Case study
The Erasmus Impact Study: Effects of mobility on the skills and employability of students and the internationalisation of higher education institutions
Description
There are many institutional examples of how information on mobility-related activities is gathered and utilised, and of the positive outcomes and impacts on participating HEIs, businesses, staff and students. The 2014 Erasmus Impact Study provides a comprehensive overview of the range of benefits delivered through Erasmus+ participation. The study illustrates the impact of Erasmus participation on skills, employability and internationalisation in student and staff bodies as well as in organisations. The Erasmus Impact Study consulted 75,000 students and alumni, of which almost three quarters studied or trained abroad, further to 5,000 staff, 1,000 higher education institutions and 650 employers.
The need to provide more opportunities for students to gain skills through studying or training abroad is discussed in the European Commission’s strategy for the modernisation of higher education. Currently, approximately 10% of EU students study or train abroad. According to recent figures from Eurostat, approximately 5% i.e. about 253,000 of the total 5.4 million students of the Erasmus-participating countries receive an Erasmus grant. To meet the goal of increasing the proportion of students studying aboard, Erasmus+ was launched in 2014 with a budget 40% higher than the previous programmes.
The Erasmus Impact Study highlights the diverse benefits of participation in the Erasmus and Erasmus+ programmes, showing that young people who study or train abroad not only gain knowledge in specific disciplines, but also strengthen key transversal skills which are highly valued by employers.
The study shows that 92% of employers are looking for personality traits boosted by the programme such as tolerance, confidence, problem-solving skills, curiosity, knowing one's strengths/weaknesses, and decisiveness when making a recruitment decision. Tests before and after exchange periods abroad reveal that Erasmus students show higher values for these personality traits, even before their exchange starts; by the time they come back, the difference in these values increases by 42% on average, compared with other students.
They can also expect faster career advancement; staff with international experience are given greater professional responsibility according to 64% of employers.
Erasmus students are half as likely to experience long-term unemployment compared with those who have not studied or trained abroad and, five years after graduation, their unemployment rate is 23% lower.
The report reveals that more than one in three Erasmus trainees is offered a position at the enterprise where they do their traineeship. Erasmus trainees are also more entrepreneurial than their stay-at-home counterparts: 1 in 10 has started their own company and more than 3 out of 4 plan to, or can imagine doing so.
Erasmus not only improves career prospects, it also offers students broader horizons and social links. 40% have changed their country of residence or work at least once since graduation, almost double the number of those who were not mobile during studies. While 93% of students with international experience can imagine living abroad in the future, this is the case for only 73% of those who stay in the same country during their studies. Former Erasmus students are also more likely to have transnational relationships: 33% of former Erasmus students have a partner of a different nationality, compared with 13% of those who stay home during their studies; 27% of Erasmus students meet their long-term partner while on Erasmus.
A majority of HEIs consider Erasmus to be the most relevant strategic asset of any educational programme offered to students. Of the various Erasmus actions, study mobility is considered the most important in relation to internationalisation by 83% of HEIs and for their international profile (80% of HEIs).
With regard to the impact of staff mobility, mobile staff had statistically significant higher values for five out of the six personality traits than non-mobile staff. More than 70% of the staff agreed that the most important aspect of their mobility was the increase in their knowledge of good practices and skills to the benefit of their home HEI. Of the academic staff, 81% observed beneficial effects on the quality of teaching and on multi-disciplinary and cross-organisational cooperation in teaching.