Analyzing countries’ performances within the international student mobility program over time

The phenomenon of internationalization is a priority for higher education institutions. The Erasmus program is the cornerstone of their internationalization strategy, bringing benefits for student recruitment and career outcomes, as well as for staff expertise. Within this scenario, our contribution aims to analyze the performance of European education systems in terms of learning mobility between countries from a longitudinal perspective. International student mobility is analyzed in the context of the Erasmus programs over twelve years in order to compare international mobility trajectories between European countries in terms of quantitative benchmarking and to identify the factors that may influence a country’s performance in terms of its role in mobility network exchanges. A mixed analytical strategy of analysis was adopted, combining exploratory and confirmatory approaches from a network perspective. Centrality indices and network modeling are computed to compare countries’ performances and factors affecting mobility patterns in higher education systems. The main findings can offer policy suggestions for universities in order to improve the quality of their international services.