Bringing theory into practice - European Identity within student mobility: case study of France, Germany and Poland

With the increasing phenomenon of student mobility, supported and made more feasible in Europe with the Bologna process, new expectations have been created. One of them follows a much discussed term in the sense of a higher awareness and attraction towards the so called European Identity. This topic plays an important role at the socio-cultural area of the European integration and has been a center of hard discussion both, at the political and theoretical level. It is at the theoretical level that statements including students, especially those who have had the opportunity to interact with other Europeans and realized of their commonalities are appointed to more likely identify with this identity. However, not much has been done to prove this statement. This paper tries to cover this important gap by offering an analysis and description of the level of identification with the European Identity within some students that have been abroad and some that have not. On the contrary of what has been said, this paper hypothesizes that students that have been abroad decrease their level of identification with the European identity and become more attached with their national identity. The sample was focused on three different countries, Poland, Germany and France. This with the intention of offering different perspectives and a broader picture of what the current situation is. Even if the results did not fully support the main hypothesis, important assumptions could be rescued.With the increasing phenomenon of student mobility, supported and made more feasible in Europe with the Bologna process, new expectations have been created. One of them follows a much discussed term in the sense of a higher awareness and attraction towards the so called European Identity. This topic plays an important role at the socio-cultural area of the European integration and has been a center of hard discussion both, at the political and theoretical level. It is at the theoretical level that statements including students, especially those who have had the opportunity to interact with other Europeans and realized of their commonalities are appointed to more likely identify with this identity. However, not much has been done to prove this statement. This paper tries to cover this important gap by offering an analysis and description of the level of identification with the European Identity within some students that have been abroad and some that have not. On the contrary of what has been said, this paper hypothesizes that students that have been abroad decrease their level of identification with the European identity and become more attached with their national identity. The sample was focused on three different countries, Poland, Germany and France. This with the intention of offering different perspectives and a broader picture of what the current situation is. Even if the results did not fully support the main hypothesis, important assumptions could be rescued