In 2001, 2127 students from responding Australian universities participated in international
exchange programs. This represents 0.41% of total enrolments for those universities who
participated in the study. The number of participants ranged from 1 (0.02% of enrolments) at a
university that has just commenced their program this year, to 239 participants (0.7% of
enrolments). The average proportion of participants to total number of enrolments is 0.39%.
Although five respondents were unable to provide data from the year 2000 programs, there has
been an increase in the number of participants. However, the increase in number of exchange
students is not in proportion to the increase in total enrolments. Thus overall in 2000, 1525
students participated in exchange programs, which corresponds to 0.37% of total enrolments.
Table 2 details the number of Australian participants in international exchange programs since
1996.
Table 2: The growth of university international exchange programs in Australia since 1996
Year
Number of
Percent of total enrolments
participants
for valid responses
2001
2024
0.39%
2000
1525
0.37%
1999
1282
0.36%
1998
975
0.34%
1997
623
0.29%
1996
364
0.23%
In 2001, 164 students from responding New Zealand Universities participated in international
exchange programs. This represents 0.24% of total enrolments for those universities who
participated in the study. The number of participants ranged from 5 (0.17% of enrolments) to 67
participants (0.42% of enrolments). The average proportion of participants to total number of
enrolments is 0.24%. Although two respondents were unable to provide data from the year 2000
programs, the number of participants appears to have reached a plateau. There is a slight increase
in number of exchange students, however this is not in proportion to the increase in total
enrolments. Thus overall in 2000, 97 students from three universities participated in exchange
programs, which corresponds to 0.24% of total enrolments. Table 3 details the number of New
Zealand participants in international exchange programs since 1996.
Table 3: The growth of university international exchange programs in New Zealand since
1996.
Year
Number of
Percent of total enrolments
participants
for valid responses
2001
164a
0.24%
2000
97b
0.24%
c
1999
57
0.36%
1998
30c
0.19%
1997
12c
0.08%
c
1996
16
0.11%
a- Five institutions reported data for this question
b- Three institutions reported data for this question
c- One institution reported data for this question
Most students participating in university international exchange programs are 20-21 years of age
(69%). The youngest Australian student to participate is 18 years of age, with the range extending
in New Zealand to 56 years old.
In Australia, female students are better represented in the number of participants in international
exchange programs. In 2001, 60.8% of all reported participants were female (N=909), with 586
male students going on exchange. In contrast, there appears to be an equal representation of both
sexes in the number of New Zealand participants. In 2001, 46.67% of all reported participants
were female (N=21), with 24 male students going on exchange.
The average length of time spent studying in another country is one semester. This equates to
approximately 4-6 months. Thirty respondents indicated that their students participated in
sojourns of this duration, with the maximum time permissible on exchange being two semesters
(i.e. one year). One university indicated that currently their students must participate in a yearlong study period in another country.
Almost half of all Australian and New Zealand university students participating in international
exchange programs are enrolled in Art Faculties (N=538). This discipline area was coded to
include the Humanities, Psychology, Communication, Media, Languages, Design and Music.
Business and commerce students represent almost a quarter of Australian exchange students and
38% of New Zealand exchange students. The Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health
were coded to be incorporated into the Health faculties, provide the least number of participants.
Table 4 shows the distribution across disciplines.
Table 4. The distribution across faculties of Australian and New Zealand university
students participating in international exchange programs in 2001
Faculty
Number of
Percent of
Number of Percent of
participants
total number participants
total
reported by
valid
reported by
number
Australia
responses
NZ
valid
respondents
respondents responses
Arts
518
43.4
20
51.2
Business
269
22.5
15
38.4
Engineering/ IT
134
11.2
1
2.6
Law
99
8.3
Science
82
6.9
2
5.2
Education
63
5.3
1
2.6
Health
29
2.4
TOTAL
1194
100
39
100
The United States of America and Canada were the most popular destinations, constituting 42.3%
of Australian exchanges and 42.6% of New Zealand exchanges. For Australian universities,
European countries (29.3%) were the second area of choice, with over two third of students going
to Europe studying in either northern or central European countries. Almost one quarter of
European exchanges were to Southern Europe, with only 0.7% of these students choosing Eastern
European nations. Fifteen percent of Australian student exchanges were to Asia, with 12.7%
traveling to the United Kingdom. Less than 1% of students chose to study in the Middle East
(N=1) or Latin America (N=8). In contrast, one third of New Zealand students chose to study in
Asia, with 17 students sojourning to Japan. Eight percent of New Zealand exchanges were to
Europe, with only one student sojourning to Southern Europe, two students travelled to Central
Europe and two thirds of European exchanges were to Scandinavia (N=6). Almost ten percent of
New Zealand students went to the United Kingdom and three students travelled to Australia. Less
than 1% of students chose to study in the Middle East (N=1) or Latin America (N=2). Table 5
provides details of the numbers of students who went on exchange programs by country.
