v2.0
InterCultural Reflection for Outgoing Students
Your journey abroad may be over—but its impact is just beginning. This course helps you unpack, understand, and grow from it.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the National Agency Epos vzw (granting authority). Neither the European Union nor Epos vzw can be held responsible for them.
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Introduction | Welcome
Welcome Back!
We are so glad you found your way back here!
You've just completed your journey abroad—what an achievement! Returning home after an exchange can be a bittersweet experience and bring a mix of feelings: excitement, nostalgia, familiarity—but maybe also a feeling of disorientation and disconnect. That’s not unusual at all! This reflection module is here to help you make sense of it all—connecting the dots between your intercultural growth, academic development, and personal insights. By taking a moment to pause and look back, you’ll discover just how much this journey has shaped you—and how it can continue to impact your future in meaningful ways.
Introduction | Feelings about being back
Whether your time abroad left you inspired or uncertain, this module is designed to help you reflect, grow, and make the most of your experience.
Introduction | Reflection Module
Why a Reflection Module?
This reflection module focuses on deepening your cultural self-awareness and developing skills like perspective-taking and open-mindedness, encouraging curiosity, respect, and reflection to support your ongoing intercultural and personal growth, even after returning home.
Did you know? Research shows that living in another culture than your own doesn’t automatically lead to intercultural learning—especially when your time abroad lasted just a few weeks or months. And with the fun and diversity of international student life, it’s easy to focus more on the international student community than on one specific culture. Research also suggests that short-term mobility, rather than fostering intercultural understanding, can sometimes reinforce stereotypes and prejudices if not accompanied by intentional reflection and learning.
That’s why taking time to reflect is so important.
Introduction | User instruction
How does this work?
Throughout the module, you will encounter various icons inviting you to think, explore, or take action. Click on each icon to reveal a detailed explanation.
The module takes 60 - 90 minutes to complete, and we recommend spreading it out over two sessions to give yourself a break in between.
Once you've completed the online part, you'll join an in-person session where you can share your experiences and insights with other students who’ve just returned from studying, interning or researching abroad. It’s a great chance to connect, compare stories, and learn from each other.
Take your time as you move through the module—there’s no rush. You’ll find videos, articles, and other resources to explore along the way. The questions are here to help you think openly and honestly about your experiences. Your answers in the module will be registered but not used for any purpose. If you’d like to revisit your reflections later, feel free to write them down elsewhere as you go.
Recap
Key term
task
Reflection Question
Watch video
further resources
Introduction | Intercultural Learning
Each chapter has a learning goal:
This module consits of 5 chapters:
Remembering what culture is, Understanding the connection between culture and identity, Reflecting on one's own identity
Culture and Identity
Deepen your understanding of how your motivations and expectations shape your perception of international experiences and the host community.
Motivations and expectations
inequality and privileges
Enhance your understanding of how inequality, discrimination, and privilege influence your intercultural experiences.
Intercultural Experiences
Reflect on how your background shapes your perception of intercultural encounters and reverse culture shock, gaining insight into your personal journey of cultural adjustment.
Continued development and employability
Apply strategies for ongoing intercultural learning and recognize how intercultural competence supports your personal growth and employability.
Culture and Identity
In this chapter you recap the relationship between culture and identity. You examine your own cultural identity and self-perception following the time you spent abroad.
Culture and Identity | Recap
Connection between Culture and Identity
Cultural awareness really comes into focus when you move between cultures. Moments of conflict or discomfort can offer valuable insights into the deeper layers of culture, helping you better understand not just your own cultural identity, but also the identity of others.
Our identity is strongly connected to the culture(s) we arre surrounded by. They immensely shape our core values and beliefs. During an extended experience in a different cultural setting - adaptation processes Exposing ourselves to intercultural conflicts and challenges allows us to develop tools and instruments to identify and handle challenging situations. - cultural awareness
Culture and The iceberg model
Culture and Identity | Your cultural Identity
Culture and Identity | Your cultural Identity
Connection between Culture and Identity
Instead, we should focus on recognizing individuality, remembering that personal interactions are about connecting with unique individuals, not just representatives of a culture. While cultural values and norms are influential, identity is also shaped by intersecting categories such as class, race, gender, and social hierarchy. As you continue your journey of self-awareness and cultural exploration, it’s important to reflect not only on your cultural identity and heritage but also on what motivates and drives you forward.
In the previous exercises, you took some time to reflect on what defines you and what matters most to you. Some aspects may have come to mind right away, while others took a bit more thought. Some elements of your identity may have always been clear to you, while others might have been shaped or reinforced during your time abroad. Either way, you've created a picture of yourself as an individual.
This process highlights an important point: When we talk about culture and identity, we can’t reduce people to cultural stereotypes.
Motivations and Expectations
This chapter leads you through a structured reflection on your motivations & expectations for your stay abroad and how they may have shaped your experiences abroad.
Culture and Identity | Motivations
Motivations
Personal Growth
Future Career
Personal Growth
New Academic Perspectives
New Academic Perspectives
Above, students share a wide range of motivations for going abroad. Did you find your own motivations reflected? Were your reasons for embarking on an international experience entirely different? In this chapter, you’ll have the chance to explore your own motivations and expectations for your time abroad. Take a moment to reflect on how these motivations, along with the outcomes of your experience, have shaped the way you perceive your host community and culture.
Culture and Identity | Prioritizing Motivations
Please take a moment to think about the different motivations that were relevant to you when you decided to go abroad: What inspired your decision to participate in an exchange, and which factors influenced your choice the most?
Culture and Identity |Statistics on motivations
Curious about what others thought?
Motivations to go on a mobility:
According to a 2024 study by the Erasmus Student Network AISBL, the top motivation for going abroad was “to experience different learning environments”, followed closely by “to meet new people” and “to live abroad”.
Erasmus+ for Study
Erasmus+ for Traineeship
Culture and Identity | Reflecting on motivations
Why is it so important to reflect on your motivation(s) for going abroad?
Research highlights a clear link between successful adjustment and intrinsic motivation, personal commitment, and a sense of identification to the value of studying abroad.
Students who feel they made the decision to study abroad independently, and who feel sufficiently prepared, tend to be happier, less stressed, and more successful in adjusting to their new environment. In contrast, those who feel they were pushed or encouraged into the experience by others or external circumstances often face greater challenges in adapting.
Adjustment
My motivations
Culture and Identity | Expectations
Expectations
The difference between what students expect from their time abroad and what they actually experience is a major cause of stress, according to research. These feelings of stress and dissatisfaction or even disappointment are easily transferred to the host community and its culture, sometimes reinforcing negative stereotypes and prejudices. Re-evaluating how realistic and well-informed your expectations were may give you a different perspective on why they were not met.
Culture and Identity | Expectations
Think back to what you expected before your time abroad - now compare that to what you've actually experienced.
For each area on the following pages, write one sentence for your expectation and one for the reality.
If you participated in the Intercultural Preparation module and wrote the “Letter to Yourself” you may use it to help you remember your expectations for going on a mobility.
1. Myself
Culture and Identity | Expectations
2. My peers
3. the local culture
Culture and Identity | Expectations
4. the University/Internship Placement
Culture and Identity | Stereotypes and prejudices
stereotypes and prejudices
Stereotypes and prejudices can arise from seeing a person as representative of a group rather than as an individual. During intercultural encounters, focus on the person before you: with their own goals, personality, and experiences—not a cultural stereotype.
