Gap year

Taking a GAP year (also known as year abroad, year out, year off, deferred year, bridging year, time off and time out) refers to taking a year out of studying to do something else. Many people take a gap year before starting college or university, but it can be taken at any time.^[1]

History

1960s: Where it all began

The origination of the 'Gap Year' concept came in the decade following the Second World War when youth travel and cultural exchange was discussed amongst Governments as a useful tool to create more of a global understanding to prevent future global wars. However, the first 'Gap Years' actually started in the UK in the 1960s when the baby-boomer generation in the midst of the 'Swinging sixties' headed off to India on the infamous Hippie trails, inventing the 'independent travel market'. And in 1967 Nicholas Maclean-Bristol set up Project Trust, an Educational Trust, and sent his first three students to Addis Ababa, inventing the Gap Year Volunteer Placements market. These have been the two key elements to the gap year market ever since - 'independent travel' and 'volunteer placements' [also known more recently as 'Voluntourism']. Work Travel (or 'Work & Travel') appeared as a third key element with the introduction of student work visas (or 'Working holiday visas') in the 1980s.

1970s: the pioneers and the growth

The demand for what was essentially new 'Independent Travel' continued through into the 1970s and resulted in the pioneers of the independent travel market establishing businesses to satisfy this demand. Australian Graham 'Screw' Turner based in London in 1973 loaded a double decker bus with the first paying customers and drove them to Kathmandu. They arrived 3 weeks late. Top Deck Travel, the company he founded, still exists today. In the same year a young Brit by the name of Tony Wheeler, headed off on an overland trip across Asia. His need for basic travel information inspired the book 'Across Asia on the Cheap' and was the first title under his Lonely Planet brand, which became the world's largest travel guide publisher. With a tour company and self help travel advice, the independent travel market was born. In 1979, another Australian Dick Porter, founded STA Travel to bring in the final piece of the puzzle. A high street travel agent for students and 'youth' (those under 26), with which he was able to develop global youth travel as he opened student travel agents around the world. Initially 'Student Travel Australia' it rebranded to the 'Student Travel Association'. Nowadays it is simply 'STA Travel'.

Whilst the first uses of the actual term 'gap year' are hard to find, it was certainly helped along with the launch in 1973 of GAP Activity Projects, now known as Lattitude Global Volunteering, a UK organisation facilitating volunteer placements for the 'Gap Year' in between school and university. Continuing on from where Nicholas Maclean-Bristol had forged the way 10 years earlier with Project Trust, GAP Activity Projects brought the gap year to the schools. A year later in 1978, The Prince of Wales with Colonel John Blashford-Snell formed the basis of what we know today as Raleigh International, launching Operation Drake, the first ever Gap Year Expedition - a round the world voyage following Sir Francis Drake's epic route. In 1984 Operation Raleigh was formed, renamed Raleigh International in 1992, by which time gap years were becoming more popular as a pre-university option to the wealthy few in private schools around the UK.

1980s: steady growth

In the UK in the 1980s the baby boomers were settling into family life with their young children and so travelling less and the next generation were influenced by the obsession for money, careers and wealth generation. The housing market crash meant less funds available for parents to fund youth travel. Steady UK and global growth continued as STA Travel opened up branches around the world. Other businesses followed suit (Usit Campus / Usit World), round the world tickets were developed for this new breed of young gap year traveller and the scene was set for the explosion of the 1990s.

1990s: the boom

A combination of the baby boomer's children reaching 18 (whose parents encouraged world travel as they did in their youth), the UK coming out of recession and new, exciting, colourful media channels to bring gap year products to market resulted in an explosion of activity in the UK as Gap Year Travel and Gap Year Volunteering took off pre, during and post University. Demand grew, prices for air travel fell and the roots of it becoming a 'rite of passage' were set. In Australia the first serious waves of young Australians heading to live and work in the UK started to appear.

2000-present: online developments, global growth, natural aging

July 2005 Mintel Gap Year Reports show a market valued UK outbound at £2.2bn and globally at £5bn. The fastest growing travel sector of the Millennium, predictions are that the global gap year market will grow to around £11bn by 2010. The market demographic is split into those aged 18•24 (pre, during and post university), 25-35 ('career gap', also known as 'Career Break' and 'Career Sabbatical') and 55-65 (pre and post retirement gappers). Very much an option for all in transition between life stages, the effect on the entry into higher level Education, the changing travel markets and staff retention in businesses around the world is staggering.

Gap Year growth is accelerating across all age groups in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The US is expected to witness a boom in the coming years as the small percentage of those who have passports starts to rise.

Activities

Some students spend the time traveling, others spend the time working, and many combine these into an international working holiday. A popular option for gap year students, also known as "gappers", is international volunteering. In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, a great number of the volunteers who helped in South Asia were on a gap year.^[2]

Many gap year students also earn money while overseas by working cash in hand, often in the hospitality industry. Another growing trend for gappers is to enroll in global education programs that combine language study, homestays, cultural immersion, community service, and independent study. Such experiential opportunities exist in countries from India to China and Morocco to Brazil.

Gap years by country

Australia

Australia currently has 19 reciprocal working holiday programs with countries, which include: Belgium, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

Typically, restrictions for the working holiday visas include: being 18-30 yrs, proof of access to funds, and holding a valid passport. Work restrictions also apply to ensure that the purpose of the holiday is not to further an individual's career. The Australian Defence Force also runs a Gap Year program, where enlistees are only required to serve for up to a year.^[3]

The UK and Canada remain two of the most popular destinations for Australians to visit every year, with 35,061 UK and 6,517 Canadian working holiday visas issued in 2003/4.

