Master Thesis T.beckERT

Timothe BECKERT Master Thesis, under the direction of Miss Virginia Drummond
How being an exchange student within Europe influences the future career path of young European professionals?
Master Grande Ecole Double-degree program with Eberhard Karls Universitt Tbingen Academic year 2008/2009
Timothe BECKERT, under the direction of Miss Virginia Drummond
MASTER GRANDE ECOLE MASTER THESIS
Academic year 2008/2009
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Abstract
One of the European Unions (27 member states in 2009) main aims is economic progress. Over the last fifty years, much has been done to break down the barriers between the EUs national economies and to create a single market where goods, people, money and services can move around freely between the member states. From then on, EU has been acting as a major world trading power. As a consequence, we, European students and graduates of the 21st century, are starting our career on a continent (in a world) where the words integration, globalization and exchange have become extremely meaningful. We are now applying for jobs and placements in multinational companies, and we are very likely to work someday in another part of Europe or of the world, possibly from the very beginning of our career. And for this increasingly dynamic job market, there is no secret: students need to gain necessary skills. Thus, some of us are much readier for these jobs than others for one main reason: a studying abroad experience gave us a first and real contact to what we would be confronted to later in our professional lives. University exchanges like Erasmus or joint degrees provide students the opportunity to develop the competence and expertise to adapt to and thrive in such an environment.
Those who seem to be the most mobile are graduates who studied abroad once. What kind of impacts had this experience abroad on the European graduates and young professionals that went on a university exchange? The aim of this paper was to list and define these correlations.
Therefore, we investigated issues surrounding student mobility of young European professionals by using both quantitative and qualitative methods. On the one hand, a questionnaire was created: 383 persons started the survey and we received 342 valid questionnaires for analysis (89,3% completed it); data were collected in thirty European countries (out of a 46-entry list of propositions when asking for the country of origin, one of them being Out of Europe). On the other hand, in order to deepen the concepts and links that had emerged, we conducted interviews with 6 young
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European professionals (3 women and 3 men, aged between 24 and 26) for whom this student experience played an important role in their own achievement and on their career path.
We listed statements and connections between the studying abroad experience and the future career path of young European professionals. Once the analysis of the online questionnaires results and the interviews answers was done, our observations led us to several trends:
1. After this experience, there is a changing of the approach towards the working life; 2. Graduates wish to work abroad after a student exchange; 3. Graduates wish to join a company with an international orientation; 4. The place of the first job position after graduating is often abroad; 5. Thanks to this experience, graduates are more self-confident when applying; 6. Thanks to this experience, graduates are more ready to move if the job requires it; 7. This experience is a vector to reach ones professional goal; 8. After this experience, there is a changing of way of life; 9. After this experience, there is a changing of identity, from a national to a European sense of belonging.
Recommendations
Jacques Delors wish in 1987, as Erasmus was born, was to reach 10% of the European students; 22 years later, only 3% experienced it. Universities offering exchange programs of all kind, as well as the European Commission and the participating States, should definitely emphasize on the outcomes and benefits students can take out of such an experience: it clearly helps newly graduates and young professionals to better adapt to the globalised world we are living in.
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Acknowledgements
I would particularly like to thank my teacher, Miss Virginia Drummond, for her inputs, her suggestions and her enthusiasm.
Thanks to those who have kept on spreading this fantastic idea of a common and united Europe.
I would also like to express my appreciation to the European Union, for having believed in and fought for programs like Erasmus, to the Goethe Institut, for having shown me what living abroad with foreigners meant, to EM Strasbourg, for having given me the opportunity to study abroad, and to the Eberhard-Karls-Universitt of Tbingen, where my European feeling got bigger.
Finally, thanks to all the persons that have supported me over these last eight months: my parents, for having given me an education with such a European dimension, my sister who is the perfect example of the graduates I targeted, my brothers who are as excited about studying and working abroad as I am, all my contacts all over Europe who sent my survey on especially the friends I made in Tbingen and in Luxembourg for believing in me and in this continental movement and, last but not least, Martin Rosenkranz, the most European student I have ever known, for all the great discussions we had together and we will keep on having and the ideas he shared with me.
Tbingen, April 26th 2009
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract and recommendations Acknowledgments Table of contents Introduction Chapter 1: Definition of the concepts 1 Studying abroad in Europe, a unique opportunity and many possibilities A International students I Definition II Key figures B Exchange students I The ERASMUS program, an original European initiative II Birth and development of university exchanges III Conclusions after twenty years of existence 2 The career, a new step for graduates A From University to working life B Different conceptions of the career C Once in the company 3 Links between the exchange student experience and the future career path: formulation of nine statements Chapter 2: Chosen Methodology 1 The quantitative method 2 The qualitative method 3 Reading of specific researches and papers Chapter 3: Analysis of the results 1 Profile of the respondents 2 Details of the experience abroad 3 Verification of the nine statements
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Conclusions Limits Bibliography Annexes 1 Annex 1: The Quantitative method (online questionnaire realized with the pattern provided by SurveyMonkey) 2 Annex 2: The Qualitative method (private interviews conducted with six young European professionals) 3 Annex 3: List of figures 4 Annex 4: Speech of Jan Figel at the occasion of the ERASMUS 20th anniversary Closing Conference 5 Annex 5: Results of the online questionnaire
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INTRODUCTION
1939: German invasion of Poland causes the declarations of war on Nazi Germany by the British Commonwealth and France. Six years long, the European continent is one of the battlefields of what will be the deadliest military conflict in history: Europeans fight against each other and, as a consequence, approx. 42 million people die (57% of the total amount). At the end of the war, Europe is in ruins, millions of refugees are homeless, the economy has collapsed, and much of the industrial infrastructure is destroyed.
2009: Britons, Italians, Frenchmen and Poles are exchange students in Germany thanks to programs in higher education created by the European Union (EU), like ERASMUS. Seventy years after this terrible drama started, young Europeans shake end, have fun, hug; all of them claim having together the best time of their life, here abroad, and are about to start their career out of their homeland. Europe is united, peaceful and free1. With almost 500 million citizens, the EU combined generates nowadays an estimated 30% share of the nominal gross world product2 (USD 16.8 trillion in 2007), and has become the first economic power of the world the current economy of Europe as a continent comprises more than 710 million people in 48 different states.
One of the European Unions (27 member states in 2009) main aims is economic progress. Over the last fifty years, much has been done to break down the barriers between the EUs national economies and to create a single market where goods, people, money and services can move around freely between the member states and sixteen of them even stressed their collaboration within the Euro zone. From then on, EU has been acting as a major world trading power.
Speech of the US President Barack Obama to European students, Strasbourg, 03-04-2009 World Economic Outlook Database [online], International Monetary Fund, April 2008 Edition.
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As a consequence, we, European students and graduates of the 21st century, are starting our career on a continent (in a world) where the words integration, globalization and exchange have become extremely meaningful. We are now applying for jobs and placements in multinational companies, and we are very likely to work someday in another part of Europe or of the world, possibly right at the beginning of our career. And for this increasingly dynamic job market, there is no secret: students need to gain necessary skills. Thus, some of us are much readier for these jobs than others for a main reason: a studying abroad experience gave us a first and real contact to what we would be confronted to later in our professional lives. University exchanges like Erasmus provide the opportunity to develop the competence and expertise to adapt to and thrive in such an environment. This necessity to move and adapt ones self has been confirmed by specialists who have shown over the last two decades that lots of firms had kept on investing huge amounts of money to help newcomers feeling better integrated when they arrive abroad, in order them to understand as well and as early as possible the national codes and working environment. Wouldnt it be finally easier if all the employees had already studied abroad? Since I exclusively worked out of the country I was born in so far, and since I am still studying abroad, Ive been willing for long time to understand if my fellows were feeling the same way as I was regarding this type of experience out of ones homeland; Ive been curious to discover if the European graduates that had been on exchange were keen on starting their career abroad ; Ive been interested to see what effects a student experience abroad like the ones in the frame of the SOCRATES3 or Hermes programs has on the career path and also on the mind of students. Another reason why this topic means a lot to me is because I take Europe deep in my heart. One sentence hit me two years ago: Jan Figel the Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture, and Youth4 closed the Erasmus 20th Anniversary Conference by
SOCRATES was a European educational initiative composed by five programs: Comenius, Erasmus, Grundtvig, Lingua, Minerva. It is now named Lifelong Learning Programme 20072013.