In Chapter 4 you’ll have the opportunity to recap one of your experiences and hone your skills in changing perspective.
Spending time abroad doesn’t automatically lead to a deeper understanding of our culture, norms, values – or that of other’s. Instead, it can sometimes lead to a superficial view and reinforce stereotypes and prejudices – especially if paired with unrealistic expectations.
Reflecting on your motivations and expectations for an international experience as well as your cultural perspective may help you to move beyond surface impressions toward a more meaningful understanding of intercultural experiences.
Further Resources
Key teRm: prejudice
Key teRm: Stereotype
Final reflections
Inequality and Privileges
This chapter fosters your critical awareness of how inequality, discrimination, and privilege influence individual life experiences and opportunities, and the social dynamics that shape intercultural encounters—both during your time abroad and beyond.
Inequality and Privileges | Inequality
Economic Inequality, Social inequality, Discrimination
Although you probably went abroad to practise a language, discover exciting foods and meet new people, experiencing a different cultural environment can also make you aware of inequality and discrimination for the first time.
When we talk about inequality, we’re referring to the uneven distribution of resources, opportunities, and rights within a society shaping people’s lives in very different ways. Inequality can take different forms, e.g.: economic
inequality, social inequality, racial inequality, that are often interconnected.
International experiences make these dynamics especially visible: They not only reveal how deeply discrimination and privilege are embedded in societies but also encourage reflection on one’s own position and responsibilities. Understanding how these different layers of inequality interact, both at home and abroad, is essential for developing a more inclusive and fair society in intercultural contexts.
Economic inequality
Social inequality
raCial inequality
Further Resources
Inequality and Privileges | Economic Inequality
example: poverty
Poverty isn’t always visible, but it can shape nearly every part of a student’s life. Even with free higher education, economic differences influence who can fully participate—relocating, paying for activities, or affording tools like a laptop can be constant sources of stress and loss of dignity. Limited financial means can affect how students take part in social and cultural life. Excursions, study abroad experiences, or unpaid internships often become moments of exclusion. The impact runs deeper than missed opportunities: It affects a student’s confidence and dignity and can lead to isolation, a weakened sense of belonging, and fewer future opportunities, reinforcing cycles of disadvantag.
ReflecTive questions
Inequality and Privileges | Social Inequality
example: Employment discrimination
In many labor markets, individuals with foreign-sounding names face systemic barriers to employment. Studies have shown that job applicants with names perceived as non-local or ethnically marked are less likely to be called for interviews—even when their qualifications are identical to those of applicants with locally familiar names. These barriers are not about merit or competence; they reveal structural prejudices embedded in hiring practices. The result is unequal access to job opportunities, reduced social mobility, and a sense of exclusion that can discourage individuals from fully participating in the workforce—reinforcing broader patterns of racial and ethnic inequality.
ReflecTive questions
Inequality and Privileges | Racial Inequality
example: criminal justice
Within the European Union, persons perceived as non-European are more likely to be subjected to identity checks and scrutiny at borders, even when traveling legally within the Schengen Area. For example, BIPOC* residents report being disproportionately stopped by border police on trains, at airports, or during internal travel. These practices, often based on appearance rather than legal grounds, amount to racial profiling. They reflect deeper structural inequalities tied to Europe’s colonial past and assumptions about who “belongs.”
ReflecTive questions
*BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) is used here as an academic term. It must be noted that everyone has a color, including of course white people. ‘Color’ as such is a social construct, specifically designed to create the presumed differences and hierarchies between the same human race.
Inequality and Privileges | Privilege
privilege
“If you don’t have to think about it, it’s a privilege.”Discrimination is not only about disadvantage; its other side is privilege. International experiences and intercultural encounters can shed a light on often invisible, “normal” or taken for granted privileges.
A student who moves easily across borders may not notice how much effort or stress their peers face in securing a visa. Students and graduates in financially secure situations may consider the unpaid internship abroad without realizing why others can’t.
This lack of awareness makes it difficult for the advantaged to recognize the role these privileges play in reinforcing inequalities and challenging for the disadvantaged to address and dismantle the systems that maintain them. Recognizing and understanding privilege, inequality and discrimination can help you to unpack your intercultural experiences abroad and at home.
Privilege
Discrimination
Inequality and Privileges | Travel and immigration
example: travel and immigration
How easily you can travel often depends on the strength of your passport. Some passports let you visit many countries without a visa, while others come with long, expensive, and tricky application processes—or even outright bans. This means more people from wealthier, more powerful countries can travel freely for work, study, or fun, while others face unfair obstacles. Passport privilege creates real inequalities, making it harder for many to access opportunities around the world.
Think about whether it was easy for you to enter your host county. Then look up your passport strength. How does your country rank among the 179 ranks?
Inequality and Privileges | Inequality and Privileges
Examples to explore:
- Being a racial or ethnic minority for the first time.
- Experiencing language barriers.
- Being stereotyped as a "rich Westerner”/ a “complaining German”/...
- Losing access to family networks or familiar systems.
Inequality and Privileges | Conclusion
conclusion
Privileges and discrimination aren't something you need to feel guilty or embarrassed about, but it is important to recognize that they exist. They can influence the opportunities you're given, how others perceive you, and even how you behave—often in ways you might not even realize. While you’re not responsible for the privileges you inherit, you do have a responsibility to acknowledge and understand their impact and provide space to those who have less privileges. Recognizing these privileges is a key step in contributing to a more equal and just society for everyone.
Break: We suggest taking a break here. Come back with a fresh mind!
Intercultural Experiences
This chapter guides you through the structured documentation and reflection of your intercultural experiences. You'll explore key concepts helping you make sense of these encounters and develop practical strategies to better navigate cultural challenges and diverse environments in the future.
Intercultural Experiences | Introduction
Introduction - Intercultural Encounters
During your time abroad, intercultural encounters and diverse settings were probably an integral part of your everyday life. But intercultural encounters are not limited to time spend abroad—they also happen at home, in situations with people who rely on a different frame of reference to make sense of the world than you do. When we understand culture as more than just nationality or ethnicity, but including class, race, gender, etc, it becomes easier to recognize how often these moments occur.
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
Intercultural Encounters
Think back to an intercultural encounter you experienced during your time abroad you would like to explore further. Here are some examples from the Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters (AIE) by the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe:
- A young Bulgarian woman got to know a Hungarian and a Turkish guy at an international airport in the US. She was intrigued by the different ways they responded to critically delayed flights.
- A university student arriving in France, frightened and tired, and being amazed at how friendly and caring the bus driver could be.
This next exercise, based on the AIE, is here to help you reflect on and learn from that moment.You’ll be guided through a series of questions, step by step. You don’t need to answer every single one, but if you do choose to respond, try to follow the order—they’re designed to build on each other.
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
1. The situation
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
2. your reaction
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
2. your reaction
Complete the sentence:
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
3. their perspective
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
3. their perspective
How do you know?
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
3. their perspective
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
4. Making sense
We often compare specific aspects we notice in other communities or cultures to similar things in our own. Have you done this? Did it help you understand what was going on?
