Conference Program

Student participation in Erasmus programmes reflects a complex set of motivations that encompass academic, personal, linguistic, socio-cultural, and career-oriented dimensions. Early empirical research grounded in the push–pull framework highlights that mobility decisions are driven by both “push” forces originating in the home environment and “pull” factors associated with host environments (Mazzarol and Soutar, 2002; González et al., 2011; Gutema et al., 2024).

Motivational analyses of Erasmus students have consistently identified academic and professional development as principal drivers of mobility, but even students’ desire for personal growth and intercultural competence emerges as a salient intrinsic incentive (Van Mol and Timmerman, 2014; Lesjak et al., 2015; Cuzzocrea and Krzaklewska, 2023). However, international students’ mobility may be hampered by the presence of barriers that higher educa­tion students face. Therefore, it is important to look at the fears and apprehension of students that retain them in their home country (Souto-Otero et al., 2013).

Distance between home and host countries is considered a key factor influencing the intensity of mobility flows, reflecting transport costs, psychological barriers and cultural affinities (González et al., 2011). In the classical intra-European Erasmus context, shorter geographic distances and cultural proximity have historically facilitated student choices of nearby host countries, reducing logistical and financial frictions associated with mobility. However, as the Erasmus+ KA171 program broaden the range of eligible destinations to include extra-European partners, the geography of student choices becomes more heterogeneous, and a broad strand of literature focused on the factors that prompt students to choose one country and avoid others (Barnett et al. 2016; Kondakci et al. 2018). For Italian students, broader structural changes in travel behaviour, such as the proliferation of low-cost airlines and changing preferences towards global experiential learning, can mitigate the “distance cost” traditionally associated with non-European destinations. Increased exposure to international travel and tourism at a young age may render extra EU destinations more attractive, both for their academic offerings and cultural enrichment potential.

This paper investigates whether, and to what extent, students’ individual characteristics and background factors influence their propensity to apply for Erasmus mobility to Extra-EU destinations, which involves destinations that are geographically and culturally more distant from Italy than those within the European Union, versus EU destinations. The empirical analysis relies on survey data collected by an on-line survey administered to students who apply to international mobility. We collected data on 809 students at a medium size Italian university – the University of Bergamo – that applied for an Erasmus+ or Extra-EU Program in the last two academic years (from 2024/25 to 2025/26 a.y.).

The results, in line with the literature (Souto-Otero et al. 2013; Daly, 2011; Schnepf, 2022), suggest that, ceteris paribus, study experiences in countries outside Europe are primarily driven by strong personal motivations, while they are discouraged by concerns related to academic performance and learning outcomes. However, the findings also suggest that the role of motivations and perceived academic risks in shaping students’ international mobility choices varies substantially across fields of study, gender and family background.