4 3
Jan Figel is still occupant of this post in April 2009.
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saying: The Erasmus generation can be regarded as a new type of social actor the truly ambassadors of the European values and probably the first generation of truly European citizens. 5 I am 23 and I recognize myself in Figels description: I have been studying management in France and Germany for more than five years and did my last four placements abroad. Europe has fashioned me and has brought me where I am standing now: I am a European citizen, and when people ask me where I come from, I like to answer I am a European. Ive actually lived in five different countries over the past two years, and I can no longer say I am a Frenchman; neither can I say I speak foreign languages, because I do not consider them as foreign. These are parts of me. This is what I am made of. Besides this very strong European feeling, I have started to develop a European vision of management too. Indeed, studying in both France and Germany in institutions of two kinds (respectively in a Business School and in a University) has allowed me to assimilate various approaches towards Human Resources which I chose as one of my majors. The studying abroad experience and the career path, two notions yet connected, are seen, considered and understood differently on both sides of the Rhine river, but also all over Europe which I noticed myself by discussing and working with foreigners. For instance, the reading of Chris Brewsters papers regarding cross-cultural management turns out to be relevant to better understand these convergences and divergences.
The opportunity of studying abroad and the impacts it has, the European diversity, my interest in HR: these are the reasons why I would like to take advantage of this Master thesis to ask this question: How being an exchange student within Europe influences the future career path of young European professionals?
5
Speech of Jan Figel, 20 years of Erasmus: from higher education to European citizenship, Lisbon, 04-102007
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In order to answer it, we will firstly analyze and define the main concepts that characterize the problem. Then, in the second part, we will explain which methodology has been chosen, since both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used, but for different reasons and with different objectives; these two methods will be presented and detailed. In the final part, we will analyze the results of the online survey as well as the content of the interviews, and we will come to conclusions.
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CHAPTER 1: Definition of the concepts
The aim of this Master Thesis is to understand what impacts, what influences the studying abroad experience has (had) on the future career path of young European professionals. We will in this first chapter analyze successively the target, its activity and the connections between both of them. The target is clearly defined: all those who had a student experience abroad, i.e. European young professionals, graduates and students who are about to graduate (to start working). However, exchange students and international students must be considered differently. Activity, here, means the career these young Europeans will (have) embrace(d). Clarifying those two concepts will be essential to be able to link them. Expected and possible connections between this experience abroad and the career path will be formulated under the shape of statements.
1 Studying abroad, a unique opportunity and many possibilities Student exchanges became popular after World War II, and have the aim of helping to increase the participants understanding and tolerance of other cultures, as well as improving their language skills and broadening their social horizons. The distinction in this work of two types of students students that went abroad from those who never did is fundamental. But in the second group, it becomes a necessity to make a difference between the so-called exchange students and the so-called international students. A International students in Europe I Definition
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International students are students who study in foreign educational institutions, but not in the frame of a special partnership between universities (e.g. those parts of the European Union's Lifelong Learning Programme 20072013, previously named SOCRATES and SOCRATES II). Although some students travel abroad mainly to improve their language skills, others travel to advance their specialized studies. Still others study abroad because suitable tertiary education is either in short supply or unavailable altogether in their home countries. In addition, in many parts of the world, a foreign degree, especially if earned from certain countries, is honored more than a local one. International students are known to learn a new language as well as new cultures, and also to move past their cultural differences.
II Key figures In Europe, there is a little amount of students who spend their whole student life in another EU Member State, candidate country or EFTA/EEA country that is to say the current 27 EU-countries plus Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway. The percentage of students in tertiary education who study in another European country remains indeed limited : in the year 2004 and excluding the European mobility programs (e.g. ERASMUS), 401 124 students corresponding to 2.2 % of the total European student population studied for at least a year in a European country of which they were not nationals (2.0 % in 1998).
The figure 2 you will find below (see page 11) shows the percentage of tertiary education students in this case. The position of Cypriot, Icelandic or Liechtenstein students is very unusual, as a great many of them study in another EU member country or candidate country, or an EFTA/EEA country. The vast majority of Luxemburgish students more than 80% also go abroad6 (see figure 1):
MARQUES, David, Les tudiants en nette progression, Le Quotidien (Luxembourg), 26-09-2008
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Europe DE 1645 21,08% BE 1605 20,57% LUX 1393 17,85% FRA 1392 UK 700 AT 385 CH 218 PT 138 NL 74 IT 65 ES 60 IE 15 DK 12 SE 5
America USA 54 CAN 25
Other countries 14 0,19%
Total amount of students 7800 100%
17,85% 8,97% 4,93% 2,79% 1,76% 0,94% 0,83% 0,82% 0,19% 0,19% 0,06% 0,69% 0,36%
Figure 1: Percentage of Luxemburgish students studying abroad (2008-2009)
Figure 2: Percentage of tertiary education students studying in another EU Member State, candidate country or EFTA/EEA country (1998-2002). Source: Eurostat, UOE.
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B Exchange students in Europe Under the term exchange student has to be considered, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a student from one country received into an institution in another country in exchange for one sent to an institution in the home country of the first 7. A University Exchange occurs when sister universities trade off students. Nowadays, almost everyone from professors and recruiters to every family member has already heard long stories full of enthusiasm from students who went on a university exchange somewhere in Europe; however, this great experience, that more than 1.5 million of European students have shared since 2007, had difficulties in being accepted by European MPs. I The ERASMUS program, an original European initiative When the studying abroad experience is discussed, the word Erasmus rings a bell. Even though there is a large choice of university exchange programs (for instance the HERMES network with an integrated curriculum for double-degrees), ERASMUS remains definitely the most famous among them and the one the vast majority of European students have benefited from since its creation some twenty years ago. ERASMUS is a European student exchange program born in 1987; it is a subprogram of the European Unions Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013 (this program was previously named SOCRATES, from 1994 to 199, then SOCRATES II, from 2000 to 2007) and is the operational framework for the European Commissions initiative in higher education. It has an overall budget of approx. 3114 million. ERASMUS aims at enhancing the quality and reinforcing the European dimension of higher education as well as increasing student and staff mobility. It enriches not only the students lives in the academic fields, but also in the acquisition of intercultural skills and self-reliance8.
Merriam Webster Dictionary, Exchange Student, (page viewed on 11-04-2009), <www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/exchange+student>

8
European Union publications, Education and Culture DG, ERASMUS Mobility creates opportunities, 2008, ISBN 978-92-79-07773-9
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The choice of this name is extremely symbolic. Indeed, the program is named after the Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, who worked and lived in many places all over Europe (Leuven, Paris, Oxford, Padua, Freiburg and Basel); he was, as Stefan Zweig underlined it in the biography9 he wrote in 1934, the first European with a continental dimension, the epitome of the travelling scholar10. Only later it was given the acronym European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students. II Birth and development of university exchanges In 1971, the Ministers of Education of new countries of the European Community agree on the principle of cooperation in the field of education. In 1983, the Council of Ministers of the Education defines the principles of the cooperation between establishments of higher education in Europe in a new type of partnership between universities of reception and origin. The incentive in the mobility leans on the recognition of the periods of studies and diplomas, on the grants and the financial help regarding accommodation, as well as on the simplification of some administrative procedures. While the file seemed blocked, Jacques Delors's arrival to the head of the European Commission in 1985 marked new ambitions and a new political phase in the development of the cooperation in the higher education. To his eyes, the program of mobility should concern 10 % of the student population! The will to create the Erasmus program joined, furthermore, the priority of the Commission regarding the realization of the Single European Market. Considering the persistent political blockings, it was necessary to wait until 1987 for the birth of ERASMUS three times rejected, the Council of Ministers of the Education finally adopted the program, on June 15th, 1987. The testimony of Manuel Marin Gonzalez, the former vice-president of the European
ZWEIG, Stefan, Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1934 (Original title: Triumph und Tragik des Erasmus von Rotterdam)
10
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Commission (then supported by Jacques Delors) shows how much the negotiation with the heads of State was difficult and long11.