Frame of reference
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
4. Making sense
Intercultural Experiences | Culture Shock
Recap: culture shock
Culture Shock
Now, take a moment to create your own curve for your time abroad. Use the axes time (X) and well-being (Y) to visualize your own acculturation process.
Intercultural Experiences | Reverse Culture Shock
Reverse culture shock
“When you come back, you have changed. Everything else has stayed the same and that brings the foreign into the familiar” – Ulrich Dettweiler, Professor of Pedagogy, University of Stavanger
Returning home can be a bittersweet experience. There’s joy in returning to loved ones and enjoying the comfort of familiarity. However, during your time abroad, you’ve changed: While everything around you may feel the same, you now see it through a different lens, which can make the familiar feel foreign. This state may lead to a second phase of acculturation stress – also called reverse culture shock. Similar to the initial culture shock this phase can bring feelings of confusion and frustration, as things you once knew well now seem unfamiliar or uncomfortable.
Your time abroad has shifted your perspectives, and recognizing that it's your perception—not your environment—that has changed is key to readjusting. This awareness can ease your transition and help you integrate your new identity with life at home.
Intercultural Experiences | Reverse Culture Shock Curve
Reverse culture shock Curve
Intercultural Experiences | Reverse Culture Shock
how to handle reverse culture shock
If you're currently experiencing reverse culture shock, here are a few tips that might help ease your transition back home:
Communication
Low-scale free time activities
Academic context
Resources on Reverse Culture Shock
Continuous Development and Emoployability
In this chapter, you will explore practical strategies to keep growing in your intercultural journey and discover how your intercultural competencies can strengthen your employability.
Continued Development and Employability | Introduction
Introduction
Now that you’re back home, it’s easy to fall into familiar routines—but this is a great time to pause and reflect. Beyond practical gains like language skills, your time abroad likely shaped how you think, adapt, and relate to others. The learning went deeper than adjusting to a new culture—it involved questioning assumptions, handling unfamiliar situations, and becoming more self-aware.
In this final chapter, you’ll explore how to continue building on those intercultural skills. Competencies like adaptability, self-awareness, and intercultural communication aren’t just useful abroad—they’re valuable in your everyday life and professional path as well.
Continued Development and Employability | Self-check
self-check
On a scale from 1 to 10 – 1 being “not at all”, 5 being “average” and 10 being “completely”, how much do you agree with these statements?
Continued Development and Employability | Self-check
Continued Development and Employability | Continued Learning
Your intercultural learning journey does not end here
Even though you’re back at home, there are still plenty of ways to stay engaged interculturally—if you choose to seek them out. In fact, your everyday environment can be full of opportunities to continue growing your intercultural skills and your international networks.
It’s all about continuing your intercultural learning journey.
Local Erasmus Initiatives
Buddy Systems
Language Tandems
Book Clubs in Foreign Languages
International Summer or Winter Schools
...
Continued Development and Employability | Next steps
What will i do next?
Complete these sentences:
Continued Development and Employability | Employability
Employability
Looking a little bit further into the future, we want to look at how studying or interning abroad for a time influences your employability skills.
Spending time abroad doesn’t just enrich your academic journey—it can also give you a real advantage when it comes to your future career. Research backs this up: a major 2014 study on the Erasmus mobility programme found that students who studied or trained abroad developed key skills that employers truly value—things like adaptability, communication, and problem-solving across cultures.
The impact is tangible. According to the study, graduates with international experience had noticeably better job prospects than those who stayed local. They were only half as likely to experience long-term unemployment, and even five years after graduation, their employment rate was still more than 20% higher. In other words, your time abroad isn’t just a chapter in your personal story—it’s also a powerful asset in your professional journey.
Continued Development and Employability | Employability
Insipiration
Watch video “How to Articulate Skills and Competencies gained while studying Abroad” and answer the questions on the following pages
Continued Development and Employability | Employability
Tips
- Spell it out! Specify the personal traits and skills you developed during your time abroad.
- Focus on your personal experiences! What did you learn during your time abroad and how did it affect your personal and professional development?
- Taylor it to the job advertisement! What skills and competencies that you developed abroad are relevant to this specific job?
- Tell a story! Connect the personal traits and skills you developed abroad to specific experiences.
Further questions to think about if you like.
Congratulations
Your time abroad may be over, but your intercultural learning continues. The skills you’ve gained—like language abilities, flexibility, and intercultural communication—will benefit you for life. Conversations and new perspectives help strengthening your intercultural competence, which is a lifelong journey. You've completed the online portion of the Intercultural Reflection Module, but the process isn't over yet. In the upcoming in-person training, you'll connect with fellow returnees to share experiences, reflect, and learn together. Until then, feel free to revisit any sections or explore additional materials. See you soon!
Economic inequality refers to the unequal distribution of wealth, income, and access to financial resources often seen as poverty. Poverty is the outcome of complex economic, social, political, and historical processes that privilege some while marginalizing others, making it generally not an individual responsibility. But economic inequality also includes more subtle forms, such as differences in job security, wages, or the ability to accumulate savings and assets over time. These economic imbalances often shape a person’s life chances and limit their ability to fully participate in society, hence leading to social exclusion.
What was your main motivation for going abroad? Did it play out, how you expected?
- Personal Development:
- Did I increase my independence, (cultural) flexibility, self-awareness?
- Did I explore a different side of me?
- Professional Development:
- Did I gain insight into local and international practices specific to my future working field?
- Are my future career prospects enhanced? Is my attractiveness to employers increased?
- Academic Development:
- Do I feel like I improved my academic performance?
- Was studying/interning in a different setting easy or challenging for me?
- Social Development:
- Did I find it hard to become a part of a group, a club, to find friends?
- Did it become easier over time to built intercultural relationships?
- Intercultural Development:
- Did I get to engage with people from different cultural backgrounds?
- Have I broadened my worldview and increased my understanding of global (shared) challenges?
- Did I get comfortable navigating different cultural contexts?
- Did I develop skills related to internationalisation? What made this development possible?
Texts:
- White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh
- The fears of white people, Robert Jensen.
Key Term: Adjustment
Intercultural adjustment describes the intentional alteration of perspectives, behaviors, attitudes, habits, and lifestyles in order to fit better and to functionsmoothly in a different setting or in an unfamiliar environment. Emotional regulation and mental negotiation are also essential to any adjustment. Therefore, a successful intercultural adjustment involves both subjective and objective experiences as well as a healthy level of self-awareness and examination.(Yoo, Matsumoto, & LeRoux, 2006 ).
Academic Context
- Participating in a workshop or training for returning students that covers topics like reverse culture shock and managing challenges at home
- Forming or joining student organizations for returnees can provide a supportive community where you can share your stories and engage in cross-cultural events on campus
- Participating in activities with international degree seekers at your home university
- Looking for a language tandem or participating in a buddy system
Buddy Systems
Becoming a buddy means you’ll be paired with an international student who’s just beginning their journey at your university. You’ll be their go-to person for tips on everything from registering for classes to figuring out where to get the best coffee in town. For your buddy, that support can make a world of difference—and for you, it’s a chance to strengthen your intercultural communication skills and broaden your perspective.
https://www.smallplanetstudio.com/episode3/
https://lu-international-podcast.transistor.fm/episodes/returning-home-after-an-exchange
Reflection Question
Prompts to help you think critically about a topic.