Table 5. The number of Australian and New Zealand students studying in other countries
on international exchange programs in 2001.
Country
No. Australian
% valid
No. of NZ
% valid
students
responses
students
responses
USA
477
26.7
34
31.6
Canada
282
15.7
12
11.2
United Kingdom
213
11.9
10
9.4
Japan
177
9.8
17
15.8
France
103
5.7
1
0.9
Sweden
92
5.2
5
4.6
Germany
82
4.5
1
0.9
The Netherlands
66
3.7
1
0.9
Greece
45
2.5
0
0
Italy
39
2.3
0
0
Spain
33
1.8
0
0
China
28
1.6
2
1.9
Denmark
28
1.6
1
0.9
Korea
20
1.1
6
5.7
Hong Kong
16
0.8
0
0
Ireland
14
0.8
0
0
Austria
11
0.6
0
0
Finland
10
0.5
0
0
Singapore
9
0.5
5
4.6
Indonesia
8
0.4
0
0
Belgium
6
0.3
0
0
Mexico
6
0.3
0
0
Thailand
6
0.3
6
5.7
Norway
5
0.3
0
0
Taiwan
3
0.1
0
0
Vietnam
3
0.1
0
0
Hungary
2
0.1
0
0
Lebanon
2
0.1
0
0
Malaysia
2
0.1
0
0
Slovenia
2
0.1
0
0
Chile
1
0.06
2
1.9
Costa Rica
1
0.06
0
0
Czechoslovakia
1
0.06
0
0
Switzerland
1
0.06
0
0
The Philippines
1
0.06
0
0
Turkey
1
0.06
0
0
Israel
0
0
1
0.9
Malta
0
0
1
0.9
Australia
0
0
3
2.8
TOTAL
1796
100
68
100
Discussion
Overall, the findings of this study show that despite greater government focus on
internationalization and student exchange opportunities through an increase in the number of
UMAP agreements, very few Australian and New Zealand students participate in student
exchange programs. Similar to American participation rates, less than one percent of Australian
and New Zealand students actually participate in a student exchange program by the time they
complete their studies, with the current average participation rate being 0.4% and 0.24% of total
university enrolments for Australia and New Zealand respectively. Recently, the Australian Vice
Chancellors' Committee (AVCC, 2001) recommended that the Federal Government establish a
target of ten percent of all undergraduate students study overseas as part of their degree. This goal
is quite high considering the participation rate identified in this study. At this point, it is worth
noting that while this study aimed to be a national survey of both countries, only 33 of the total 47
universities participated. Thus, future research in this area may wish to utilize the reporting
relationships that the AVCC and New Zealand Ministry of Education has with all universities, to
establish the correct participation rate.
Regardless of the difficulty accessing data for all university programs, this study confirms that
less than one percent of Australian and New Zealand university students participate in
international exchange programs. Although similar in number to the US and Canadian tertiary
education systems, this is significantly less than that of European students (Cushner & Karim, in
progress; Fantini et al., 2001; Hamilton, 1998 cited in Clyne & Rizvi, 1998; Knight, 2000 cited in
Fantini et al., 2001) Thus, Australian and New Zealand graduates may not be as prepared for the
global market as their European counterparts. However, there has been limited research defining
international competencies and the acquisition of such skills through exchange experiences is
assumed rather than proven. Thus, there is a strong argument for further investigation of overseas
experiences and the development of global skills.
