Reflection on the W-Curve of students during exchanges and traineeships abroad
The so-called W-curve is a known phenomenon in literature on expat experiences. Originally it was thought of as a V, reflecting the deep crisis people may go through at the start of their international experience. It turned into a double-U when researchers realised that this crisis would repeat when expats went home after a prolonged stay abroad.
That the W is a reality is something that I have not only experienced for myself; I have tutored many Ws over the years, mainly with Dutch students. The last few years, working with Spanish students, I have noticed a differently shaped, assymetric W though. The homesickness crisis being more profound, home (family) support will not seek to help the individual overcome the crisis, but will exercise pressure to avoid it alltogether by cancelling the international experience.
This can be interpreted as a consequence of the Individualism-Collectivism dimension. Education is not the start of an individual venture, but a socialization aimed at providing the community member with a set of commonly recognizable experiences, and the documents to prove it.
This may be an element that seriously affects both the individual's and the community's competitiveness. I believe we as educators should insist on the development of personal autonomy through international experiences.