In the Intercultural Preparation, we introduced you to the concept of culture shock—the feeling of disorientation and stress that can arise when transitioning from a familiar culture to an unfamiliar one. This happens because everyday situations, cultural norms, and social practices are different—even if seemingly slightly—from what you’re used to. You may have noticed how the excitement of a new environment can fade, and the challenge of adjusting to a different culture begins to feel more real and challenging. The unfamiliarity of new customs, habits, and social interactions can create emotional stress, making it necessary to find ways to balance your previous cultural identity with the new one you’re navigating.
Key Term: Culture
As you’ve already learned, culture is made up of both visible elements—like language, clothing, art, and food—and invisible aspects, such as values, norms, hierarchies and worldviews. In the preparation module, we used the iceberg metaphor to show that the visible parts of culture are just the tip of the iceberg, and that the deeper components take time, careful observation and critical reflection of oneself to uncover.
That said, the iceberg model has its limitations. It doesn’t quite capture the reality that individuals can hold multiple cultural identities. Our cultural identity is constantly evolving, influenced by our experiences and interactions with others. It's more than just ethnicity or nationality—it also includes social class, gender, social constructs of race, privileges, and personal worldviews.
The study mentioned above found that, when making hiring decisions, 92% of employers look for skills and personality traits developed during a stay abroad, such as tolerance, self-confidence, problem-solving skills, curiosity, self-awareness and decisiveness. Upon returning from their time abroad with Erasmus, mobile students demonstrated an average increase in these values of 42% compared to other students.
In the previous exercise, you reflected on an intercultural encounter from two perspectives: your own and the other person’s. This likely reminded you of a key concept from the Intercultural Preparation—frames of reference.A frame of reference is the unique lens through which we interpret the world, shaped by our cultural norms, social, and personal experiences. It’s influenced by the groups we belong to, the people we interact with, and the values we absorb. Although deeply personal, our frame is also shaped by the broader culture, class, gender & race we live in/belong to. When navigating between cultures, this frame is often challenged, prompting us to reassess how we perceive and respond to different situations.
Structural privilege can be understood to mean that social collectives have privileged access to economic, political and social resources such as wealth, property, employment or education. Institutions such as authorities, security apparatuses, educational institutions, etc. work in their favour. This unequal access to resources is a result of social relations (gender relations, racism, ableism). Privileged collectives benefit from a regime of representation that marks their identities or bodies as 'natural' or 'normal'. As a result, they can present their own interests and perspectives as 'universal'. All this regardless of their achievements, politically progressive attitudes or personal intentions. (Walgenbach 2022)
Book Clubs in Foreign Languages
Some universities or local communities offer book clubs in different languages—maybe even the one you spoke abroad. Joining one gives you the chance to keep engaging with that language and culture in a thoughtful, enjoyable way. Plus, discussing literature from other cultures often opens up meaningful conversations about different perspectives and values.
Social inequality, is about exclusion. It refers to unequal access to rights, recognition, and participation in social, cultural, or political life. This can include discrimination based on gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or migration status. People affected by social inequality may find themselves excluded from decision-making processes, facing barriers to education or employment, or experience social stigma and marginalization.
1. Did I see discrimination in my host country? 2. Did I experience discrimination? How do I think about my host country now?3. Am I now more likely to notice discrimination in my home country? Why is this?
Stereotypes, prejudices, Discrimination:
https://youtu.be/6Hr2XpBc_B4?feature=shared
https://training.improdova.eu/en/training-modules-for-the-health-sector/module-8-stereotypes-and-unconscious-bias/
https://www.learningforjustice.org/professional-development/test-yourself-for-hidden-bias
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iaan2XSw6ho
https://kopin.org/portfolio-items/activity-2-prejudice-stereotypes-discrimination-and-inclusion/
Recap
Reminds you of a term or a concept alread known from the preparation module.
Further Resources
Suggested resources for deeper exploration of the topic.
Final Reflections
1. Were my expectations for the time abroad realistic?
2. Have my overall expectations for my international experience been met?
If no, do I feel unsatisfied with my international experience because my expectations have not been met?
3. Did I judge people too quickly and found myself using stereotypes or even prejudices about people or groups?
International Summer or Winter Schools
If you’re already feeling the itch to go abroad again, short-term programs like international summer or winter schools might be the perfect next step. These programs bring together students from around the world to study, collaborate, and explore new cultural contexts. It’s a great way to keep expanding your intercultural skills in a more intensive, yet time-limited, setting. Start by checking your university’s International Office or browsing online—you might be surprised by what’s out there.
Personal Development: to be able to be my true self or explore my identity; to become more independent/resilient; to develop interpersonal skillsAcademic Development: to experience different learning environments; to improve my academic performance; to participate in a specific class; to gain a different perspective on my study field/future working field Professional Development: to build up a professional network; to enhance my future career prospectsSocial Development: to participate in social activities, such as new sports, traveling, crafts; to develop new (international) relationships and friendship groups Intercultural Development: to develop my skills related to internationalisation; to engage with people from different cultural backgrounds; to gain knowledge of another culture; to learn/improve a foreign language
Local Erasmus Intitiatives
These initiatives don’t just encourage students to go abroad—they also play a big role in helping international students feel at home when they arrive. If you get involved, you’ll be offering support and guidance on student life and the ins and outs of daily routines, all while building friendships across cultures. The Erasmus Initiatives are often connected on a national and European level so you can even engage oustide of your local bubble. It’s a great way to keep that global mindset alive while making a real difference for someone new.
Stereotype
Stereotypes are beliefs and opinions about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of various groups (Hilton & von Hippel, 1996). They simplify our understanding of others by categorizing individuals based on their group identity, often leading to generalized assumptions.
Prejudice
Prejudice is an attitude or emotional response directed towards an entire social group or the individuals within that group (Brewer & Brown, 1998). It often encompasses both negative evaluations and feelings that can influence how we perceive and interact with others.
Low-scale free time activities
- Watching movies in the language you spoke abroad
- Eating all the foods you enjoyed during the stay abroad
Task
Real-world example to illustrate the application of concepts in study abroad.
“I am keen to gain new experiences abroad, develop new international contacts and improve my language skills.”
“I see a semester abroad as an important chance to grow and mature personally. It is a great opportunity to broaden one's horizons.”
Communication
- Truly expressing your needs to your family and friends: “I feel disorientated and misunderstood. I have a strong desire to talk about my experiences there and the confusion I feel here. I don’t always feel heard or people taking the time to listen. Would you mind just listening to me for an evening”?
- Engaging with other returnees, who understand your situation
“I hope that the semester abroad will give me a new perspective on the various fields of my studies, as the courses abroad have a different focus to those at my home university."
1. Did I see exclusion in my host country? 2. Did I experience exclusion or social inequality in my host country? How did it make me feel? 3. Do I think differently about my host country now?4. Am I now more likely to see exclusion where I live?
Language Tandems
Miss speaking the language you used abroad or want to learn a new language? A language tandem could be just what you need. You and a partner meet regularly to help each other practice your native languages. It’s a casual, mutual exchange—half the time in one language, half in the other. Not only does this help keep your language skills fresh, but it also deepens your understanding of how culture and language go hand in hand.