III Conclusions after twenty years of existence Proof of its growing success and the positive impacts it has had since 1987, ERASMUS is awarded in 2004 by the prestigious The Prince of Asturias Foundation, category International Cooperation. Three years after, for its twentieth anniversary, Commissioner Jan Figel summarizes very well the evolution of the exchange program (see also figure 3): Erasmus is such a resounding success that it has become a byword for Europe in the minds of our citizens and throughout the world. () Back in 1987 we started out with only 3,000 brave and adventurous students. By comparison, we expect about 200,000 students to travel in 2007/ 2008 school year and the total figure over 20 years is now close to 2 million. () We are talking about 2 million direct participants but perhaps as many as 10 million people who are indirectly touched by the program with an outstanding ability to understand and accept linguistic and cultural differences.12 The aim of the European Commission is to involve 3million students by 2012, giving each the chance to experience life abroad13.
11
ARTE, <www.arte.tv/fr/Erasmus/NAV__Erasmus/Erasmus--le-bien-nomme/1531266.html>
12
13
European Commission, <http://ec.europa.eu/news/culture/061207_1_en.htm>
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Figure 3: The ERASMUS student mobility 1987-2007. Source: Eurostat (2008)
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In spite of high expectations and the growing number of universities involved, the amount of European students that go abroad twenty-two years after the launch of this program stagnates. There were 160.000 Erasmus students counted in 2006-2007, which is only 3,2% more than a year before. According to a study of the agency Campus France, the last countries that entered the EU are the ones that raise the statistics. Students from Spain, Greece and Ireland, as well as several Scandinavian countries, are not as keen on leaving as they used to be. In France for instance, Minister for Higher Education Valrie Pcresse explained recently that 4000 Erasmus scholarships on the 27000 proposed to students did not find buyer in 200814. Since its beginning, hardly 4 % of the young Europeans have benefited from this program of mobility during their university program, which is extremely far from Delors wish of 1985 (10%). "It is not enough, says Filip Van Depoele, member of the Head office for Education and Culture at the European Commission. Mobility can no longer be an exception reserved for some privileged persons, it has to become common and be considered as a normal step in every course of study. 15 Some efforts namely through a better information about the existing possibilities and a bigger financial support must now be undertaken by all European countries if they want the ERASMUS experience to be more accessible and attractive to students.
After having deepened what being an exchange student within Europe is about, we are now going to look at the step that follows the graduation: the start of the career and, more generally, the career path.
14
LAMBIN, Karine (with AFP), Le programme Erasmus s'essouffle, www.lemonde.fr, 10-11-2008
15
DUBOULOZ, Catherine, Etudier l'tranger reste rserv l'lite des tudiants europens, Le Temps (Suisse), 10-01-2009
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2 The career, a new start for graduates A Different conceptions of the career
The term career referred to a fast paced running of a course in ancient Greek. It has a notion of consistency16. The Oxford English dictionary defines the concept of career as an individuals course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)17. It usually refers to remunerative work.
Starting from this definition, some authors have then developed a special vision of the term. While psychologists say that people make careers, sociologists claim that career make people, and the career literature shows a dearth of cross-referencing between these two frames of reference18. I am from those who consider the first assertion right. By choosing a specific course of study, a specific field, a specific university, a specific degree, a specific path of study which includes one (or more) student experience abroad , everyone makes himself his own career path, his own conception of life, his own existence. To my eyes, experiences, above all those achieved abroad, give every student the new inputs and ideas about the career path he/she wants to have.
B From University to working life From being a student to working in a firm, there is an important step that newly graduates in Europe and worldwide have to take. As new graduates get ready to develop their careers, they transition from a world where they've attained a level of comfort and success into an entirely unfamiliar one. Many of them think their hard
16
VAN MAANEN, J., Experiencing Organization: Notes on the Meaning of Careers and Socialization, in Organisational careers: some new perspectives, New York (1977:8)
17
Oxford English Dictionary, <www.oed.com> VAN MAANEN, J., Organisational careers: some new perspectives, New York (1977:8).
18
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work in university will automatically entitle them to recognition and desirability as a new hire19. But just as gaining acceptance into university requires an understanding of what academia looks for in a prospective student, graduate careers also require careful preparation, even more in these times of worrying economic downturn (not only in Europe). Indeed, the workplace is constantly changing and is therefore not the same as the one that graduates entered twenty years ago. Two main reasons explain this change. First, European and global integration have created an increasingly dynamic job market, for which students need to gain necessary skills (experiences abroad like ERASMUS seem to provide the opportunity to develop the competence and expertise to adapt to and thrive in such an environment). Second, the expansion of higher education has produced an increase in the number of graduates entering the workplace.
C Once in the company The nature of management in European organizations is in a state of transition, influenced by competing forces of economic, social, and political integration or disintegration. Paul R. Sparrow and Jean-Marie Hiltrop argue that the most obvious links between national culture and Human Resources Management in Europe are to be found through six mechanisms, one of them being the readiness to accept international assignments and expectations of what will get you promoted20. For a successful HR management in Europe, this aptitude is a key factor. But accepting international assignments must not be taken as granted. We could therefore assume
19
<www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/how-to-pick-your-new-graduate-career-610514.html>
20
SPARROW, P.R., and HILTROPP, J.-M., Redefining the field of European Human Resource Management: A battle between national mindsets and forces of business transition?, 1997
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that some graduates seem to be readier than others thanks to their experiences abroad (university exchange or internships). Sparrow and Hiltrop also explain that national culture shapes behavior and structures the perceptions that managers have of the world. National culture, however, also shapes the individuals definition of his/her career. It is associated with different levels of career mobility. It signals different determinants of career success in terms of the traits, attitudes, and behaviors that employees believe their employers see as valuable. European career dynamics are embedded in national culture (Derr & Laurent, 1989; Derr & Oddou, 1991). While Anglo-Saxon managers emphasize the need for interpersonal skills and job visibility, being labeled high potential is the most important criterion for French managers (reflecting the elitist management development systems), and having a creative mind is the most important indicator for German managers (Laurent, 1986).21 Every national culture defines precisely what a good manager is. Yet, we are at a time where more and more people across Europe travel, discover and get better acquainted with other cultures. Does a European background which includes the knowledge of many different cultures seem to be an asset while applying and working? Finally, so-called trainee programs or graduate programs launched by multinationals, where newly graduates occupy a rotating place two years long in different branches and cities Europe wide, are more and more asked and are very successful. Firms require from applicants a strong European background and outstanding intercultural skills. When looking at the results of the application process, it seems every recruit has experienced the life abroad.
We have used the verb seem previously on purpose, while assuming a student experience abroad within Europe could influence the career path of young European professionals. We are now going to list nine statements of possible impacts.
21
SPARROW, P.R., and HILTROPP, J.-M., Redefining the field of European Human Resource Management: A battle between national mindsets and forces of business transition?, 1997
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3 Statements Researches about the different possibilities of studying abroad, the explanations on how it works, as well as the definitions of what the career path means, lead us to the final step before reflecting upon the methodology that will be used: the formulation of statements that answer the following question: What influences and impacts has this studying abroad experience (had) on European young professionals? We have made a list of nine statements that will, once the results of the survey we will conduct are known, turn out to be true or not.
1.
Changing of the approach towards the working life: this experience abroad has had an impact on the conception of ones career. Wish to work abroad after a student exchange: one longs for a job abroad after such an experience. Wish to join a company with an international orientation: being surrounded by foreigners one (or more) semester long pushes to apply for a company with such a dimension.
