View Annual Review - IAESTE

Figure 5 shows that 23.5% of IAESTE Members
and Co-operating Institutions exchanged with
more than 11 countries in 2004. 7 Members
and Co-operating Institutions sent students to
41 or more countries.
Growth of IAESTE
There is great interest in IAESTE throughout the
world and on average 2 new countries per
month contact the General Secretary asking for
information on how to join the Association.
Many contacts are made through our public
website www.iaeste.org which has a daily
average of 504 visits. Universities or
Organisations committed to the Aims of the
Association can apply for Co-operating
Institution status and each year the Board
reviews their progress at their summer meeting.
Co-operating Institutions which are no longer
conducting an exchange do not have their
status renewed. New Co-operating Institutions
take 3-5 years to become established and the
benefits of this expansion, reflected in the
exchange, becomes clear after this period. They
are then able to apply for Associate
Membership and after a minimum of another 3
years can apply to be Full Members with voting
rights. Since 2003 Uzbekistan was accepted as a
Full Member while Belarus and Iran became
Associate Members. In 2004, 4 new Cooperating
Institutions were welcomed into the
Association. The Technological University of
Panama, Uni-Group, Bulgaria, Trust
Communication and Training Institute, The
Gambia and Palestine Polytechnic University,
West Bank. 85 Members and Co-operating
Institutions in 83 countries constituted the
membership of IAESTE in January 2005.
It is traditional within IAESTE for Members
with a higher Gross National Income per capita
(GNI) to receive more trainees than they send.
Strict reciprocity is not implemented with new
Members in the early years which allow those
in developing countries and those from smaller
countries to gather support within their
country in order to develop the exchange.
Countries with a GNI per capita >12,000 US$
provided 89% of these places in 2004.
Profile of the student trainee
Gender balance and Age: Age and gender
balance of trainees varies little from year to
year but differs appreciably from country to
country.
Participation by men and women students
compared with previous years (%) is shown in
Figure 6
The Association continues to grow outside
Europe with increased interest from countries
in South America, Asia and Africa and we
would be very keen to expand our Membership
in these areas.
Reciprocity of the Exchange
The IAESTE exchange programme is based on a
bilateral balanced exchange between Members.
Most member countries attempt to maintain a
balance between outgoing and incoming
students but an exact bilateral balance is rarely
possible within any given year. Only long-term
balance is sought. This flexibility is needed to
support the proper allocation of places and the
selection of the appropriate students.
In 2004, 23 Members and Co-operating
Institutions received more students than they
sent abroad and this benefited the rest. In total,
686 work experience places were involved or
14.4% of the total exchange.
The percentage for individual Members or Cooperating
Institutions varies from 0% to 71%.
The gender balance relates to the cultural and
educational traditions in the IAESTE countries.
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