“Especially for my studies in law, I hope that a semester abroad will give me an international perspective that will open up new viewpoints on the German legal system. This perspective is not only important for my personal and professional development, but also for my future career aspirations .”
“The opportunity to broaden my horizon with the national language as well as to gain an insight into a different culture gives me the positive feeling that I am laying an important foundation for my future career.”
Discrimination is a behavior that leads to the unequal treatment of people because of their (perceived) group memberships. Discriminatory behavior, ranging from minor offenses to hate crimes, often begins with negative stereotypes and prejudices.
Wacth Video
Visual content to deepen your understanding through lectures, demonstrations, or real-world examples.
1. Did I see poverty in my host country? What emotional feeling did it evoke in me? 2. Did I experience poverty or economic inequality in my host country? How did it make me feel?3. Do I think differently about my host country now?4. Will I be more aware of poverty in my home country?
Racial inequality refers to unequal access to rights, resources, and opportunities based on race. It is rooted in historical systems like colonialism, which established and reinforced racial hierarchies. These structures continue to shape institutions and everyday life, leading to systemic disadvantages for racialized groups across areas such as education, employment, and political representation.
Key Term
Important definiton that enhances your undestanding of the topic.
2026-06-03_V.2.0: Intercultural debriefing
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v2.0
InterCultural Reflection for Outgoing Students
Your journey abroad may be over—but its impact is just beginning. This course helps you unpack, understand, and grow from it.
Start
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the National Agency Epos vzw (granting authority). Neither the European Union nor Epos vzw can be held responsible for them.
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Introduction | Welcome
Welcome Back!
We are so glad you found your way back here!
You've just completed your journey abroad—what an achievement! Returning home after an exchange can be a bittersweet experience and bring a mix of feelings: excitement, nostalgia, familiarity—but maybe also a feeling of disorientation and disconnect. That’s not unusual at all! This reflection module is here to help you make sense of it all—connecting the dots between your intercultural growth, academic development, and personal insights. By taking a moment to pause and look back, you’ll discover just how much this journey has shaped you—and how it can continue to impact your future in meaningful ways.
Introduction | Feelings about being back
Whether your time abroad left you inspired or uncertain, this module is designed to help you reflect, grow, and make the most of your experience.
Introduction | Reflection Module
Why a Reflection Module?
This reflection module focuses on deepening your cultural self-awareness and developing skills like perspective-taking and open-mindedness, encouraging curiosity, respect, and reflection to support your ongoing intercultural and personal growth, even after returning home.
Did you know? Research shows that living in another culture than your own doesn’t automatically lead to intercultural learning—especially when your time abroad lasted just a few weeks or months. And with the fun and diversity of international student life, it’s easy to focus more on the international student community than on one specific culture. Research also suggests that short-term mobility, rather than fostering intercultural understanding, can sometimes reinforce stereotypes and prejudices if not accompanied by intentional reflection and learning. That’s why taking time to reflect is so important.
Introduction | User instruction
How does this work?
Throughout the module, you will encounter various icons inviting you to think, explore, or take action. Click on each icon to reveal a detailed explanation.
The module takes 60 - 90 minutes to complete, and we recommend spreading it out over two sessions to give yourself a break in between. Once you've completed the online part, you'll join an in-person session where you can share your experiences and insights with other students who’ve just returned from studying, interning or researching abroad. It’s a great chance to connect, compare stories, and learn from each other. Take your time as you move through the module—there’s no rush. You’ll find videos, articles, and other resources to explore along the way. The questions are here to help you think openly and honestly about your experiences. Your answers in the module will be registered but not used for any purpose. If you’d like to revisit your reflections later, feel free to write them down elsewhere as you go.
Recap
Key term
task
Reflection Question
Watch video
further resources
Introduction | Intercultural Learning
Each chapter has a learning goal:
This module consits of 5 chapters:
Remembering what culture is, Understanding the connection between culture and identity, Reflecting on one's own identity
Culture and Identity
Deepen your understanding of how your motivations and expectations shape your perception of international experiences and the host community.
Motivations and expectations
inequality and privileges
Enhance your understanding of how inequality, discrimination, and privilege influence your intercultural experiences.
Intercultural Experiences
Reflect on how your background shapes your perception of intercultural encounters and reverse culture shock, gaining insight into your personal journey of cultural adjustment.
Continued development and employability
Apply strategies for ongoing intercultural learning and recognize how intercultural competence supports your personal growth and employability.
Culture and Identity
In this chapter you recap the relationship between culture and identity. You examine your own cultural identity and self-perception following the time you spent abroad.
Culture and Identity | Recap
Connection between Culture and Identity
Cultural awareness really comes into focus when you move between cultures. Moments of conflict or discomfort can offer valuable insights into the deeper layers of culture, helping you better understand not just your own cultural identity, but also the identity of others.
Our identity is strongly connected to the culture(s) we arre surrounded by. They immensely shape our core values and beliefs. During an extended experience in a different cultural setting - adaptation processes Exposing ourselves to intercultural conflicts and challenges allows us to develop tools and instruments to identify and handle challenging situations. - cultural awareness
Culture and The iceberg model
Culture and Identity | Your cultural Identity
Culture and Identity | Your cultural Identity
Connection between Culture and Identity
Instead, we should focus on recognizing individuality, remembering that personal interactions are about connecting with unique individuals, not just representatives of a culture. While cultural values and norms are influential, identity is also shaped by intersecting categories such as class, race, gender, and social hierarchy. As you continue your journey of self-awareness and cultural exploration, it’s important to reflect not only on your cultural identity and heritage but also on what motivates and drives you forward.
In the previous exercises, you took some time to reflect on what defines you and what matters most to you. Some aspects may have come to mind right away, while others took a bit more thought. Some elements of your identity may have always been clear to you, while others might have been shaped or reinforced during your time abroad. Either way, you've created a picture of yourself as an individual. This process highlights an important point: When we talk about culture and identity, we can’t reduce people to cultural stereotypes.
Motivations and Expectations
This chapter leads you through a structured reflection on your motivations & expectations for your stay abroad and how they may have shaped your experiences abroad.
Culture and Identity | Motivations
Motivations
Personal Growth
Future Career
Personal Growth
New Academic Perspectives
New Academic Perspectives
Above, students share a wide range of motivations for going abroad. Did you find your own motivations reflected? Were your reasons for embarking on an international experience entirely different? In this chapter, you’ll have the chance to explore your own motivations and expectations for your time abroad. Take a moment to reflect on how these motivations, along with the outcomes of your experience, have shaped the way you perceive your host community and culture.
Culture and Identity | Prioritizing Motivations
Please take a moment to think about the different motivations that were relevant to you when you decided to go abroad: What inspired your decision to participate in an exchange, and which factors influenced your choice the most?
Culture and Identity |Statistics on motivations
Curious about what others thought?
Motivations to go on a mobility:
According to a 2024 study by the Erasmus Student Network AISBL, the top motivation for going abroad was “to experience different learning environments”, followed closely by “to meet new people” and “to live abroad”.
Erasmus+ for Study
Erasmus+ for Traineeship
Culture and Identity | Reflecting on motivations
Why is it so important to reflect on your motivation(s) for going abroad?
