Can participation in learning abroad mobility support pro-European Union attitudes among youth?

Abstract

The role of education in the development of pro-EU attitudes is often examined by focusing on the association of educational attainment and the development of pro-EU attitudes. However, student exchanges and youth mobility have also become pillars of the foundation of the European Higher Education Area, figuring out the Maastricht Treaty and the Bologna Declaration. Accordingly, based on a utilitarian approach, the current study investigates the role of participation in learning abroad mobility in the development of positive views on the EU. In doing so, Flash Eurobarometer 478 data was used and multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed by student and non-students groups of youth in the new (NMS) and old (EU15) member states. The findings show that the role of participation depends on the degree of positive views, and it makes a significant contribution to having Very Positive views on the EU among non-students in both national groups and students in the NMS. Findings also demonstrate that participation is more important than consideration in the development of Very Positive views. So, even if respondents could have already been supportive of the EU before participation, participation also takes their positive views on the EU to a higher level.