Academic exchange: the difficulties of adaptation and readaptation

Périco, Franco Gatelli; Gonçalves, Roberto Birch

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ARTICLES • Educ. Pesqui. 44 • 2018 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-4634201844182699 copy

Academic exchange: the difficulties of adaptation and readaptation¹ 1 - This article was originally submitted in Portuguese and then translated to English by the authors.

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Abstract

The internationalization of education through international academic mobility is a reality that, every day, brings more opportunities for Brazilian students to increase their knowledge and experience. The Science Without Borders program and initiatives of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have intensified and promoted an increase in student exchange, but when they back, the students have suffered from the process of readaptation. The purpose of this study is to analyze the process of readaptation of the exchange student on his return to Brazil after a period of studies in another country, identifying the main aspects and impacts on the exchange student’s life. The methodology used in this study was a descriptive study with a quantitative approach based on a survey-type survey, in which data were collected from 586 questionnaires answered by ex-exchange students. The results show that the exchange students undergo a change of cultural identity, detaching themselves from their culture of origin when adapting to the destination, making return to Brazil more difficult. It was also concluded that HEIs do not play a fundamental role in this process by closely following their exchange students in the three stages of exchange: before, during and after.

Academic exchange; International experience; Readaptation; Education

Factor	Focus	Authors
Genre	Women tend to feel different shocks in return.	Brabant, Palmer and Gramling (1990)BRABANT, Sarah; PALMER, C. Eddie; GRAMLING, Robert. Returning home: an empirical investigation of cross-cultural reentry. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 14, n. 4, p. 387-404, 1990., Rohrlich and Martin (1991)ROHRLICH, Beulah F.; MARTIN, Judith N. Host country and reentry adjustment of student sojourners. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 15, n. 2, p. 163-182, 1991.
Age	The older the returnee, the less problems he faces in return.	Rohrlich and Martin (1991)ROHRLICH, Beulah F.; MARTIN, Judith N. Host country and reentry adjustment of student sojourners. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 15, n. 2, p. 163-182, 1991.; Szkudlarek (2010)SZKUDLAREK, Betina. Reentry - A review of the literature. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 34, n. 1, p. 1-21, 2010.; Cox (2004)COX, J. Ben. The role of communication, technology, and cultural identity in repatriation adjustment. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 28, n. 3, p. 201-219, 2004.
Cultural distance	Cultural differences between countries of origin and destination may influence repatriation.	Kogut and Singh (1988)KOGUT, Bruce; SINGH, Harbir. The effect of national culture on the choice of entry mode. Journal of International Business Studies, London, p. 411-432, 1988.
Marital status	The identification with the culture of the destination country is greater for singles, which can generate a change in cultural identity and bring depressive feelings.	Cox (2004)COX, J. Ben. The role of communication, technology, and cultural identity in repatriation adjustment. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 28, n. 3, p. 201-219, 2004.; Szkudlarek (2010)SZKUDLAREK, Betina. Reentry - A review of the literature. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 34, n. 1, p. 1-21, 2010.
Length of stay abroad	Larger stay contributes negatively to reverse cultural shock, since the individual had more time to detach himself from the culture of origin.	Szkudlarek (2010)SZKUDLAREK, Betina. Reentry - A review of the literature. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 34, n. 1, p. 1-21, 2010.
Previous international experiences	Those who already have prior international experience tend to have a facilitated repatriation.	Szkudlarek (2010)SZKUDLAREK, Betina. Reentry - A review of the literature. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 34, n. 1, p. 1-21, 2010.
Contact with people in the destination country	Interactions with people in the destination country are directly related to repatriation.	Rohrlich and Martin (1991)ROHRLICH, Beulah F.; MARTIN, Judith N. Host country and reentry adjustment of student sojourners. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 15, n. 2, p. 163-182, 1991.
Contact with people from the country of origin	Contacts with compatriots through the internet are related to the quality of the readaptation process.	Cox (2004)COX, J. Ben. The role of communication, technology, and cultural identity in repatriation adjustment. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Keaau, v. 28, n. 3, p. 201-219, 2004.

Place	Number of cities	Number of students	%
Southeast region	67	230	39,2
South region	52	129	22
Northeast region	20	86	14,7
Midwest region	7	36	6,1
North region	4	13	2,2
Total	150	586	100

Knowledge Area	Number of courses	Number of students	%
Engineering	18	172	29,4
Applied Social Sciences	15	156	26,6
Health Sciences	9	90	15,4
Agronomic Sciences	12	67	11,4
Biological Sciences	6	38	6,5
Exact and Earth Sciences	11	30	5,1
Health Sciences	7	17	2,9
Linguistics, Literature and Arts	7	16	2,7
Total	85	586	100

Destiny country	Number of cities	Number of interchanges
United Kingdom	32	89
Portugal	12	85
Spain	33	85
EUA	33	58
Germany	28	56
France	24	45
Italy	13	43
Ireland	8	29
Hungary	3	24
Australia	7	21
Canada	8	15
Netherlands	8	13
Norway	4	7
Chile	1	4
Argentina	2	3
Belgium	1	2
Total	213	586

level of knowledge of the exchange student	Beginning	End
He had a basic knowledge of the language (he used only simple phrases).	126	11
He could have simple conversations.	111	11
He could express opinions and describe things as experiences and desires.	123	35
Communication with natives was effortless.	51	88
He could use the language in a flexible and efficient way for academic, social and professional purposes.	75	178
He was able to understand with extreme ease what he read and heard, even in situations of greater complexity.	100	263