2.
3.
4.
Place of the first job position after graduating: exchange students start their career abroad, e.g. in the country they spent a semester. Being more self-confident when applying: this experience abroad makes the applicant feel stronger while searching for a job. Being more ready to move if the job requires it: after having lived abroad for some time, the graduate is ready to move for a specific job position. Vector to reach ones professional goal: this experience abroad was a step on ones professional way. Changing of way of life: this experience has had effects on the everyday behavior. Changing of identity: after this time abroad, exchange students feel more European than from the country they were born in.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
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CHAPTER 2: Methodology The way we proceeded was inspired from the work published by Dr. Robert K. Yin22. He stressed the importance of choosing the good way to conduct a survey using properly qualitative and quantitative methods as well as the necessity of the socalled triangulation, as a rationale for multiple sources of evidence. This increases the credibility of the results. Therefore, we used both quantitative and qualitative methods for different reasons and read many articles and research papers that are connected with the subject of this Thesis. The target has been previously clearly defined: European young professionals, graduates, and students who are about to graduate, that is to say all those who had a student experience abroad we will later distinguish each of them according to the moment they ended their studies. In order to reach the biggest amount of people, a quantitative method was privileged, so as to observe possible correlations and the importance of some factors, e.g. the origin, the field of studies 1 The quantitative method
Concerning the quantitative method, we used the website SurveyMonkey23, whose description suited actually well our target: Intelligent survey software for primates of all species. SurveyMonkey is an online tool that provides survey patterns and helps the customer in analyzing the results. The questionnaire was entirely designed in English. It was available online from March 14th till April 15th 2009, under the following web-link:
22
YIN, Dr. Robert K., CAMPBELL, Donald T (Designer), Case Study Research : Design and Methods, 1994, ISBN: 9780803956636
23
Survey Monkey, <www.surveymonkey.com>
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http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=yltMgr6EGX7fwLSS3zt2Iw_3d_3d. It was launched to young professionals, graduates and university-level students throughout Europe, who had completed a university exchange. They were able to complete the survey entirely online and only in English. In sum, 383 persons started the survey, and we received 342 valid questionnaires for analysis (89,3% completed the survey).
Data were collected in thirty European countries (out of a 46-entry list of propositions when asking for the country of origin, one of them being Out of Europe). In this survey, different types of questions were asked concerning the experience itself, the benefits taken from it, the influence it has had on ones career so as to perceive what distinguishes exchange students from non-exchange students. Thus, the questionnaire can be divided into three parts: A Who are you? Six general questions asked to everyone, about: the gender, the country of origin, when they graduated, the subject they studied, what degree they obtained and if they ever went on a university exchange. B The details of your student experience abroad. Sixteen questions exclusively asked to those who once studied abroad, about: the length of the stay abroad, if they had another similar experience, the reasons why they studied abroad, the languages spoken before and after this experience, the impact it caused on their educational path, the influence this stay had on different levels, their readiness and wish to start working abroad, their feeling of becoming a European citizen... For some questions, respondents were asked to assess the relative importance of this experience abroad on a 10-point Likert scale (of very no importance of extreme importance).
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C The working life. Nine questions asked to everyone, about: where their first job was, where they are presently working, if they did an internship abroad, the choice of the company they joined, the importance of a studying abroad experience regarding the current globalized world, and finally if they agreed with this sentence Rudyard Kipling once had24: "All things considered, there are only two kinds of men in the world: those that stay at home and those that do not." 2 The qualitative method Even though the amount of the persons we target are way smaller while using qualitative method, it must however also be considered in order to deepen some ideas. This is the reason why we interviewed 6 young European professionals (3 women and 3 men, aged between 24 and 26) for whom this student experience played an important role in their own achievement and on their career path. We elaborated a small survey made of 7 questions, that was carried out via private/phone interviews. Introduce yourself who you are, what and where you studied. Where are you now? What can students learn from a stay abroad in another European country? Has this experience influenced your career path? Why should international experience be acquired as early as possible? How long do you think it will take before saying I am a European is as common as it once was to say Ich bin ein Berliner? Please complete the following sentence: For me, the studying abroad experience is Here are the profiles of the six young professionals that answered our questions:
24
KIPLING, Rudyard, Letters of Travel, 1892-1913
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Natalia B., Spain, 25: studied Social Sciences in Birmingham (UK), works now in Luxembourg (LUX) Simone T., Italy, 26: studied Economics in Milan (ITA) and Tbingen (GER), works now in Luxembourg (LUX) Aurore B., France, 25: studied Industrial Engineering in Grenoble (FRA) and Karlsruhe (GER), works now in Wuppertal (GER) Nestor G., Spain, 25: studied Management in Madrid (SPA) and Tbingen (GER), works now in Turin (ITA) Nikoleta M., Greece, 24, studied Law in Komotini (GRE) and London (UK), former intern in Luxembourg (LUX) Giorgio D., Italy, 25: studied Business in Milan (ITA) and Brussels (BEL), works now in Luxembourg (LUX) They all answered the seven questions mentioned above between the 4th and the 10th of April 2009. Detailed answers of each can be found in the annex 2.
3 Reading of specific researches and papers
As we were collecting general information about the effects the studying abroad experience have had on young European professionals, some publications turned out to be extremely relevant for the writing of this paper. Articles, reports and websites: the next section will briefly review this literature. Paul R. Sparrow and Jean-Marie Hiltropp, in their article Redifining the field of European Human resources Management: A battle between national mindsets and forces of business transition?, examine the conflict between cultural heritage and the current forces of global competition in Europe. In Effects of Personality on Executive Career Success in the U.S. and Europe, John W. Boudreau, Wendy R. Boswell and Timothy A. Judge take into account the international experience and the diploma obtained to compare the career success of US executives with their European counterparts.
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In 2004, Anne-Wil Harzing wrote an article accepted for publication in the European Management Journal whose title was Ideal jobs and international student mobility in the enlarged European Union. This article investigated issues surrounding international mobility of highly skilled labour in Europe, using a matched sample of final year university students in Business & Commerce exclusively, in sixteen countries.
The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) published a very rich research report in 2005 named The experience of studying abroad for exchange students in Europe, in partnership with Petrus Communications. This was led by Ewa Krzaklewska and Seweryn Krupnik, both from the ESN. Students characteristics, the experience of studying abroad, the students satisfaction with their stay abroad and the students satisfaction with student organizations are successively screened. The Education and Culture Commission at the EU, in strong collaboration with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, edited in 2002 External Evaluation of Erasmus: institutional and national impact. This evaluation investigates the impact of ERASMUS on higher education institutions and national (government) policy-making. However, the most relevant report we read was undoubtedly The Professional Value of ERASMUS Mobility, written by Oliver Bracht, Constanze Engel, Kerstin Janson, Albert Over, Harald Schomburg and Ulrich Teichler (2006). The VALERA project (VALERA = Value of ERASMUS Mobility) aims to establish the impact of mobility within the ERASMUS sub-programme of SOCRATES on the mobile students and teachers careers.
Many websites were also very useful to find specific figures and data. The European Commission website for Education and Training25 provides a lot of information about its programs like ERASMUS (e.g. the amount of exchange students). Reports from the European University Association26 (EUA) show the latest European trends and their
25
European Commission, <http://ec.europa.eu/education/index_en.htm> European University Association, <www.eua.be>
26
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evolution; those from EurActiv27 (the independent media portal fully dedicated to EU affairs) were valuable when looking at the workers mobility. Finally, Eurostat28 (as the Statistical Office of the European Communities) keeps on publishing very precise and detailed statistics.
All the conclusions drawn and the available data shared in the articles mentioned above will be integrated into the final chapter: the analysis of our results.
27
EurActiv, <www.euractiv.com/en> Eurostat, <http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal>
28
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CHAPTER 3: Analysis of the result
After reviewing the profile of the respondents who took the questionnaire, we will look at the impacts the studying abroad experience has had on them based on the nine statements we have listed above. 1 Profile of the respondents In sum, 383 persons started the survey, and we received 342 valid questionnaires for analysis (89,3% completed the survey). All the detailed results can be found in the annexes at the end of the paper. The first part of the online questionnaire was aimed at knowing better who the respondents were. Therefore, six questions were asked. Gender: 57,7% of the respondents were female and 42,3% male.
Figure 4: Gender of the respondents
Where do you come from ? Fourty-two entries were given: the current 27 EU member States, plus Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Croatia, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Macedonia, Monaco, Norway, Russia, Serbia Montenegro, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine, plus one named Out of Europe. Respondents from the EU represent in total 91,3%.
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Countries with the biggest amount of answers are France (83 persons took the questionnaire), Finland (48), Italy (40) and Germany (38).
EU Countries Non-EU Countries Out of Europe Figure 5: Country of origin of the respondents 91,30% 5,90% 2,80%
How long ago did you graduate? If we distinguish respondents who have already graduated from those who have not yet, 44,1% of the them are working now.
Figure 6: When did the respondents graduate?
What subject did/do you study? Half of the respondents studied Business & Economics (49,9%) and more then one fifth Humanities & Arts (21,8%). Other subjects are represented as follows: Engineering/Technology (8,9%), Social Sciences (8,4%), Political Sciences (6,0%), Law (4,7%), Applied Sciences (3,1%), Life Science/Medecine/ Health (2,7%) and Natural Sciences (2,4%).
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Figure 7: Subjects studied by the respondents
What degree do/will you have ? 28,9% obtained a Bachelor, 66,4% a Master and 4,7% a Ph.D.
Figure 8: Degree obtained by the respondents
Have you ever studied abroad ? 77,8% answered YES, 22,8% answered NO.
Figure 9: percentage of the respondents who studied abroad - 32 -
More than three quarters of the respondents have already studied abroad which is way more than the European average.
Male 76,1% Female 78,2% Bachelor 75,7% Master 79,1% Ph.D 63,2%
Applied Sciences Business & Economics Engineering & Technology Humanities & Arts Law Life Science, Medecine & Health Natural Sciences Political Sciences Social Sciences
66,7% 81,1% 61,8% 79,8% 72,2% 63,6% 77,8% 87,5% 65,6%
Figure 10: Percentage of respondents who studied abroad, per gender, degree and subject
By going deeper into the details, we notice that the highest proportion of (former) students who went abroad took Business and Politics as subjects. In both cases, figures can be explained by the state of the 21st-century economy: always more globalized, free-trade agreements worldwide, regionalism, multilateralism, necessity of strong international relations. Many Business Schools for instance consider one or two semesters abroad as a must in order to succeed (students have to experience it during their course of study), and therefore the amount of institution partnerships keeps on increasing.
2 The experience abroad
Results that are now presented concern exclusively respondents that went abroad to study.
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Place of the stay: 82,9% of the respondents said they went on a university exchange within Europe, in the frame of programs like ERASMUS or dual-degree.
Figure 11: Place where respondents went on a university exchange
Length of the stay: Back to the definitions given in the first chapter, 93,9% of the respondents were exchange students, the rest being considered as international students since they exclusively studied abroad.
1 semester 2 semesters 3 semesters 4 semesters More than 4 semesters I studied exclusively abroad 40,7% 37,9% 3,6% 5,7% 6,1% 6,1%
Figure 12: Length of the respondents studying abroad experience
Almost 80% of the respondents are ERASMUS students since the EU program provides the opportunity to study one or two semesters in a university partner. More than 2, it concerns specific actions, like dual-degree integrated programs (e.g. Tbingen/Aix-enProvence Universities in History, Science-Po Paris/Sankt-Gallen Universities in Politics).
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Did you have another student experience abroad? 45,5% of the respondents said they had; 54,5% never repeated this experience. Motivations for going abroad (Multiple answers possible): One thing to note is that international students were more often academically motivated, while exchange students more often wanted to go abroad to practice a foreign language, to have new experiences and to meet new people29. When Aurore (FRA, 25) is asked why this international experience should be acquired, she says that with it, your can have a better understanding of the world and of the different cultures present. Such knowledge is a really good tool for yourself as well for your career. Nestor (SPA, 25) thinks the same way: This teaches you what being open-minded means and how to manage with culture differences. The first reason why students decided to study abroad was the need to see something new, somewhere else (73,6% of the respondents said so). Motivations for students for going abroad were also to have new experiences (56,4% said this experience was a challenge), to enhance future career prospects (41,8% declared this would help them having a better CV but only 8,2% declared this would help them having a better salary once applying). For 16,1% of the respondents, studying abroad was an obligation (that can be related to the fact that more and more universities force students to spend at least one semester abroad). Others reports, more orientated to the experience itself, have also listed as a top motivation to learn about different cultures.
Learning foreign languages: Another main reason why students decide to go abroad is to learn a foreign language. Summer camps for teenagers have become extremely popular worldwide over the last twenty years. What seems to be first a challenge turns rapidly out to be very exciting. This first approach to the life abroad, surrounded by
29
The Erasmus Student Network (ESN), The experience of studying abroad for exchange students in Europe, in partnership with Petrus Communications, 2005
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foreigners from the same age, is often the first step on the stairs leading to an international and mobile life. People were asked how many languages (mother tongue plus foreign language) they spoke before going abroad and after. Most of the students declared that their language skills improved during the period of studies abroad. Only 0,7% of the respondents could only speak their mother tongue when they came back home from their university exchange, and more 83,6% could speak at least three languages after their stay abroad.
It is interesting to look at the evolution of the number of languages spoken. 95% of the respondents who only spoke their mother tongue when they left said they could speak at least one more language when returning home; more than the half of those who could speak two before leaving got back home with skills in one (or more) new language(s).
AFTER your stay abroad Two Three 50% 30% 47,8% 46,2% 100% -
BEFORE your stay abroad One language Two languages Three languages More than three
One 5% -
More 15% 6% 100%
Figure 13: Language skills before and after stay and Language Acquisition Progress
3 Verification of the nine statements 1 Changing of the approach towards the working life Respondents were asked to rate the influence their studying experience abroad has had on their approach towards the working life, from 1 (not important) to 10 (extremely important). 77,2% of them consider their studying abroad experience has had an important influence on their approach towards their working life (answers going from 6 to 10). This experience abroad has an impact on the conception of ones career.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1,8% 1,8% 5,7% 3,2% 9,3% 9,3% 15,4% 25,0% 15,4% 12,1%
12,5%
9,3%
77,2%
Figure 14: Influence of the studying experience abroad on the approach towards the working life
2 Wish to work abroad after a student exchange: 86,4% of the respondents said they were willing to work abroad after a university exchange. Without my experience abroad, probably I wouldn't have chosen to live in this country, says Simone (ITA), now working in Luxembourg.
Figure 15: Percentage of the respondents wishing to work abroad after a university exchange
3 - Wish to join a company with an international orientation: A vast majority (84,6%) answered that they were keen on working for a firm that has an international orientation. Being surrounded by foreigners one (or more) semester(s) long pushes to apply for a company with such a dimension. 70% of the professionals that answered the questionnaire said they had chosen on purpose a company with a
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European/international orientation, 15% said they hadnt, and 15% said they actually hadnt had the choice. Finally, 84,6% of the respondents who studied abroad consider it important to work in a multicultural environment. For my first position, I was looking for a job abroad in an international firm in order to preserve this international culture Ive discovered in Erasmus. Aurore (FRA, 25) explains.
