Student Mobility Program Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has changed the digital revolution to replace the normal face-to-face practice, and it strongly impacts rather than strengthens the university’s new norm. The measures and policies of international students’ movement required revision and confirmation with the government operation procedures. The mobility program was disrupted and became less attractive due to new virtual-learning experience. Thus, virtual mobility or cross-border education are offered rapidly due to the pandemic. Without cross-border traveling, virtual mobility offers the same advantages as physical mobility using information and communication technologies. This research is expected to find answers for a few objectives i.e., (i) to determine the key factors that may influence students’ participation in the mobility program during COVID-19; (ii) to evaluate the students’ perceptions of the mobility program during COVID-19; and (iii) to develop strategies to engage in mobility program during a pandemic. This research is an exploratory study with a mixed-method approach via interview and survey. The sample students enrolled in the mobility program were randomly selected i.e., inbound and outbound. It is expected to give an overview of the factors that affected students to engage in the mobility program during the pandemic via the perceptions gathered that could assist the university in future mobility engagement. Therefore, a suitable strategy could be developed to engage a mobility program during a pandemic.