Students abroad. Case Reconstructions on the Biographical Significance of Student Exchange (AWAY)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Wernet
• Subject Area: Educational Research on Socialization, Welfare and Professionalism
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 462701396

The focus of our previous research on student exchange takes an educational biographical perspective with a case-reconstructive look at educational processes and self-positioning of the subject at the intersection of social, family, and adolescence theory. Student exchange programs present an intriguing subject of study. They offer substantial educational benefits in terms of accumulating cultural capital, especially within the context of transnational educational narratives. What sets them apart is their inclusivity; they are not confined to the social or academic elite. This research contributes to understanding educational dynamics, primarily impacting the middle classes. In our research to date, we have come across a detail that the research project of the continuation proposal wants to address in a special way. Both in the family interviews and in the individual interviews we have conducted so far, a prestige interest concerning the student exchange is expressed. However, this prestige interest is not articulated as an explicit orientation or motive. Rather, it is articulated casually, on the margins, and in some way 'abashed' .For the continuation of our project, we therefore plan to supplement our previous surveys with interviews regarding those young people who, although they had considered the possibility of a student exchange, decided against it. On the basis of our previous research findings, we suspect that the decision against it does not simply reflect subjective preferences, but that it is made in confrontation with the issue of prestige and the problem of renouncing prestige. The research approach chosen for the project continuation promises empirical insights into the interconnectedness of educational decisions and prestige orientations, the subjective burdens caused by prestige motives but also the gain of subjective autonomy through an emancipation from prestige motives.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants