Study/Work abroad and
employability
Jim Coleman
March 2011
Author
Jim Coleman is Professor of Language Learning and Teaching at The Open
University. Currently Chair of the University Council of Modern Languages, and
Editor-in-Chief of System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and
Applied Linguistics, he has published widely on language education.
Published by
Published by UCML with funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for
England.
University Council of Modern Languages (UCML)
t: +44 (0)23 8059 4814
f: +44 (0)23 8059 4815
e: [email protected]
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Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNon Commercial-No Derivs 2.0 UK: England & Wales
(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
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Introduction
Over and above the generic links between language study and graduate
employability, work and study abroad provide the skills and experience which
employers look for, and which lead to satisfying international careers. Work or study
abroad leads to gains in academic, cultural, intercultural, linguistic, personal and
professional domains, and confers a competitive advantage when it comes to finding
a first or subsequent job. The skills acquired, and the enhanced employability which
they bring, are explicitly recognised by researchers, by graduates themselves, by
Government, and by employers. The advantage applies to graduates in both
languages and other specialisms.
Work/study abroad and employability
Substantial and robust evidence exists that, over and above the generic links
between language study and graduate employability, work and study abroad provide
the skills and experience which employers look for, and which lead to satisfying
international careers.
The benefits of work or study abroad (the ‘year abroad’) accrue not only to students
on specialist language degrees, but also to non-specialist linguists, for example
physicists who spend an Erasmus year in France or Germany.
Work and study abroad represent a rapidly growing phenomenon. Although
definitions and data collection methods vary, and a distinction needs to be made
between whole-programme mobility (or degree mobility) and within-programme
mobility (or credit mobility), the numbers are impressive. The OECD claims that over
3.3 million students studied outside their country of citizenship in 2008, an increase
of 65% since 2000 and a quadrupling of numbers since 1975. UNESCO estimates
3.43 million in 2009, a 75% increase since 2000. This total still represents less than
2% of students worldwide, so growth, currently over 10% annually, looks set to
continue.
Erasmus
Within Europe, each year 0.85% of eligible students take part in the Erasmus
programme, which equates to around 4% during their university career. It is
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estimated that there are a similar number of ‘free movers’ (internationally mobile
students outside the Erasmus scheme). Launched in 1987, and embracing 4,459
higher education institutions in 33 countries, Erasmus has now seen 2.5 million
students undertaking work or study abroad. As an English-speaking country, the UK
attracts more incoming students than it sends out – 11,723 as against 22,650 for
Erasmus, 33,000 as against 370,000 for whole-programme (degree) mobility.
Total participation figures, which are sometimes retrospectively adjusted, show
steady expansion. The big jump in 2007/08 reflects the inclusion, from that date, of
work placements, including language assistantships. Comparable figures for the UK
show a steady initial decline which has been reversed since 2006.
00/01- 01/02- 02/03- 03/04- 04/05- 05/06-
06/07-
07/08- 08/09-
01/02
07/08
08/09
02/03
03/04
04/05
05/06
06/07
09/10
Total +3.91% +7.39% +9.38% +6.23% +7.21% +3.18% +14.67% +5.33% +8.29%
UK
-6.06% -6.16% -5.25% -4.30% -1.15% +1.46% +42.06% +8.66% +7.43%
The UK has always attached importance to work placements, recognising the
professional and personal as well as linguistic and social benefits of working in a
company or school. Of all participating countries, the UK has the highest proportion
of Erasmus students on work placements: nearly one in three of the 11,723 outgoers
in 2009/10.
Student recognition of the value of an Erasmus experience is reflected not only in the
growth in numbers overall and the turn-around in the UK (despite a reduction in
average monthly grant from €272 to €254), but also in the 50% increase of the more
than 7,000 students choosing to participate despite receiving no EU funding at all.
Erasmus has always given a boost to graduate employability, but in many
participating countries the competitive advantage has reduced as participation has
grown: not so in the UK. In countries such as Spain, Austria or Finland, more than
10% of graduates have undertaken work or study abroad under Erasmus, but in the
UK, fewer than 2% of graduates have done so – only Romania and Croatia do worse.
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Nationally, this is to be regretted since it portrays the UK as inward-looking and
linguistically incompetent. But for the individual British student, it is a clear selling
point, marking them out as distinctive.
For non-specialist linguists in UK universities, the bonus is even greater. Specialist
language students normally make up 15% of all Erasmus students. In the UK only,
specialist language students have consistently represented at least 40% of outgoers.
Since the incorporation of placements within Erasmus, that figure has risen further, to
48.28% in 2008/09. In other words, only one in a hundred of those graduating from a
UK university in a subject other than modern languages can include in their CV an
Erasmus experience.
Benefits for the individual
In terms of learning outcomes, research has demonstrated that work and study
abroad typically lead to progress across several domains. Listed alphabetically, these
gains are Academic, Cultural, Intercultural, Linguistic, Personal, and Professional. In
terms of employability, what counts above all is the capacity to operate effectively in
a different linguistic and cultural context. In addition to the language skills and cultural
insights relating to the particular country, students can show their ability to acquire
new language skills and appreciate new cultures. Intercultural competence is an
amalgam of knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, skills, and behaviours, representing both
cognitive and affective learning, and comprising an awareness of the relativity of
cultures, including their own, and a recognition that culture is a social construct.
Intercultural competence is increasingly valued in international business contexts.
The greater maturity which results from work and study abroad can be presented to
potential employers as independence and self-reliance, adaptability, enhanced
confidence and self-awareness. It links closely to professional or employability
outcomes, which can include transferable and ‘self’ skills, work experience, and an
awareness of how work conventions vary across the world.
A number of research studies have shown that academic mobility is a good predictor
of employability and of later work mobility. Graduates themselves concur.
I have been involved in two questionnaire studies in which graduates evaluate links
between work/study abroad and employability. In 2001, I coordinated a study of
language graduates from the Universities of Portsmouth and East Anglia, all of whom
had spent a year abroad within their degree. Since 2009, I have been conducting,
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with Tony Chafer of Portsmouth University, a study of graduates in French whose
year abroad included a work placement in Senegal. The respective cohorts comprise
842 UEA language graduates (1959-99), 275 Portsmouth language graduates (197399), and 45 French graduates (1985-2010).
Asked whether work/study abroad helped them land their first job, the responses
were
A factor
A significant factor The determining
factor
UEA 2001
70.4%
37.1%
5.9%
Portsmouth 2001
75.3%
38.8%
8.5%
Senegal 2010
86.5%
32.4%
10.8%
and for subsequent jobs
A factor
A significant factor The determining
factor
UEA 2001
71.9%
34.3%
5.4%
Portsmouth 2001
76.0%
36.8%
6.4%
Senegal 2010
90.1%
36.4%
9.1%
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Do the skills acquired through study abroad contribute to job performance?
Yes
UEA 2001
86.2%
Portsmouth 2001
90.7%
Senegal 2010
97.3%
Is work/study abroad a good investment in time and expense?
Yes
UEA 2001
96.2%
Portsmouth 2001
98.9%
UEA & Portsmouth 2001 work placements
100.0%
Senegal 2010
100.0%
Asked whether the period abroad was the most valuable part of the degree (a leading
question which would not normally figure in survey research), the majority agreed.
Interestingly, more recent graduates, apparently aware that experiential learning can
today be valued more highly than academic study, were more likely to respond
positively.
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Yes
UEA 2001 overall
54.5%
Portsmouth 2001 overall
70.4%
UEA pre-1975
37.2%
UEA 1999
72.0%
Portsmouth pre-1985
22.2%
Portsmouth 1996-99
82.9%
Senegal 2010
83.3%
In summary, skills gained abroad are a factor in landing first and subsequent jobs for
over 70% of language graduates, a significant factor for over 30%, and the
determining factor for about 10%. Skills gained during work and study abroad come
in useful at work for nine out of ten language graduates. Overall, the evidence is
clear that work/study abroad represent a clear advantage and a distinctive asset for
UK graduates, especially non-specialist linguists, in the international careers market.
Wider benefits
An institution with lively international links gains in several published rankings:
international profile counts in the Times Higher Education rankings (staff 3%,
students 2%) and QS rankings (staff/students 5% each). A pattern of work and study
abroad also marks distinctive provision and links to the inclusivity agenda. The
employability of graduates, which is enhanced by work or study abroad, is reflected
in HESA First Destination (DLHE) figures and in university guides published by
several newspapers, and counts indirectly, via reputation among employers, for 10%
in QS rankings.
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The benefits of student mobility for the wider society are evidenced by declarations
from UNESCO, and from educational and political stakeholders across the world.
The European Union’s continued investment rests upon two decades of careful
evaluation of a range of gains. A mobile, adaptable and highly employable graduate
workforce, championing the values of citizenship and tolerance, must bring economic
and social benefits.
Government and employer endorsement
The UK Government explicitly recognises the value of work and study abroad. David
Willetts, Minister for Universities, made clear in 2010: ‘We are asking universities to
provide advice to applicants on what they do to maximise graduate employability’. He
added later: ‘Businesses say there aren’t enough students with experience of
languages, different cultures and the wider world. British companies want to export
abroad but one of the problems they raise with us is that British students don’t have
foreign languages and an experience of living in another country. One of my aims is
to try and encourage our undergraduates and postgraduates to study abroad and the
best way to do that is to ensure it counts towards a British degree. There has to be
time overseas doing a programme which a British university recognises and validates.
It would enrich the outlook of British students and make them more employable’.
Speaking in February 2011 to a conference on Europe and the wider world, he said:
‘The options available for UK students to spend time in Europe as part of their degree
are particularly worth pursuing, and there are real benefits in terms of gaining the
skills that employers will value’.
Employers indeed value the linguistic and other skills acquired during work and study
abroad. A 2011 Eurobarometer survey found that work experience was deemed a
crucial asset by 87% of graduate recruiters, while nearly half of all companies with
considerable international dealings believed that foreign language skills are the most
important skills for the future. A graduate recruiter says: ‘We prefer the courses that
include some time spent living abroad… we do prefer that they have had some incountry experience certainly before they come here.’
The CBI asserts that: ‘Language skills and an ability to work in a multi-cultural
environment are also valuable in an increasingly globalised workplace. Foreign
language proficiency adds significantly to a candidate’s portfolio of skills, not just in
terms of conversational ability, but also general cultural awareness and sensitivity.’
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The Council for Industry and Higher Education agrees: ‘Graduates who have
international experience are highly employable because they have demonstrated that
they have drive, resilience and inter-cultural sensitivities as well as language skills.’
And a 2010 HEFCE study concludes: ‘Study abroad can significantly boost the
chances of a student's success in later life, and bring benefits to the UK's knowledge
economy.’
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