Swedish Erasmus students' valuations of study destinations: how countries, cities, and institutions relate to choices and experiences

Abstract

ABSTRACT Based on a survey of Swedish participants in the Erasmus+ exchange programme from the 2014 and 2015 application years, our study uses specific Multiple Correspondence Analysis to explore students’ valuations of their study destinations across different scales – country, city, and institution. Our findings indicate that places were valued based on three types of logic – academic, cultural, and labour market – where each type of logic emphasised each scale differently. First, the choice of the receiving institution relates to the country of destination. Students who primarily valued culture, language, and geographical location were overrepresented in Mediterranean countries, while students who emphasised the quality, reputation, and learning offer of the receiving institution were overrepresented in the Nordic countries. Second, the city matters in that students clearly preferred institutions in lively metropolises, which had a clear advantage over other mid-sized or smaller cities. Thirdly, the higher education institutions themselves play a role in study abroad choices. If the institutions are prestigious and high-ranked, this can outweigh a disadvantageous location. These types of logic tend to overlap so that the most dominant and sought-after countries are more likely to have highly attractive cities and metropolitan regions where highly ranked higher education institutions are often also found.