Research highlights a clear link between successful adjustment and intrinsic motivation, personal commitment, and a sense of identification to the value of studying abroad. Students who feel they made the decision to study abroad independently, and who feel sufficiently prepared, tend to be happier, less stressed, and more successful in adjusting to their new environment. In contrast, those who feel they were pushed or encouraged into the experience by others or external circumstances often face greater challenges in adapting.
Adjustment
My motivations
Culture and Identity | Expectations
Expectations
The difference between what students expect from their time abroad and what they actually experience is a major cause of stress, according to research. These feelings of stress and dissatisfaction or even disappointment are easily transferred to the host community and its culture, sometimes reinforcing negative stereotypes and prejudices. Re-evaluating how realistic and well-informed your expectations were may give you a different perspective on why they were not met.
Culture and Identity | Expectations
Think back to what you expected before your time abroad - now compare that to what you've actually experienced. For each area on the following pages, write one sentence for your expectation and one for the reality. If you participated in the Intercultural Preparation module and wrote the “Letter to Yourself” you may use it to help you remember your expectations for going on a mobility.
1. Myself
Culture and Identity | Expectations
2. My peers
3. the local culture
Culture and Identity | Expectations
4. the University/Internship Placement
Culture and Identity | Stereotypes and prejudices
stereotypes and prejudices
Stereotypes and prejudices can arise from seeing a person as representative of a group rather than as an individual. During intercultural encounters, focus on the person before you: with their own goals, personality, and experiences—not a cultural stereotype. In Chapter 4 you’ll have the opportunity to recap one of your experiences and hone your skills in changing perspective.
Spending time abroad doesn’t automatically lead to a deeper understanding of our culture, norms, values – or that of other’s. Instead, it can sometimes lead to a superficial view and reinforce stereotypes and prejudices – especially if paired with unrealistic expectations. Reflecting on your motivations and expectations for an international experience as well as your cultural perspective may help you to move beyond surface impressions toward a more meaningful understanding of intercultural experiences.
Further Resources
Key teRm: prejudice
Key teRm: Stereotype
Final reflections
Inequality and Privileges
This chapter fosters your critical awareness of how inequality, discrimination, and privilege influence individual life experiences and opportunities, and the social dynamics that shape intercultural encounters—both during your time abroad and beyond.
Inequality and Privileges | Inequality
Economic Inequality, Social inequality, Discrimination
Although you probably went abroad to practise a language, discover exciting foods and meet new people, experiencing a different cultural environment can also make you aware of inequality and discrimination for the first time. When we talk about inequality, we’re referring to the uneven distribution of resources, opportunities, and rights within a society shaping people’s lives in very different ways. Inequality can take different forms, e.g.: economic inequality, social inequality, racial inequality, that are often interconnected. International experiences make these dynamics especially visible: They not only reveal how deeply discrimination and privilege are embedded in societies but also encourage reflection on one’s own position and responsibilities. Understanding how these different layers of inequality interact, both at home and abroad, is essential for developing a more inclusive and fair society in intercultural contexts.
Economic inequality
Social inequality
raCial inequality
Further Resources
Inequality and Privileges | Economic Inequality
example: poverty
Poverty isn’t always visible, but it can shape nearly every part of a student’s life. Even with free higher education, economic differences influence who can fully participate—relocating, paying for activities, or affording tools like a laptop can be constant sources of stress and loss of dignity. Limited financial means can affect how students take part in social and cultural life. Excursions, study abroad experiences, or unpaid internships often become moments of exclusion. The impact runs deeper than missed opportunities: It affects a student’s confidence and dignity and can lead to isolation, a weakened sense of belonging, and fewer future opportunities, reinforcing cycles of disadvantag.
ReflecTive questions
Inequality and Privileges | Social Inequality
example: Employment discrimination
In many labor markets, individuals with foreign-sounding names face systemic barriers to employment. Studies have shown that job applicants with names perceived as non-local or ethnically marked are less likely to be called for interviews—even when their qualifications are identical to those of applicants with locally familiar names. These barriers are not about merit or competence; they reveal structural prejudices embedded in hiring practices. The result is unequal access to job opportunities, reduced social mobility, and a sense of exclusion that can discourage individuals from fully participating in the workforce—reinforcing broader patterns of racial and ethnic inequality.
ReflecTive questions
Inequality and Privileges | Racial Inequality
example: criminal justice
Within the European Union, persons perceived as non-European are more likely to be subjected to identity checks and scrutiny at borders, even when traveling legally within the Schengen Area. For example, BIPOC* residents report being disproportionately stopped by border police on trains, at airports, or during internal travel. These practices, often based on appearance rather than legal grounds, amount to racial profiling. They reflect deeper structural inequalities tied to Europe’s colonial past and assumptions about who “belongs.”
ReflecTive questions
*BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) is used here as an academic term. It must be noted that everyone has a color, including of course white people. ‘Color’ as such is a social construct, specifically designed to create the presumed differences and hierarchies between the same human race.
Inequality and Privileges | Privilege
privilege
“If you don’t have to think about it, it’s a privilege.”Discrimination is not only about disadvantage; its other side is privilege. International experiences and intercultural encounters can shed a light on often invisible, “normal” or taken for granted privileges. A student who moves easily across borders may not notice how much effort or stress their peers face in securing a visa. Students and graduates in financially secure situations may consider the unpaid internship abroad without realizing why others can’t. This lack of awareness makes it difficult for the advantaged to recognize the role these privileges play in reinforcing inequalities and challenging for the disadvantaged to address and dismantle the systems that maintain them. Recognizing and understanding privilege, inequality and discrimination can help you to unpack your intercultural experiences abroad and at home.
Privilege
Discrimination
Inequality and Privileges | Travel and immigration
example: travel and immigration
How easily you can travel often depends on the strength of your passport. Some passports let you visit many countries without a visa, while others come with long, expensive, and tricky application processes—or even outright bans. This means more people from wealthier, more powerful countries can travel freely for work, study, or fun, while others face unfair obstacles. Passport privilege creates real inequalities, making it harder for many to access opportunities around the world.
Think about whether it was easy for you to enter your host county. Then look up your passport strength. How does your country rank among the 179 ranks?
Inequality and Privileges | Inequality and Privileges
Examples to explore:
Inequality and Privileges | Conclusion
conclusion
Privileges and discrimination aren't something you need to feel guilty or embarrassed about, but it is important to recognize that they exist. They can influence the opportunities you're given, how others perceive you, and even how you behave—often in ways you might not even realize. While you’re not responsible for the privileges you inherit, you do have a responsibility to acknowledge and understand their impact and provide space to those who have less privileges. Recognizing these privileges is a key step in contributing to a more equal and just society for everyone.
Break: We suggest taking a break here. Come back with a fresh mind!
Intercultural Experiences
This chapter guides you through the structured documentation and reflection of your intercultural experiences. You'll explore key concepts helping you make sense of these encounters and develop practical strategies to better navigate cultural challenges and diverse environments in the future.
Intercultural Experiences | Introduction
Introduction - Intercultural Encounters
During your time abroad, intercultural encounters and diverse settings were probably an integral part of your everyday life. But intercultural encounters are not limited to time spend abroad—they also happen at home, in situations with people who rely on a different frame of reference to make sense of the world than you do. When we understand culture as more than just nationality or ethnicity, but including class, race, gender, etc, it becomes easier to recognize how often these moments occur.