Did not want to have a job	227 (38,7%)
International experience was key to getting a job.	113 (19,3%)
He got a job normally, without influence of the exchange.	103 (17,3%)
Could not find a job.	72 (12,3%)
He returned to the same job he had before the exchange.	32 (5,5%)
Spent a long time to get a job.	28 (4,8%)

HEI	Period	Did not give support	Gave little support	Gave a great support
HEI - Brazilian	Before the exchange	47,4	37,7	14,8
HEI - Brazilian	After the exchange	65,2	28,8	6,0
HEI - Foreign	Before the exchange	17,7	42,3	39,9
HEI - Foreign	After the exchange	57,8	34,6	7,5

		Change of opinion about Brazilian HEI			Total
		Did not change your mind	For worse	For the best	Total
Expectation of how the foreign HEI is compared to the Brazilian HEI before the exchange	Worse	5	3	3	11
	Equal	26	14	24	64
	Better	155	148	208	511
Total		186	165	235	586

	Mean	Std Deviation
I have the feeling that I am now a more global / international person.	4,42	0,71
After completing my exchange I feel like a person with great intercultural skills.	4,17	0,76
The culture of the destination country influenced my readaptation to Brazil.	3,88	0,99
In some ways I feel less Brazilian when compared to the period before the exchange.	3,17	1,39
Since my exchange, I feel more Brazilian than foreign.	2,77	1,13
Since my exchange, I feel more like a foreigner than a Brazilian.	2,73	1,18

	Mean	Std Deviation
I regularly had feelings of nostalgia related to my exchange.	4,54	0,81
I have often wished I had never returned from the exchange.	3,96	1,30
I had difficulty in adapting to the rhythm of daily life.	3,92	1,14
The standard of spending of Brazilians bothered me.	3,67	1,29
I often had the feeling of not ‘’ fitting ‘’ into society.	3,67	1,31
They made comments about the Brazilians.	3,59	1,17
I rarely felt understood by people who never lived abroad.	3,57	1,27
I had the feeling that I had lost something when I thought about my exchange.	3,56	1,38
I felt uncomfortable with my daily social activities.	3,51	1,26
There were many social mores in Brazil that I no longer understood.	3,41	1,30
I had difficulty identifying myself with the Brazilian lifestyle.	3,36	1,27
I had the feeling that people treated me more superficially than I was used to.	3,32	1,25

Feelings	Did not feel	Feel a little	Feel a lot
Change of world view	21	73	492
Impression of returning ‘’ other person ‘’	32	117	437
Change of mentality Insecurity	40	121	425
Boring	96	213	277
Insecurity	133	178	275
Irritation	150	186	250
Anguish	111	238	237
Confusion	143	212	231
Fear	203	178	205
Happiness momentary, because of homesickness	70	318	198
Depression	230	214	142
Relief, because he did not like the exchange	544	30	12

Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo Av. da Universidade, 308 - Biblioteca, 1º andar 05508-040 - São Paulo SP Brasil, Tel./Fax.: (55 11) 30913520 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: revedu@usp.br

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[1] Franco Gatelli Périco holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business from the University of Caxias do Sul, currently a partner in the technology and advertising company Plug Chargers in Caxias do Sul, with international experience in Canada, France and Spain, being the last experience at the Autonomous University of Madrid (Ibero-American scholarship of the Bank Santander).

Roberto Birch Gonçalves is an Electronic Engineer (PUC / RS) with a master’s and doctoral degree in Administration from UFRGS. Director of the Institute of Economic and Social Research of the University of Caxias do Sul (IPES), He is a professor at the Professional Master’s Degree in Biotechnology and Wine Management and at the International Business course, with professional experience of 30 years in management at nationals and global companies of the sector metal mechanic and oil & gas.

Sex	Male	33,3%
Sex	Female	66,7%
Age	Less than 20 years	1%
	From 20 till 22 years	32,3%
	From 23 till 25 years	51,9%
	More than 25 years	14,8%
Previous international experience	The student had been abroad to ride	33,6%
	The student had been abroad for work	1,4%
	The student had been abroad to study	11,3%
	Never been abroad	53,8%

Year of beginning of exchange	2012	14,3
	2013	21,2
	2014	50
	2015	14,5
Duration	Less than one semester	0,7
	1 semester	24,9
	2 semesters	50,3
	3 semesters	15,9
	More than 3 semesters	8,2
Type of exchange	Academic Mobility	25,8
	Government Programs	67,7
	Scholarship	6,5
Time after return to Brazil	Less than 1 mouth	5,3
	From 1till 3 mouths	7,7
	From 3 till 6 mouths	8,0
	From 6 mouths till 1year	33,4
	From 1 till 2 years	27,1
	From 2 till 3 years	15,4
	More than 3 years	3,1

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Academic exchange: the difficulties of adaptation and readaptation1 1 - This article was originally submitted in Portuguese and then translated to English by the authors.

Abstract

Academic exchange: the difficulties of adaptation and readaptation¹ 1 - This article was originally submitted in Portuguese and then translated to English by the authors.