Abstract:

Education has always been a chance for advancement into better economic and social conditions. Student mobility in the context of international university cooperations can additionally offer the opportunity to migrate to other countries and labor markets. The University of Applied Sciences Zwickau in Germany runs a long-term cooperation with the Kyrgyz-German Institute of Applied Informatics in Bishkek (which was previously part of the Kyrgyz State University of Construction, Transportation and Architecture until its independence as a private university since June 2018). Within the framework of this cooperation, every year talented students are given the chance to move to Germany with a scholarship and to obtain a German degree. The program has been running since September 2008 and has so far enabled about 100 students to make the leap from Kyrgyzstan to Germany. The majority of these students completed their studies successfully, stayed in Germany and started a new life there.

The contribution presents findings from a study in which 8 students were interviewed about their life paths since they came to Germany about 10 years ago within the framework of this project. The interviews were conducted in a semi-structured style, covering topics related to the challenges and experiences the participants encountered in various life situations, including their studies, personal life and subsequent professional endeavors. Special attention was paid to the important transitions in their student life. This includes the move from Kyrgyzstan to Germany in the middle of their studies to a completely different cultural and language environment and later the jump from student life to work life. The study delves into diverse aspects, exemplified by the barriers to learning encountered, the role of the German language in interacting with fellow students and colleagues, noticeable intercultural differences in everyday life, experiences with discrimination and the extent to which the study program prepared the students for their future careers. The answers given in the interviews provide detailed insights into different behaviors and strategies the students have learned and used in the last 10 years to face all these situations. In addition, the statements allow reflective perspectives on how the participants assess these situations and behaviors in retrospect from today's vantage point. Furthermore, the study examined the students' initial expectations regarding studying, working, and living in Germany, and to what extent these expectations aligned with the subsequent reality.

The study aimed to achieve two main objectives. Firstly, it determines how people who came to Germany through the cooperation project have fared and changed over a span of more than 10 years, what their professional and private circumstances are today, and how they have settled in Germany. Secondly, it identifies significant challenges and difficulties faced by international students in their academic and early professional lives, and explores potential avenues for improved support for students in similar situations in the future.

Keywords:

International University Collaborations, Student Mobility, Employability, Barriers to Learning, Intercultural Learning Differences.