4 Place of the first job position after graduating More and more firms recruit at a European, at an international level says Jean-Pierre Pont, from Vivre ltranger, the European magazine of the international mobility30. One of the consequences of these courses taken abroad in the frame of a university exchange is the place of the first job. For instance, 15% of the positions found by French students having graduated in 2007 and having attended a so-called Grande Ecole (in Engineering or Business) are abroad. Let us distinguish graduates that went on a university exchange from those who did not (current students are not considered here):
Went on exchange 31,0% 42,3% 70,3% Did not go on exchange 20,9% 30,1% 69,2%
First job abroad Working now abroad Wish to work for a company with an international orientation
Figure 16: characteristics of exchange students and non-exchange students regarding job positions abroad
It clearly appears that graduates who studied abroad are more willing to start their career abroad. However, given the importance of the globalization of the economy,
30
LEWANDOWSKI, Jean-Claude, Linternational, plus que jamais un impratif, Les Echos Sup (France), 2110-2008
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the two types of graduates said they wanted to work for a firm with an international orientation. Internships: If we look exclusively at those who graduated and did an internship abroad, 78% went on a university exchange, 80,8% chose a company with an international dimension, 45% found their first position abroad, and 59,3% are now working out of their homeland. These percentages are higher than the ones of graduates who did not choose to find a placement abroad.
5 Being more self-confident when applying: 80,3% declared this experience abroad helped them feeling stronger while searching for a job, and 87,7% believe this experience abroad is a real asset on their CV. Nikoleta (GRE, 24) points out that having an international experience in an early stage means being more qualified in a young age and having better opportunities while you are looking for a job.
6 Being more ready to move if the job requires it: After having studied abroad for some time, graduates are ready to move for a specific job position. Thus, 91,4% of the respondents said they could move if necessary. My studying abroad experience has made me want to explore different options Natalia (SPA, 25) says. More and more firms from different sectors (e.g. Siemens, Fortis, DuPont, Syngenta, UBS, LOreal, RWE, Nokia, ABB, Bayer, Hugo Boss, Sony, TUI, Lufthansa) offer newly graduates so-called trainee programs, where recruits will rotate two or three years long between different sites and branches Europe wide. Aurore (FRA, 25) and Nestor (ESP, 25) joined in September 2008 this type of programs thanks to their adaptability gained abroad while studying.
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7 Vector to reach ones professional goal: 64,2% of the respondents think that this experience abroad was a step on their professional way, and that it helped them to reach their professional goal. If 68,4% of the female think so, male are less numerous (only 61,4%). Nikoleta (GRE, 24) adds: For me, the studying abroad experience is a necessary prerequisite for my career and a way to become more open-minded.
Figure 17: Percentage of respondents considering the studying abroad experience is a vector to reach ones professional goal
8 Changing of way of life: Everyone has already listened to testimonials of students who went on a university exchange, or has at least watched the French movie LAuberge Espagnole by Cdric Klapisch. Students never come back home from abroad as they left it, and thats why Erasmus students cant help encouraging their fellows to do the same. This experience has opened up their mentalities and hearts.
Respondents were asked to rate the influence their studying experience abroad has had on their way of life, from 1 (not important) to 10 (extremely important).
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0,0% 1,2% 2,4% 4,8% 4,2% 9,6% 13,3% 23,5% 16,3% 24,7%
8,4%
4,20%
87,4%
Figure 18: Influence of the studying abroad experience on the respondents way of life
The studying abroad experience has a big influence on the way of life of the respondents. One quarter even answered 10, which represented the highest importance. Studying abroad is a great experience and something that helps one evolve at a personal level says Natalia (SPA, 26). As the Commission's Proposal correctly identifies, the overall exchange experience has a profound impact on students: the ERASMUS program permits both development and personal growth.
9 - Changing of identity: Those who took the questionnaire were asked two questions regarding the change of identity this experience may have caused. To the question If you studied abroad in Europe, do you now feel more European or from the country you were born in?, 59,8% answered I feel European and 34,4% from the country I was born in the 5,7% remaining are respondents that are not from a European country. If we put them aside, then almost 64% declared feeling now more European. To the question Do you think Jan Figel (the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture, and Youth) is right when he said: The Erasmus generation can be regarded as a new type of social actor the truly ambassadors of the European values and probably the first generation of truly European citizens.?, a vast majority (86,3%) agreed with him.
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In both cases, percentages are the same when considering the gender. They do however vary according to the moment of graduation. Except for the category I graduated three years ago, it turns out that the younger the respondent is, the more European he feels.
Feeling Jan Figel Amount of European is right respondents 56,8 88,0 58 63,4 86,7 90 58,6 88,2 58 50,0 73,0 33 90,0 90,0 10 44,0 88,9 18 25,0 75,0 5 100,0 100,0 2 59,8 86,3
I have not graduated yet I will graduate this year One year Two years Three years More than three years More than six years More than ten years Average
Figure 19: Respondents idea regarding the European identity
Even though almost 60% of the respondents already define themselves as Europeans, the way is long before hearing it in every single voice all over the continent. The six European young professionals we introduced above were asked How long do you think it will take before saying I am a European is as common as it once was to say Ich bin ein Berliner?, and their answers confirmed it. Nikoleta (GRE, 24) explains that still all Europeans keep their nationality at a high level. I think it will still take a long time. Also Natalia (SPA, 25) seems bewildered: will it ever happen? I hope so. Their Italian counterpart Giorgio (26) estimates it'll take at least 10 years; however it is an ongoing process which had already given positive results. That's why I think, though slowly, it will arrive. Aurore (FRA, 25) underlines the necessity of a common and shared culture: In order to say "I'm a European", a common culture as well as a feeling to be part of it are needed. Exchange students are a good way to reach this goal. As the process of globalization and European integration continues to have a larger and more direct impact on individuals in Member States of the European Union, there is an undeniable need for a deeper understanding of "European Identity," ie, the core
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elements that create Europe and its citizens. Erasmus is a potent instrument for supporting and accelerating both enhanced integration and a shared European Identity31.
31
House of Lords (UK), Memorandum by the UK Erasmus Student Committee, 2005 [page viewed on 1102-2009], <http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldeucom/104/104we37.htm>
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CONCLUSIONS Thanks to the principle of freedom of movement for workers (a policy chapter of the EUs acquis communautaire), each can find a job in any country of the European Union, as well as in Norway, in Iceland, in Liechtenstein and in Switzerland. Nevertheless, only 2 % of the European citizens live and work today in another Member state.
Those who seem to be the most mobile are graduates who studied abroad once. What kind of impacts had this experience abroad on the European graduates that went on a university exchange? The aim of this paper was to list and define these correlations. Therefore, we investigated issues surrounding student mobility of young European professionals, using a questionnaire that 343 persons Europe wide answered.
We listed nine statements that turned out to be true once the analysis of the online questionnaires results and the interviews answers was done. Thus, being an exchange student within Europe does influence the future career path of young European professionals.
1.
After this experience, there is a changing of the approach towards the working life;
2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Graduates wish to work abroad after a student exchange; Graduates wish to join a company with an international orientation; The place of the first job position after graduating is often abroad; Thanks to this experience, graduates are more self-confident when applying; Thanks to this experience, graduates are more ready to move if the job requires it;
7. 8. 9.
This experience is a vector to reach ones professional goal; After this experience, there is a changing of way of life; After this experience, there is a changing of identity.
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The VALERA project, led by Oliver Bracht, Constanze Engel, Kerstin Janson, Albert Over, Harald Schomburg and Ulrich Teichler in 200632, corroborates our findings: As previous studies have also shown, a temporary period of study in another European country helps to enhance international competences, contributes to international mobility of graduates and places former ERASMUS students in visibly international professional positions. This study shows in addition that the employers consider the internationally experienced graduates superior to other graduates as far as many other competences are concerned, and many of them believe that formerly mobile students will be more successful in their long-term career.
