Comparison of the personal and cultural change taking place between EU Erasmus students and Turkish Erasmus students (within the sample of Adam Mickiewicz University in city of Poznan, Poland)

Year 2010, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 33 - 43, 30.06.2010

Sevda Mutlu , Osman Alacahan Mahmut Erdil

Abstract

This study is based on a questionnaire that is implemented to measure and evaluate the cultural
and personal changes experienced by Turkish students and Adam Mickiewicz University
students who receive education within the framework of the Erasmus Student Exchange
Program in the city of Poznan, Poland. Our objective was to make a comparison of the personal
and cultural change taking place between European Union (EU) students and Turkish
students throughout Erasmus Student Exchange Program. The subjects of this research
included EU member students from Adam Mickiewicz University and Turkish Erasmus
students. A total of 257 Erasmus students were included. With 102 randomly selected
students, face-to-face interviews have been conducted. As this was a comparative study, data
has been categorized under two titles: Turkish Students and Students of European Union
member countries. Frequency values of obtained data have been detected and the comparison of
each group has been descriptively made over these values. Our research findings validate that
throughout the Erasmus program certain personal changes occurred among students from the
EU countries and from Turkey. Although Turkish students experienced many individual
changes during the Erasmus Program, this present study determined that the state of belonging
to religion, nation and country is top priority in the minds of Turkish students. Our data has
shown that this state of belonging observable in Turkish students was not so intense in EU
students.

Keywords

Cultural change, prejudice, Erasmus exchange program, EU, Turkey

References

• Brock, C., Tulasiewicz, W. (1999) Education in single Europe. (2nd Ed.) New York: Routledge, p 9−15.