Impact of mobility on competence development within EU international lifelong learning programs

This article presents a study on the development of intercultural competences in students studying abroad involved in international education, namely two LLP Intensive Programs (IPs). The data show the extent to which, according to EAHE priorities, an educational model based on mobility abroad may foster the acquisition of competences fitting for a global society. The starting point is a longitudinal study conducted over a six-year time-span on 196 students who attended two consecutive 2 consecutive lifelong learning Intensive Programs including eleven Universities from eight European Countries. Such longitudinal study, based on self-evaluative questionnaires submitted to the participants at the end of each edition, by using multivariate analyses (i.e., Explorative and Confirmative Factorial Analysis, as well as Structural Equation Models) worked out a pattern of indicators that measure the dimensions involved in learning, describing competence as a holistic, multidimensional, developmental process associated with mobility abroad and personal growth.