Employers’ Perspectives on the Value of International Study Experience (original) (raw)
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How Study Abroad Supports Graduate Employability
We’ve recently witnessed a spate of new books authored by policy wonks which aim to re-examine the mission of the university in the United States and whether we need to “unbundle” how we educate students (innovate how students learn). Their titles are provocative like, The End of College, and they consider the tremendous burden of rising tuition and debt which burden large numbers of students and their families. Although we’ve left the worst of the 2008 recession behind us –especially with a sharp rebound in the unemployment figures which always favor job seekers with college diplomas – there is a lot of attention being given to new thinking regarding the linkage of higher education to the global workforce and the so-called “return on investment” of a college education.
Benefits of Studying Abroad for Graduate Employability
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This study investigated the benefits of studying abroad with student exchange programs for graduate employability. Data were drawn from a survey with 163 Lao former exchange participants at three public universities in Laos, followed by 19 semi-structured interviews. Results revealed that participants benefited from participating in overseas exchanges at a high level in terms of the development of employability skills, particularly interpersonal and communication skills, and in multidisciplinary knowledge and international competences. Study abroad experience was positively considered as being related to increasing job opportunities, which signal better educational credentials with proven skills that are demanded in the domestic labor market. This study offers useful insights into the benefits of student exchange programs and adds perspectives from a developing country whose voice has been little heard in the literature on the value of study abroad.
Frontiers: The interdisciplinary journal of study abroad, 2022
We conduct an exploratory study about study abroad programs in business schools. In a small sample, we find satisfaction with the study abroad experience is positively related to participants' reported willingness to accept jobs that require international travel and jobs that require international work collaboration. Additionally, students who developed relationships during their study abroad were more likely to evaluate the experience positively, indicating that fostering relationships is an important factor for study abroad leaders to consider. We also employed homesickness as an exploratory variable, finding that expected homesickness is negatively related to expected satisfaction with study abroad experiences, which may explain some reluctance to study and work abroad.
2019
of support with the goal of doubling the number of U.S. students studying abroad by the end of the decade (www.iie.org). These efforts are in response to the growing need for university graduates to develop skills necessary to function effectively and successfully in a global workplace. Many research studies have shown the benefits of study abroad, such as personal growth, including confidence, resilience and persistence, as well as professional skills such as interpersonal communication and intercultural competence, all of which are required of graduates entering into an increasingly diverse and global work environment (Braskamp,
The Influences of Study Abroad Experiences
2018
Many colleges and universities now realize that it is a good educational practice for their students to learn about the relations between nations, global issues, and intercultural relationships (Tate, 2012). The focus of this research study is to investigate aspects of how international study abroad experiences affect the personal and professional identities of U.S. undergraduate students. A survey was used to capture the perceptions and experiences of study abroad students. Most participants report having a positive experience during their study abroad experiences and an increased cultural awareness and international mindedness. On the contrary, there was a small percentage of participants who reported having no desire to learn the language, a minimal interaction with the new culture, isolation, and interacting and only socializing with peers from their home country.
The Impact of Study Abroad on Business Students’ Career Goals
Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad
This study seeks to understand the impact of studying abroad on business students and their career plans to determine whether study abroad experiences are all “hype,” or if they have “substance.” It considers study abroad experiences as “learning experiences,” providing first-hand and observational learning for developing associated skills (Krumboltz, 1979). Thus, this study assumes that a positive study abroad experience will lead towards a favorable international dimension in a given career. These dimensions would include a positive outlook on working in an international capacity, the development of skills useful to international business, and entry into a career with international involvement.
2014
The 2011 QS Global Employer Survey of over 10,000 recruiters worldwide indicates that employers actively seek and give preference to college graduates who had studied abroad. Six out of ten employers said they give "extra credit" for a student's international experience and more than 80 percent said they actively seek graduates who had studied abroad. The value employers place on a student's study abroad experience grows significantly as program length increases. Though this study suggests there is a connection in employers' minds between overseas study and the development of certain interpersonal skills, students who participate in short-term programs need to make an extra effort to describe their experience in such a manner that convinces prospective employers their time abroad developed the intercultural competence employers expect. Today's students must be prepared to interact with people and cultural situations that may differ significantly from their ...
Study Abroad and the Impact on the Labor Market
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The overarching topic of this paper analyzes study abroad and its impact on the international labor market using different disciplines. The opportunity to study abroad during a student’s time enrolled in a higher education institution is becoming somewhat of a necessary educational and experiential practice nowadays. The idea of student exposure to an international education is wholly aligned with the greater expansion of the labor market and economy into globalized networks. Over the last several decades, the number of higher education students across the globe receiving some part of their university education abroad has been on the rise, positively impacting the international labor market through student migration intentions, standards of employability and the development of global careers, as well as economic determinants. The three main disciplines discussed in this paper include how study abroad impacts the labor market from a social-cultural perspective, business perspective, ...
Learning abroad and graduate employability: challenges articulating international learning outcomes
Research and Development in Higher Education: Challenges, Changes and Opportunities, 2020
Growing numbers of Australian undergraduate students are participating in short-term international experiences as part of their degree courses. In addition to any discipline-specific knowledge or skills learnt, such international programs provide students with the opportunity to develop graduate attributes such as intercultural communication skills and professional readiness for careers in globalised workplaces. To facilitate their transition to graduate employment, it is important that students are able to articulate the learning outcomes of international programs and apply them to professional contexts. However, this is a complex task for students that has not been adequately addressed in university learning programs. To address this gap, this paper reports on a study of the experiences of 55 undergraduate students from a range of disciplines who had completed a learning abroad program. It analyses interview data on the challenges students faced to connect their international experience with their future professions. Results indicate a complex range of potential challenges for individual students relating to their career management skills, developing professional identity, task-related performance issues, and perceptions of the relevance of international programs for employability. The paper establishes the necessity for universities to maximise the affordances of learning abroad programs by adequately supporting students to realise global graduate career opportunities.
Journal of Teaching in International Business, 2023
Employers are continually looking for graduates who show an understanding of people with diverse cultures, languages, and religions. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine how participation in study abroad enhanced the interculturality of undergraduate business students. Participants included two cohorts of U.S. students participating in a short-term biennial study abroad program in China. The data were student' scores on The Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES), a 52-item Likert scale spanning nine dimensions: continuous learning, selfawareness, exploration, interpersonal engagement, world orientation, relationship development, hardiness, positive regard, and emotional resilience. The IES was completed pre and post trip. Additional data were collected from the students' openended journals that they wrote while participating in the study abroad program. Quantitative findings revealed that mean scores increased significantly between Time 1 (pre trip) and Time 2 (post trip) for most dimensions of the IES. Qualitative findings showed that three main themes impact student experiences: Travel, Memories, and Culture. Additional qualitative findings revealed that the Enjoyment and Challenges that students experience as part of a formal study abroad curriculum enhanced attainment of learning outcomes.