Plus, Anne-Wil Harzing specifies that the fact that international experience is associated with a stronger preference for working abroad means that increased student exchange could be an important impetus for international labour mobility. And since language skills seem to be a very important determinant for the country that students would prefer to work in, language education beyond English remains an important means for promoting mobility within the European Union33. Each of the six young European professionals, who feel more European than from the country they were born in, considers that this studying abroad experience has influenced their career path a lot. Nikoleta (GRE, 24) points out that her career has been improved because having a Master abroad is considered as a great qualification. So do Nestor (SPA, 25): I definitely think that the international experience enriches ones personal experience, and for sure the professional profile, and Giorgio (ITA, 25): Thanks to that experience, I discovered how constructive and enriching working abroad can be. Yet, despite the numerous possibilities of studying and working abroad and the great impacts these have, Europe still seems mysterious and complicated for many of its
32
BRACHT, Oliver, ENGEL, Constanze, JANSON, Kerstin, OVER, Albert, SCHOMBURG, Harald and TEICHLER, Ulrich, The Professional Value of ERASMUS Mobility (VALERA), 2006
33
HARZING, Anne-Wil, Ideal jobs and international student mobility in the enlarged European Union, European Management Journal, October 2004
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citizens. As a consequence, pools expect a very high abstention rate for the upcoming European elections that will take place in June 2009. This disappoints me, and I would therefore personally recommend the reading of a book written in 2004 by Jeremy Rifkin, which he by the way dedicated to the Erasmus Generation: The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream34. Rifkin is an American economist and writer, the first ever who mentioned a European Dream, while arguing that the European system (values, ideals, openness, communalism, unity, projections) is better-suited to 21st century challenges than the famous "American dream". I think every European should read it in order to understand how privileged he/she is to study, work and live in such a setting.
Word has it that travels broaden the mind. For the last question, respondents had to say if they agreed with Rudyard Kipling when he wrote: "All things considered, there are only two kinds of men in the world: those that stay at home and those that do not." 60,6% answered they did, 39,4% answered they did not agree. I share the vision of Kipling too, and I invite my European fellows to make theirs, as I did, the motto of University Tbingen: Attempto!35
34
RIFKIN, Jeremy, The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, 2004, ISBN-13: 978-0745634258 In Latin: I try, I dare.
35
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LIMITS It has not been an easy task to meet up with my professor, Miss Virginia Drummond, since Ive lived over the past six months in three different European countries and she has been very busy for her first year teaching at EM Strasbourg. Thus, with more time and more contacts, we could possibly have reached more people, especially more young professionals more than the half of the persons who took the questionnaire have not graduated yet.
Finding the best way to reach the biggest amount of European graduates and professionals was also difficult, and costly. If I immediately thought about using the Internet to send the questionnaire on, I was surprised to see after some phone calls to my Business School that I had no alternative but paying myself for an effective internet tool in this case, the one provided by the website SurveyMonkey.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Books RIFKIN, Jeremy, The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, 2004, ISBN-13: 978-0745634258 SPARROW, P.R., and HILTROPP, J.-M., Redefining the field of European Human Resource Management: A battle between national mindsets and forces of business transition?, 1997 VAN MAANEN, J., Experiencing Organization: Notes on the Meaning of Careers and Socialization, in Organisational careers: some new perspectives, New York (1977:8) YIN, Dr. Robert K., CAMPBELL, Donald T (Designer), Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 1994, ISBN: 9780803956636
Magazines & Newspapers Courrier International n957, Dossier Formation Relanons ERASMUS !, March 2009 Karrierefhrer Europa, The Magazine for Graduates, 2008-2009 Les Echos Sup n20.283, Etudier et travailler linternational, October 2008
Articles DUBOULOZ, Catherine, Etudier l'tranger reste rserv l'lite des tudiants europens, Le Temps (Suisse), 10-01-2009 LAMBIN, Karine (with AFP), Le programme Erasmus s'essouffle, www.lemonde.fr, 1011-2008 MARQUES, David, Les tudiants en nette progression, Le Quotidien (Luxembourg), 2609-2008
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Reports and Publications BOUDREAU, John W., BOSWELL, Wendy R. and JUDGE Timothy A., Effects of Personality on Executive Career Success in the U.S. and Europe, Journal of vocational behavior, 1999 BRACHT, Oliver, ENGEL, Constanze, JANSON, Kerstin, OVER, Albert, SCHOMBURG, Harald and TEICHLER, Ulrich, The Professional Value of ERASMUS Mobility (VALERA), 2006 European Union publications, Education and Culture DG, ERASMUS Mobility creates opportunities, 2008, ISBN 978-92-79-07773-9 European Union publications, Education and Culture DG, External Evaluation of Erasmus: institutional and national impact, in strong collaboration with
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2002. HARZING, Anne-Wil, Ideal jobs and international student mobility in the enlarged European Union, European Management Journal, October 2004 The Erasmus Student Network (ESN), The experience of studying abroad for exchange students in Europe, in partnership with Petrus Communications, 2005
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ANNEX 1: The Quantitative method (online questionnaire realized with the pattern provided by SurveyMonkey)
1. Who are you ?
* 1. You are : A male A female * 2. Where do you come from? OUT OF EUROPE Albania Andorra Austria Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Monaco Netherlands * 3. How long ago did you graduate ? I have not graduated yet I will graduate this year 1 year 2 years * 4. What subject did/do you study? Applied Sciences Business and Economics Engineering and Technology Humanities and Arts Law Life Science, Medecine and Health Natural Sciences Political Sciences Social Sciences 3 years More than 3 years More than 6 years More than 10 years Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Montenegro Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom
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* 5. What degree do/will you have? Bachelor Master Ph.D * 6. Have you ever studied abroad? Yes No
2. The details of your student experience abroad
* 1. How long did you study abroad? 1 semester 2 semesters 3 semesters 4 semesters More than 4 semesters I studied exclusively abroad
* 2. Did you have another student experience abroad? Yes No * 3. Did this experience make you change your mind about your own educational path? Yes No * 4. How many languages (mother tongue plus foreign language) did you speak before going abroad? 1 2 3 More than 3
* 5. How many languages (mother tongue plus foreign language) did you speak when you got back home? 1 3
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More than 3
* 6. Why did you decide to study abroad? (multiple answers possible) It was an obligation It was a challenge To have a better CV To have a better salary once applying I needed to see something new, somewhere else * 7. From 1 (not important) to 10 (extremely important), how big was the influence of your studying experience abroad on your approach towards the working life? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
* 8. After having studied abroad, did/do you feel like working abroad? Yes No * 9. After this experience abroad, has it become important for you to work in a multicultural environment? Yes No * 10. After this experience abroad, are you readier to move and travel for a job? Yes No * 11. After this experience abroad, do you feel stronger while searching for a job? Yes No * 12. Did this studying abroad experience help you to reach your professional goal?
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Yes No * 13. From 1 (not important) to 10 (extremely important), how big was the influence of your studying experience abroad on your way of life? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
* 14. Did you study abroad in Europe? (in the frame of the ERASMUS, SOCRATES, DOUBLE-DEGREE... programs) Yes No * 15. If you studied abroad in Europe, do you now feel more European or from the country you were born in? European From the country I was born in I am not from a European country * 16. Do you think Jan Figel (the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture, and Youth) is right when he said : The Erasmus generation can be regarded as a new type of social actor the truly ambassadors of the European values and probably the first generation of truly European citizens. ? Yes No
3. The working life
* 1. Have you ever worked as an intern abroad? Yes No * 2. After graduating, was your first job abroad? Yes No
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I have not graduated yet * 3. Where are you working now? In the country I was born In the country I studied abroad In another European country Outside Europe I am not working yet * 4. Did you choose to join a company with a European/international orientation? Yes No I actually didn't have the choice I am not working yet
* 5. Nowadays, how necessary do you think recruiters consider this experience abroad? This is a must This has become very common It depends on the job This experience is useless * 6. Do you have the impression that such an experience abroad is an asset on a CV? Yes, definitely Not really Not at all * 7. Should this international experience be acquired as early as possible? Yes No * 8. Do you believe one can understand and live in the globalized world of today without having had any student/working experience abroad? Yes No
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* 9. Rudyard Kipling once wrote: "All things considered, there are only two kinds of men in the world: those that stay at home and those that do not." Do you agree with him? Yes No
4. End Thanks for your precious time and answers.
ANNEX 2: The Qualitative method (private interviews conducted with six young European professionals) We interviewed 6 young European professionals (3 women and 3 men, aged between 24 and 26) for whom this student experience played an important role in their own achievement and on their career path. 1 - Introduce yourself who you are, what and where you studied 2 - Where are you now? 3 - What can students learn from a stay abroad in another European country? 4 - Has this experience influenced your career path? 5 - Why should international experience be acquired as early as possible? 6 - How long do you think it will take before saying I am a European is as common as it once was to say Ich bin ein Berliner?