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
Intercultural Encounters
Think back to an intercultural encounter you experienced during your time abroad you would like to explore further. Here are some examples from the Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters (AIE) by the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe:
This next exercise, based on the AIE, is here to help you reflect on and learn from that moment.You’ll be guided through a series of questions, step by step. You don’t need to answer every single one, but if you do choose to respond, try to follow the order—they’re designed to build on each other.
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
1. The situation
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
2. your reaction
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
2. your reaction
Complete the sentence:
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
3. their perspective
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
3. their perspective
How do you know?
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
3. their perspective
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
4. Making sense
We often compare specific aspects we notice in other communities or cultures to similar things in our own. Have you done this? Did it help you understand what was going on?
Frame of reference
Intercultural Experiences | Intercultural Encounters
4. Making sense
Intercultural Experiences | Culture Shock
Recap: culture shock
Culture Shock
Now, take a moment to create your own curve for your time abroad. Use the axes time (X) and well-being (Y) to visualize your own acculturation process.
Intercultural Experiences | Reverse Culture Shock
Reverse culture shock
“When you come back, you have changed. Everything else has stayed the same and that brings the foreign into the familiar” – Ulrich Dettweiler, Professor of Pedagogy, University of Stavanger
Returning home can be a bittersweet experience. There’s joy in returning to loved ones and enjoying the comfort of familiarity. However, during your time abroad, you’ve changed: While everything around you may feel the same, you now see it through a different lens, which can make the familiar feel foreign. This state may lead to a second phase of acculturation stress – also called reverse culture shock. Similar to the initial culture shock this phase can bring feelings of confusion and frustration, as things you once knew well now seem unfamiliar or uncomfortable. Your time abroad has shifted your perspectives, and recognizing that it's your perception—not your environment—that has changed is key to readjusting. This awareness can ease your transition and help you integrate your new identity with life at home.
Intercultural Experiences | Reverse Culture Shock Curve
Reverse culture shock Curve
Intercultural Experiences | Reverse Culture Shock
how to handle reverse culture shock
If you're currently experiencing reverse culture shock, here are a few tips that might help ease your transition back home:
Communication
Low-scale free time activities
Academic context
Resources on Reverse Culture Shock
Continuous Development and Emoployability
In this chapter, you will explore practical strategies to keep growing in your intercultural journey and discover how your intercultural competencies can strengthen your employability.
Continued Development and Employability | Introduction
Introduction
Now that you’re back home, it’s easy to fall into familiar routines—but this is a great time to pause and reflect. Beyond practical gains like language skills, your time abroad likely shaped how you think, adapt, and relate to others. The learning went deeper than adjusting to a new culture—it involved questioning assumptions, handling unfamiliar situations, and becoming more self-aware. In this final chapter, you’ll explore how to continue building on those intercultural skills. Competencies like adaptability, self-awareness, and intercultural communication aren’t just useful abroad—they’re valuable in your everyday life and professional path as well.
Continued Development and Employability | Self-check
self-check
On a scale from 1 to 10 – 1 being “not at all”, 5 being “average” and 10 being “completely”, how much do you agree with these statements?
Continued Development and Employability | Self-check
Continued Development and Employability | Continued Learning
Your intercultural learning journey does not end here
Even though you’re back at home, there are still plenty of ways to stay engaged interculturally—if you choose to seek them out. In fact, your everyday environment can be full of opportunities to continue growing your intercultural skills and your international networks. It’s all about continuing your intercultural learning journey.
Local Erasmus Initiatives
Buddy Systems
Language Tandems
Book Clubs in Foreign Languages
International Summer or Winter Schools
...
Continued Development and Employability | Next steps
What will i do next?
Complete these sentences:
Continued Development and Employability | Employability
Employability
Looking a little bit further into the future, we want to look at how studying or interning abroad for a time influences your employability skills. Spending time abroad doesn’t just enrich your academic journey—it can also give you a real advantage when it comes to your future career. Research backs this up: a major 2014 study on the Erasmus mobility programme found that students who studied or trained abroad developed key skills that employers truly value—things like adaptability, communication, and problem-solving across cultures. The impact is tangible. According to the study, graduates with international experience had noticeably better job prospects than those who stayed local. They were only half as likely to experience long-term unemployment, and even five years after graduation, their employment rate was still more than 20% higher. In other words, your time abroad isn’t just a chapter in your personal story—it’s also a powerful asset in your professional journey.
Continued Development and Employability | Employability
Insipiration
Watch video “How to Articulate Skills and Competencies gained while studying Abroad” and answer the questions on the following pages
Continued Development and Employability | Employability
Tips
Further questions to think about if you like.
Congratulations
Your time abroad may be over, but your intercultural learning continues. The skills you’ve gained—like language abilities, flexibility, and intercultural communication—will benefit you for life. Conversations and new perspectives help strengthening your intercultural competence, which is a lifelong journey. You've completed the online portion of the Intercultural Reflection Module, but the process isn't over yet. In the upcoming in-person training, you'll connect with fellow returnees to share experiences, reflect, and learn together. Until then, feel free to revisit any sections or explore additional materials. See you soon!
Economic inequality refers to the unequal distribution of wealth, income, and access to financial resources often seen as poverty. Poverty is the outcome of complex economic, social, political, and historical processes that privilege some while marginalizing others, making it generally not an individual responsibility. But economic inequality also includes more subtle forms, such as differences in job security, wages, or the ability to accumulate savings and assets over time. These economic imbalances often shape a person’s life chances and limit their ability to fully participate in society, hence leading to social exclusion.
What was your main motivation for going abroad? Did it play out, how you expected?
Texts:
Key Term: Adjustment
Intercultural adjustment describes the intentional alteration of perspectives, behaviors, attitudes, habits, and lifestyles in order to fit better and to functionsmoothly in a different setting or in an unfamiliar environment. Emotional regulation and mental negotiation are also essential to any adjustment. Therefore, a successful intercultural adjustment involves both subjective and objective experiences as well as a healthy level of self-awareness and examination.(Yoo, Matsumoto, & LeRoux, 2006 ).
Academic Context
Buddy Systems
Becoming a buddy means you’ll be paired with an international student who’s just beginning their journey at your university. You’ll be their go-to person for tips on everything from registering for classes to figuring out where to get the best coffee in town. For your buddy, that support can make a world of difference—and for you, it’s a chance to strengthen your intercultural communication skills and broaden your perspective.
https://www.smallplanetstudio.com/episode3/
https://lu-international-podcast.transistor.fm/episodes/returning-home-after-an-exchange
Reflection Question
Prompts to help you think critically about a topic.
In the Intercultural Preparation, we introduced you to the concept of culture shock—the feeling of disorientation and stress that can arise when transitioning from a familiar culture to an unfamiliar one. This happens because everyday situations, cultural norms, and social practices are different—even if seemingly slightly—from what you’re used to. You may have noticed how the excitement of a new environment can fade, and the challenge of adjusting to a different culture begins to feel more real and challenging. The unfamiliarity of new customs, habits, and social interactions can create emotional stress, making it necessary to find ways to balance your previous cultural identity with the new one you’re navigating.
