Social support of foreign exchange students in Slovenia

Študijska izmenjava je po navedbah številnih študentov, ki so bili del študijske izmenjave, nepozabna in edinstvena izkušnja, ki razširi obzorja. Vendar pa se študenti kljub končnim celostnim pozitivnim izkušnjam med izmenjavo velikokrat soočajo tudi z najrazličnejšimi težavami, preprekami in padci. Ne smemo pozabiti, da je študijska izmenjava študij v popolnoma novem in drugačnem okolju, daleč stran od družine, v kulturi z drugačnimi navadami in tujim jezikom. V svojem delu sem se osredotočila na vidik socialne opore med tujimi študenti, ki so prišli na izmenjavo v Slovenijo. Podrobneje želim raziskati vprašanje, na koga se ti študenti obračajo po pomoč v različnih situacijah – ali pomoč pretežno poiščejo pri svojih domačih ali pa oporo iščejo pri ljudeh, s katerimi so navezali stike oziroma poglobili odnose v Sloveniji. Naloga v teoretičnem delu vsebuje dva sklopa, kjer sem najprej predstavila koncept socialne opore in nato še mobilnost študentov Erasmus+. Temu sledi empirični del. Ker sem želela dano tematiko raziskati bolj poglobljeno, sem se odločila za kvalitativno raziskovanje, in sicer sem s študenti opravila polstrukturiran intervju.The study exchange is, according to many students who were part of it, an unforgettable and unique experience that broadens horizons. However, despite the final overall positive experience, students often face a variety of problems and obstacles during the exchange. We must not forget that study exchange means studying in a completely new and different environment, far away from the family, in a culture with different habits and a foreign language. In this paper I focused on the aspect of social support among foreign exchange students in Slovenia. I would be researching the question of who these students turn to for help in different situations - whether they still turn to their relatives at home or whether they seek support from people with whom they have established contacts or deepened relations in Slovenia. Theoretical part of this paper is structured into two parts where I first presented concept of social support and then Erasmus+ mobility programme. This is followed by empirical part. Because I wanted to explore a given topic in more depth, I decided on a qualitative research and I did a semi-structured interview with students