26-11-2012, 06:14 PM
Inventory of Mobility Opportunities In and About Germany For Canadian Post-Secondary Students
Bridge_Report.pdf (Size: 372.7 KB / Downloads: 43)
The Bridge Project – Origins and Goals
Among the official mandates of The Canadian Centre for German and
European Studies / Le Centre canadien d’études allemandes et
européennes (CCGES / CCEAE) at York University and L’Université de
Montréal is fostering international academic mobility with Europe (and
especially Germany) for students and faculty members across Canada. As
part of their attention to this mandate, researchers at the Centre’s
York office focused on the state of academic mobility between Canada
and Germany. Out of their deliberations emerged the acknowledgement
that, though our two countries have made great efforts to cultivate a
strong bilateral relationship (particularly in the area of postsecondary
education), academic exchanges and other opportunities for
mobility between Canadian and German partners often do not come close
to fulfilling their potential.
While considering how CCGES / CCEAE might help to optimize
Canadian-German academic links, it quickly became clear that the first
step in identifying and overcoming any obstacles lay in establishing a
comprehensive inventory of the mobility opportunities open to Canadian
post-secondary students interested in studying or working in Germany.
As a result, Professors Mark Webber and Kurt Hübner, representing both
the humanistic and social sciences, conceived an initiative to create
just such an inventory with the goal of spurring the strategic
discussion of how to maintain and expand those programs that give
Canadian post-secondary students access to study and work experiences
in Germany. Informal consultations with the New York and Bonn offices
of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and with Canadian
colleagues confirmed the potential usefulness of such a study.
Methodology
Before beginning their work, the investigators consulted with
York’s Institute for Social Research, which has over forty years of
experience in the design of surveys and the collection and analysis of
the survey data. In order to ensure a high level of coverage, the
investigators decided to employ redundant methods to gather information
for The Bridge Project. In the initial phase of research, web searches
and email inquiries were the primary tools. Insofar as this proved
possible, emails were directed to individuals identified on postsecondary
institution websites as likely responsible for, or with
knowledge of, the mobility arrangements with Germany that their
institution or organization were involved in. This approach proved
particularly successful at identifying those schools with no formal
links to Germany (most of which were colleges). Nevertheless, a second
phase of direct phone contacts was necessary to bring response rates up
to the levels needed to fulfill our project’s stated goal of producing
as comprehensive an inventory as possible.
Report Format
One of The Bridge Project’s primary goals has been the creation
of a mobility opportunity database that goes beyond the mere listing of
programs. In particular, we would like to use the database to
facilitate an informed discussion of the policies that shape the nature
and extent of the existing links between Canadian and German academic
institutions. It is our intention to inaugurate this discussion at the
April 4 workshop, along with a consideration of how the results of our
work can be configured and presented so as to have maximum value for
students and faculty at Canadian post-secondary institutions interested
in traveling to Germany for study or work.