This study shows that the typical exchange student from Australia and New Zealand is female,
aged 20-21 years from Anglo-Saxon background. Over half of Australian and New Zealand
exchange students are female, which may represent an untapped resource, since in the workforce
males tend to get the international posts rather than women (Kling, Alexander, McCorkle, &
Martinez, 1999). Indeed, Kling and his colleagues found that when chosen, women are successful
as expatriate managers, but organizational factors prevent them being chosen. Thus, perhaps
females are developing the necessary international business knowledge and skills through student
exchange opportunities, to make them more effective for working in the global marketplace.
Moreover, as Clyne and Rizvi (1998) found that one of the reasons that students were choosing to
study abroad as part of their degree was to make them more employable and give themselves an
advantage over their peers. It may be speculated that females students are recognizing that
participating in student exchange programs will better prepare them for challenge the glassceiling within organizations (Kling et al., 1999).
The United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom continue to be the most popular
destinations for Australian and New Zealand exchange students, with over half of all students
studying in these countries. Using Hofstede's (1984) cultural framework, these countries are quite
similar to Australia and New Zealand, and as such are more likely to be chosen by exchange
students from these countries (Kim, 1998). When considered in the context that students are
concerned with adjusting to a new country and new institution, and making friends, (Clyne &
Rizvi, 1998), choosing a culture that is similar to the home culture, may help alleviate these
worries. Moreover, the languages spoken in a foreign country and a student’s own current
language ability are both reasons, which may influence their decision to take part in international
exchange programs. It may be assumed that these reasons would be influential in relation to all
exchange program destinations, and therefore students may be choosing the US, Canada and UK
as English is readily spoken there. Consequently, there is a call for further encouragement of
Australian and New Zealand students to learn foreign languages (Fitzgerald, 1997).
It is encouraging that approximately 15% of Australian and 33% of New Zealand exchange
students chose to study in an Asian country. Furthermore, over half of these students took part in
an educational exchange in Japan. As Australia and New Zealand have a geographical link with
Asia, and this region represents a major source of trade, Fitzgerald (1997) called for a greater
cultural link with Asia. International education and exchange programs can assist with the
development of such relationships. However, it is recommended that the issues surrounding
participation in exchange programs in Asia, be examined in more detail. Such research may help
to determine the factors affecting students’ willingness to partake in exchange, and thus direct
intervention initiatives to promote future involvement in this region. In addition, it would be
beneficial to investigate the competencies students may develop through participating in
exchange programs, with the specific objective of ascertaining as to whether such skills are
attained dependent on destination.
Supporting Clyne & Rizvi’s (1998) findings, most Australian and New Zealand exchange
students are enrolled in the disciplines of Arts/Humanities and Business/Commerce, comprising
two thirds of all outgoing exchange students. Although, in this study more students originated
from Arts faculties, representing 43-46% of exchange students, while in Clyne and Rizvi’s (1998)
study, 37% of exchange students were enrolled in business degrees. Very few students from the
faculties of Law, Science, Education and Health participate in international exchange. Thus, the
course in which the student is enrolled appears to influence participation in exchange programs.
However, it is unclear as to whether these disciplines such as Humanities and Business, are more
suited to international education opportunities in regards to flexibility of subjects studied, or if it
is the students who enroll in these disciplines who are more flexible in their approach to learning.
Moreover, considering that some disciplines such as Science and Health would benefit from
international exchange initiatives through providing opportunities for sharing of ideas and
development of collaborative research partnerships, it is worthwhile examining how the course in
which students are enrolled influences participation in exchange programs.
This study examined international exchange programs from the position of the institutions.
Although data concerning the demographics of students participating was gathered, the factors
affecting students’ willingness to participate in exchange programs, was merely speculated. In the
study conducted by Clyne and Rizvi (1998), factors such as social and psychological adjustment,
communication, personal safety and achieving educational goals, were identified. However, their
sample was limited to students from four Victorian universities. Thus, future research could
involve a large sample of Australian and New Zealand students to gain a deeper understanding of
the factors that influence a student’s decision to study overseas as part of their degree, and
additionally, how these factors affect the choice of host country and institution.
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