Academic and Professional Mobility and its Transformative Potential

Abstract

With the development of exchange mechanisms, periods of mobility abroad have become frequent, sometimes unavoidable, in the school curriculum of a student. Taking the form of semesters of study in a foreign university or work placements for higher education students, the skills acquired during these immersion phases, both linguistically and technically, and in terms of know-how, are undeniable and valued by numerous research works. In this paper, we will review the impact of international exchanges on the professional integration of students. We are interested in the academic and professional gain linked to the international mobility that organizations, such as Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) locations, can offer to college students. We propose, in our research, to examine the construction and contribution of the opportunities that these RCE locations can offer to students, in terms of academic, professional and social development. This study will highlight RCE Salisbury, of which is hosted by the organization the Bosserman Center of Conflict Resolution, as a case study.