Key Term: Culture
As you’ve already learned, culture is made up of both visible elements—like language, clothing, art, and food—and invisible aspects, such as values, norms, hierarchies and worldviews. In the preparation module, we used the iceberg metaphor to show that the visible parts of culture are just the tip of the iceberg, and that the deeper components take time, careful observation and critical reflection of oneself to uncover. That said, the iceberg model has its limitations. It doesn’t quite capture the reality that individuals can hold multiple cultural identities. Our cultural identity is constantly evolving, influenced by our experiences and interactions with others. It's more than just ethnicity or nationality—it also includes social class, gender, social constructs of race, privileges, and personal worldviews.
The study mentioned above found that, when making hiring decisions, 92% of employers look for skills and personality traits developed during a stay abroad, such as tolerance, self-confidence, problem-solving skills, curiosity, self-awareness and decisiveness. Upon returning from their time abroad with Erasmus, mobile students demonstrated an average increase in these values of 42% compared to other students.
In the previous exercise, you reflected on an intercultural encounter from two perspectives: your own and the other person’s. This likely reminded you of a key concept from the Intercultural Preparation—frames of reference.A frame of reference is the unique lens through which we interpret the world, shaped by our cultural norms, social, and personal experiences. It’s influenced by the groups we belong to, the people we interact with, and the values we absorb. Although deeply personal, our frame is also shaped by the broader culture, class, gender & race we live in/belong to. When navigating between cultures, this frame is often challenged, prompting us to reassess how we perceive and respond to different situations.
Structural privilege can be understood to mean that social collectives have privileged access to economic, political and social resources such as wealth, property, employment or education. Institutions such as authorities, security apparatuses, educational institutions, etc. work in their favour. This unequal access to resources is a result of social relations (gender relations, racism, ableism). Privileged collectives benefit from a regime of representation that marks their identities or bodies as 'natural' or 'normal'. As a result, they can present their own interests and perspectives as 'universal'. All this regardless of their achievements, politically progressive attitudes or personal intentions. (Walgenbach 2022)
Book Clubs in Foreign Languages
Some universities or local communities offer book clubs in different languages—maybe even the one you spoke abroad. Joining one gives you the chance to keep engaging with that language and culture in a thoughtful, enjoyable way. Plus, discussing literature from other cultures often opens up meaningful conversations about different perspectives and values.
Social inequality, is about exclusion. It refers to unequal access to rights, recognition, and participation in social, cultural, or political life. This can include discrimination based on gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or migration status. People affected by social inequality may find themselves excluded from decision-making processes, facing barriers to education or employment, or experience social stigma and marginalization.
1. Did I see discrimination in my host country? 2. Did I experience discrimination? How do I think about my host country now?3. Am I now more likely to notice discrimination in my home country? Why is this?
Stereotypes, prejudices, Discrimination:
https://youtu.be/6Hr2XpBc_B4?feature=shared
https://training.improdova.eu/en/training-modules-for-the-health-sector/module-8-stereotypes-and-unconscious-bias/
https://www.learningforjustice.org/professional-development/test-yourself-for-hidden-bias
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iaan2XSw6ho
https://kopin.org/portfolio-items/activity-2-prejudice-stereotypes-discrimination-and-inclusion/
Recap
Reminds you of a term or a concept alread known from the preparation module.
Further Resources
Suggested resources for deeper exploration of the topic.
Final Reflections
1. Were my expectations for the time abroad realistic?
2. Have my overall expectations for my international experience been met?
If no, do I feel unsatisfied with my international experience because my expectations have not been met?
3. Did I judge people too quickly and found myself using stereotypes or even prejudices about people or groups?
International Summer or Winter Schools
If you’re already feeling the itch to go abroad again, short-term programs like international summer or winter schools might be the perfect next step. These programs bring together students from around the world to study, collaborate, and explore new cultural contexts. It’s a great way to keep expanding your intercultural skills in a more intensive, yet time-limited, setting. Start by checking your university’s International Office or browsing online—you might be surprised by what’s out there.
Personal Development: to be able to be my true self or explore my identity; to become more independent/resilient; to develop interpersonal skillsAcademic Development: to experience different learning environments; to improve my academic performance; to participate in a specific class; to gain a different perspective on my study field/future working field Professional Development: to build up a professional network; to enhance my future career prospectsSocial Development: to participate in social activities, such as new sports, traveling, crafts; to develop new (international) relationships and friendship groups Intercultural Development: to develop my skills related to internationalisation; to engage with people from different cultural backgrounds; to gain knowledge of another culture; to learn/improve a foreign language
Local Erasmus Intitiatives
These initiatives don’t just encourage students to go abroad—they also play a big role in helping international students feel at home when they arrive. If you get involved, you’ll be offering support and guidance on student life and the ins and outs of daily routines, all while building friendships across cultures. The Erasmus Initiatives are often connected on a national and European level so you can even engage oustide of your local bubble. It’s a great way to keep that global mindset alive while making a real difference for someone new.
Stereotype
Stereotypes are beliefs and opinions about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of various groups (Hilton & von Hippel, 1996). They simplify our understanding of others by categorizing individuals based on their group identity, often leading to generalized assumptions.
Prejudice
Prejudice is an attitude or emotional response directed towards an entire social group or the individuals within that group (Brewer & Brown, 1998). It often encompasses both negative evaluations and feelings that can influence how we perceive and interact with others.
Low-scale free time activities
Task
Real-world example to illustrate the application of concepts in study abroad.
“I am keen to gain new experiences abroad, develop new international contacts and improve my language skills.”
“I see a semester abroad as an important chance to grow and mature personally. It is a great opportunity to broaden one's horizons.”
Communication
“I hope that the semester abroad will give me a new perspective on the various fields of my studies, as the courses abroad have a different focus to those at my home university."
1. Did I see exclusion in my host country? 2. Did I experience exclusion or social inequality in my host country? How did it make me feel? 3. Do I think differently about my host country now?4. Am I now more likely to see exclusion where I live?
Language Tandems
Miss speaking the language you used abroad or want to learn a new language? A language tandem could be just what you need. You and a partner meet regularly to help each other practice your native languages. It’s a casual, mutual exchange—half the time in one language, half in the other. Not only does this help keep your language skills fresh, but it also deepens your understanding of how culture and language go hand in hand.
“Especially for my studies in law, I hope that a semester abroad will give me an international perspective that will open up new viewpoints on the German legal system. This perspective is not only important for my personal and professional development, but also for my future career aspirations .”
“The opportunity to broaden my horizon with the national language as well as to gain an insight into a different culture gives me the positive feeling that I am laying an important foundation for my future career.”
Discrimination is a behavior that leads to the unequal treatment of people because of their (perceived) group memberships. Discriminatory behavior, ranging from minor offenses to hate crimes, often begins with negative stereotypes and prejudices.
Wacth Video
Visual content to deepen your understanding through lectures, demonstrations, or real-world examples.
1. Did I see poverty in my host country? What emotional feeling did it evoke in me? 2. Did I experience poverty or economic inequality in my host country? How did it make me feel?3. Do I think differently about my host country now?4. Will I be more aware of poverty in my home country?
Racial inequality refers to unequal access to rights, resources, and opportunities based on race. It is rooted in historical systems like colonialism, which established and reinforced racial hierarchies. These structures continue to shape institutions and everyday life, leading to systemic disadvantages for racialized groups across areas such as education, employment, and political representation.
Key Term
Important definiton that enhances your undestanding of the topic.