Students' Assets and Strategies via the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program : A Case of Cambodia's Master Degree Students

Abstract: This study analyzes, the structure of the Erasmus Mundus scholarship program by utilizing mixed methods, and is being analyzed within the contextualized framework of the Cambodia’s Higher Education system as well as its relationship with the Erasmus Mundus scholarship program. Mixed approach has been employed for this study, combining both quantitative data to construct the social space, which acts as a backbone for interpretation, and qualitative data from interviewing the scholarship program coordinator and scholarship holders in order to investigate the recruitment process and the students’ perception respectively, presenting the macro-micro relationship that makes up the entirety of the scholarship program. Collectively inspected, the findings reveal a new contextualized result that contributes not only to the development of the Cambodia’s Higher Education, but also to its position and its students within the space of the scholarship program of Erasmus Mundus. Through the close inspection using interview method, the underlying complexity of the recruitment process of the scholarship program is illustrated, indicating a multi-layer hierarchy and multiple decision-making processes. There are also implications of oppositions between the properties of the students, signaling the diversified student body in the scholarship program. Prominent theme of the opposition in the space appears to be related to the colonial past of the Cambodia’s system as well as the differences between local and international experiences that the students possess. Students interviewed in the study, furthermore, reveal how they prepared themselves to apply for the scholarship program and to be successful candidate, which depicts their assets and strategies that can be derived from the constructed space. Unanimously the students show strong confidence and great insight of information which can be understood as the compatibilities between the recruiter of the scholarship program and the students’ assets. Finally, overall findings give a new perspective of the profile of the scholarship program within the Erasmus Mundus mobility scheme. It shows that while students are required to possess certain objectively set requirements, there are also exception cases that students who possessed lower amount of capitals can also be successful, provided that the conditions like the credentials of their degree from Cambodia, as well as minimum requirements to pass the university admission have been met, and their “motivation letter” is exceptionally well-written which shows the subjective side of the recruitment process.