Being international means understanding and accepting difference, it means new ways of thinking, putting yourself into other peoples shoes. Being international means contacts all over the world, having someone to welcome you anywhere you go. Even if you go to a completely new place, being international means being open in your attitude towards new encounters and new friends, it means stepping out of your familiar comfort zone.
These are all fancy and rose-colored ideas of being international. But it’s not only that, there are also many studies that show it really pays off to be international. Let us quote a few studies for you.
According to a recent study commissioned by the European Commission, mobile students have on average better employability skills after a stay abroad than 70% of all students. The study concentrated on EU’s crown jewel mobility program called Erasmus, but it’s results are applicable to any study/work period abroad. The study was the biggest ever published and it surveyed both mobile and non-mobile students, alumni, employers and higher education institutions. The skills important to employers are also the skills that improve during a study period abroad. The study reveals, that mobile students return not only more confident, more open to new cultures, but also quicker in problem solving, better equipped to adapt to new situations and with improved organisational skills. 64% of employers say that international experience is important in recruitment.
The study also revealed that 93% of mobile students can easily imagine living abroad in the future, compared to 78% of non-mobiles. Every third mobile student also states they met their current life partner when studying abroad. This same study also found out, that at the moment there are 1 million Erasmus-babies! Student mobility is excellent in bringing cultures and nationalities together.
This theme has also been studied in Finland with the aim of revealing the secret skills of mobile students. Centre for international mobility (CIMO) and Demos Helsinki explored competences developed through international experiences by asking employers and students to name the attributes they associate them with. Traditional understanding of international experience includes language skills, wide networks within one’s field, understanding of international business, ability to work with multiple people and having lived or studied abroad.
Based on the report Hidden Competencies the traditional view of international skills is still valid, including experience of working or studying abroad, willingness to travel and language skills. A new observation is that people also link many other attributes to international experience. Placing value on international experience in the recruitment process is associated with appreciation of attributes, such as creativity, networking ability, communication skills, ability to think outside one’s sphere of experience and general interest in new things.
According to the report skills and knowledge that result from international experiences are the kind of competences that the labour market needs to be able to face future challenges successfully. But often in recruitment we seem to be incapable of recognising these competences; they are hidden. For this reason, even ‘international’ employers are not necessarily able to give credit to competences acquired through international experiences in their recruitment processes. It is important to make these competences visible, recognize them and describe them better.
After hearing the results of these studies, we’re sure you’re all excited about embracing the international atmosphere of AYY’s international theme week. You may see the full programme of the week on facebook.
AYY International Sector
Milla Ovaska & Sanna Unkuri
For further information:
- Erasmus Impact Study
- Press release: Erasmus Impact Study confirms EU student exchange scheme boosts employability and job mobility
- Report Hidden competencies (in Finnish)