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2015, Cilt 5, Sayı 1, Sayfa(lar) 068-079 |
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DOI: 10.5961/jhes.2015.110 |
Academic Staff's Views About International Scholarships and Support Programs |
M. Ertaç ATİLA1, Ö. Faruk ÖZEKEN2, Mustafa SÖZBİLİR3 |
1Erzincan University, Faculty of Education, Department of Primary Education, Erzincan, Turkey 2Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, Vocational School, Ağrı, Turkey 3Atatürk University, Kâzım Karabekir Faculty of Education, Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education, Erzurum, Turkey |
Keywords: Higher Education Council, Scientific or Technological Research Council of Turkey, International scholarship, Study abroad, Academic staff |
The aim of this study is to determine views of academic staff who have been to the United States in order to do a research study by means
of scholarships and support programs provided by the Higher Education Council or Scientific or Technological Research Council of
Turkey about the scholarship programs. The qualitative study is carried out as a holistic multiple case study research design. The data were
gathered through semi-structured interviews from 10 academic staff who participated the scholarship program. Data were analyzed with
content analysis technique. The results indicated that application process, time and financial resources were important for the preferences
of academic staff in scholarship and support programs. The main reasons for applying the scholar program to undertake an international
research study are grouped under three headings as academic, socio-cultural and foreign language improvements. The main influencing
factors behind the researchers' preferences to go the United States are its' level of advancements in scientific research and peer influence.
Concerning the duration of a research study in abroad the participants thought that 6 months to one year is adequate time and this time
depends on the foreign language skills of the researchers, the field of study, subject and project. The main drawbacks of an international research study visit are the long waiting times for having the United States visa with no adequate support, the cost of health insurance and
visa, lack of speaking foreign language skills, and adaptation time in the first arrival. As a result, the experienced participants suggested that
the future scholarships have to cover health insurance; the researchers have to be supported for developing their foreign language skills and
develop a clear research agenda and project prior to going abroad. .
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