Denmark

In the recent years the government have tried to limit the number of students who take a gap year. The need to get students sooner into the work space and a wish to preserve the unique Danish culture have meant the students are punished if they complete their education too slowly by traveling abroad or working full time for a period, limiting the possibility of taking a gap year.^[4] In 2006, it was announced that fewer students than before had taken a gap year.^[5] In April 2009, the government proposed a new law which gives a bonus to students who refrain from a gap year.^[6]

Israel

In Israel, gap-years are mostly used for travel. A 3-year army service is compulsory - after which it is customary to travel. For the majority of Israelis, the first few months after dismissal are spent working and saving money for the trip. In order to spend as little time as possible working (rather than traveling) and as much time as possible on vacation, Israelis prefer traveling to the Far East, India or Indo-China due to the low cost of living there. Some who are drafted late use the time between high-school graduation and army service to travel.

Working holidays are also common practice, especially to Western countries such as the USA, Canada and Australia. Former combative infantrymen sometimes find jobs as weapons instructors or security personnel in various places around the globe, which can also be considered a sort of working holiday.

In Jewish summer camps in the diaspora (particularly in the USA and UK), there is a tendency to hire Israeli staff in hope that through the interaction with them the camper's connection with Israel would strengthen. This is often arranged via the Jewish Agency.

Additionally, many Jewish teens in America take a gap year to Israel to study in Yeshiva or Midrasha (seminary) to learn more about their Jewish roots. Some popular choices for boys are Reishit Yerushalim, Sha'alvim, and Yeshivat Har Etziyon while some popular choices for the girls are Michlelet Mivaseret yirushalayim, Midreshet HaRova, and Midreshet Lindenbaum (Brovenders).

Japan

Due to the employment practice known as Simultaneous Recruiting of New Graduates, a practice of a gap year is extremely uncommon in Japan. Students in Japan have to find a job before graduation. Otherewise, they will have enormous hardship finding a job.

Netherlands

The most common form of gap year is work-holiday travel to another country, preferentially on another continent if the person taking it can afford the tickets. Australia and other English-speaking countries are among the most popular due to the high standard of Dutch high school courses in English, but culture/language immersion programmes in Spanish-speaking countries are increasingly popular, and are sometimes offered on all-in basis. Most will leave the Netherlands for only half the year, spending the other six months working to finance the trip.^{[original research?]} The Growth in popularity of the gap year concept in the Netherlands is evident by the formation of the first Dutch registered gap year company Xtreme Gap Year.

The liberal arts college Academia Vitae offers a preacademic gap year in Deventer for young students to study liberal arts. This is not a common form of the gap year in the Netherlands. The Dutch gap year is also referred to as a tussenjaar.

United Kingdom

British citizens are able to take advantage of the European Union as well as the reciprocal arrangements that exist and live and work in an overseas country for an extended period of time. Australia, New Zealand and Canada remain popular destinations due to the cultural similarities and Commonwealth ties due to the British Empire.

Prince Harry popularised Africa as a Gap Year destination when he volunteered in South Africa in 2004. Other opportunities available include working in ski resorts in Canada, camp roles in America and working in the Australian Outback.

There are many gap year providers in the U.K. that provide opportunities for people of all ages. Many providers are listed on gap year directory sites.

Popular gap year projects include Project Trust based on the Isle of Coll, Projects Abroad, Shumba Experience based in Brighton, Think Pacific based in Leeds, Lattitude based in Reading, and Quest Overseas based in Hove.

United States of America

In the United States, the practice of taking a "gap year" or "year off" before entering college remains relatively rare. This can be partially traced to the considerably higher cost of post-secondary education in the U.S. Many American students cannot afford to take a year off. Another reason is that once American students finish high school, they will normally cease to be covered under their parents' health insurance unless they immediately continue with full time education.

Taking a gap year would cause their health coverage to lapse. In 2008, more than 65.6% of all undergraduate students relied on loans to finance their education, with an average debt of roughly US$23,186 (excluding PLUS Loans but including Stafford, Perkins, state, college and private loans). Among graduate students in 2008, 56.4% relied on loans, with an average debt totaling roughly US$40,297.^[7]

Some organizations have offered young Americans structured gap year programs. These include Dynamy, based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Another American gap year option is City Year, with locations in urban centers around the U.S.. Other companies also offer cultural immersion and community service travel programs around the world, including semester programs, residential community living and education in specific areas. Some companies offer structured service learning gap year programs which combine community service and cross-cultural learning experiences.

See also

• Career break
• Overseas experience
• Sabbatical year
• Work-life balance
• Simultaneous Recruiting of New Graduates

References

1. ^ "Planning a gap year". nidirect Government Services. 2009. http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/young-people/work-and-careers/work-experience-and-volunteering/planning-a-gap-year.htm. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
2. ^ Walker, Tim (29 September 2005). "A year to save the world". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/student/gap-year/a-year-to-save-the-world-508755.html. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
3. ^ "ADF Gap Year". ADF Education. 2009. http://www.defencejobs.gov.au/education/gapyear/. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
4. ^ Andersen, Lars Otto (29 November 2004). "Sabbatår - sundt eller skadeligt?" (in danish). Berlingske Tidende. http://www.berlingske.dk/article/20041129/danmark/111290231/. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
5. ^ Stadigt yngre studerende med færre sabbatår starter på universiteterne, Pressrelease, Universitet og Bygningsstyrelsen, Ministeriet for Videnskab, teknologi og Udvikling (Danish)
6. ^ "Committee proposes cash incentives for speedy students". Jyllands-Posten. The Copenhagen Post. 5 May 2009. http://jp.dk/uknews/article1684210.ece. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
7. ^ "Student Loans". The SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid. FinAid Page. 2009. http://www.finaid.org/loans/. Retrieved 19 November 2009.

External links

• Gap Years at the Open Directory Project

Categories: Student culture