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7 - Please complete the following sentence: For me, the studying abroad experience is
Aurore B. (France, 25) 1 - My name is Aurore, I studied Industrial Engineering in Grenoble, France and in Karlsruhe, Germany. 2 - I'm working in an international company in Germany as member of an Operations Field Trainee Program. 3 - Of course they can learn a foreign language but more important they learn a new culture, meet different people and confront their own traditions with others. 4 - This experience had a lot of influence on my career. For my first job I was looking for a job abroad in an international firm in order to preserve this international culture I learn in Erasmus. 5 - With this experience your can have a better understanding of the world and the different cultures present. Such knowledge is a really good tool for yourself as well for your career. The sooner the better! 6 - I think it's going to take some more years. For saying "I'm a European" a common culture and a feeling to be a part of it are needed. Exchange students are a good way to reach this goal. 7 - An unforgettable journey you always want to repeat. Natalia B. (Spain, 25) 1 My name is Natalia, I am 25 years old and I studied in Birmingham, UK. 2 I am now working and living in Luxembourg. 3 I think studying abroad is a great experience and something that helps one evolve at a personal level. It is a great way to get to know other people from around the world and to live in a different culture. 4 I think it has in a way, because it has made me want to explore different options. 5 The sooner one acquires it, the better. I think you can tell who has been travelling, living or studying abroad and who hasnt. The characters are completely different. 6 Will that ever happen? I hope so.... 7 A must in ones life... Nikoleta M. (Greece, 24) 1 - My name is Nikoleta, I studied law in Greece and in London. 2 - I am in Greece at this moment. 3 -Students can experience a new way of living and a new culture while staying abroad and they can learn different methods of studying in a university of another European country. 4 - My career has been improved because having a Master abroad considered as a great qualification. 5 - Having an international experience in an early stage means being more qualified in a young age and having better opportunities while you are looking for a job.
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6 - I believe that still all Europeans keep their nationality in a high level. I think it will still take a long time before the expression I am a European become as common as Ich bin ein Berliner. 7 - For me, the studying abroad experience is a necessary prerequisite for my career and a way to become more open-minded. Simone T. (Italy, 26) 1 - I'm Simone, I'm almost 26 years old. I'm Italian and I studied Economics in Milan, Italy and in Tbingen, Germany. 2 - I am living in Luxembourg City. 3 - Basically I think that they learn how to behave in the world and how to be more self confident in a foreign country. 4 - Yes off course. Without it, probably I wouldn't have chosen to live in this country. 5 - Because as soon as you do it, as soon you can get and improve your foreign language skills. 6 - Unbelievable at the moment but I think that it's a work in progress. 7 - Something that you are going to regret in the future if you dont experience it. Nestor G. (Spain, 25) 1 - My name's Nestor, I'm 25, I was born in Las Palmas (Spain) and I studied Management in Madrid and in Tbingen. Now I'm Business Planner Controller. 2 - I'm working in Italy but in some months I'll rotate internationally into the different branches of my company. 3 - To realize about the cultural differences within the European countries and that you can learn much more understanding any of them. And therefore to integrate with people from other nationalities, not just from yours. 4 - Definitely. I think that the international experience enriches somebody's personal experience, and for sure the professional profile. 5 - It teaches you what opened-mind means and how to manage with culture differences. Also it lets you valuate in a different way what you like/dislike from your home country. 6 - It basically depends on how fast the person ADAPTS (and wants to adapt) to the "foreign" country, and how fast the person INTEGRATES into the culture. In my case I began to feel more European during my stage in Italy, which means after being one year in Germany, and beginning a new experience abroad. That helps me to better understand cultural differences, and to like what we can find in common. 7 - ... is the beginning of new international personal and professional proposals. Giorgio D. (Italy, 25) 1 - I'm Giorgio, I'm 25 years old. I'm Italian and I studied Management in Milan, Italy and in Brussels, Belgium. 2 I am living in Luxembourg City. 3 It's a great experience to learn different cultures coming from a very heterogeneous group of students facing the same situation of living abroad. 4 - Yes, definitely. Thanks to that I discover how constructive and enriching working abroad can be.
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5 - Because it can widen the horizons and help learning how to behave with people having a different culture and customs. 6 - I think it'll take at least 10 years; however it is an ongoing process which had already given positive results. That's why I think, though slowly, it will arrive. 7 - Something so unique and enriching that should be taken as soon as it comes.
ANNEX 3: List of figures Figure 1: Percentage of Luxemburgish students studying abroad (2008-2009) Figure 2: Percentage of tertiary education students studying in another EU Member State, candidate country or EFTA/EEA country (1998-2002). Source: Eurostat, UOE. Figure 3: The ERASMUS student mobility 1987-2007. Source: Eurostat (2008) Figure 4: Gender of the respondents Figure 5: Country of origin of the respondents Figure 6: When did the respondents graduate? Figure 7: Subjects studied by the respondents Figure 8: Degree obtained by the respondents Figure 9: percentage of the respondents who studied abroad
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Figure 10: Percentage of respondents who studied abroad, per gender, degree and subject Figure 11: Place where respondents went on a university exchange Figure 12: Length of the respondents studying abroad experience Figure 13: Language skills before and after stay and Language Acquisition Progress Figure 14: Influence of the studying experience abroad on the approach towards the working life Figure 15: Percentage of the respondents wishing to work abroad after a university exchange Figure 16: characteristics of exchange students and non-exchange students regarding job positions abroad Figure 17: Percentage of respondents considering the studying abroad experience is a vector to reach ones professional goal Figure 18: Influence of the studying abroad experience on the respondents way of life Figure 19: Respondents idea regarding the European identity
ANNEX 4: Speech of Jan Figel at the occasion of the ERASMUS 20th anniversary Closing Conference
Jn FigelCommissioner for Education, Training, Culture, and Youth 20 years of Erasmus: from higher education to European citizenship Erasmus 20th Anniversary Closing Conference Lisbon, 4 October 2007 [Acknowledge authorities in attendance Mayor of Lisbon, Mr Antnio COSTA, Minister of Science and Higher Education Mr Mariano GAGO]
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Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to be with you in Lisbon today to celebrate the tangible and symbolic achievements of the Erasmus programme over the past 20 years. Erasmus is such a resounding success that it has become a byword for Europe in the minds of our citizens and throughout the world. The messages of Mr Delors and Mr Marin you have just heard, recall that the programme had rather modest and difficult beginnings. Back in 1987 we started out with only 3,000 brave and adventurous students. By comparison, we expect about 200,000 students to travel in 2007/ 2008 school year and the total figure over 20 years is now close to 2 million. Also, as you have heard from the previous messages, at that time, not all the highereducation authorities involved were enthusiastic about Erasmus. It was clear to national governments that the European Commission was planning a programme that would inevitably have a number of repercussions for their institutions and systems. Education wasand remainsprimarily a responsibility of the Member States, not of the EU; and the European Commission has always been careful to respect this principle, even when it had to twist some armsas was the case for the negotiations that led to the adoption of the Erasmus programme. Twenty years later almost two million students benefited from Erasmus and everyone agrees that this exchange scheme has set in motion a seachange in Europes higher education. There is no doubt that many of the original concerns were unfounded. The changes inspired by Erasmus have done a lot of good to our universities. The Erasmus programme has helped establish an unprecedented environment of trust and cooperation among academic institutions. It has helped everyone realise that we should regard the whole of the EU as the natural terrain of development for Europes higher education. Erasmus has a strategic role not only within Europe but also by reaching out to the world beyond with its sister programmes Erasmus Mundus, Tempus and so on. The Commission has recently put forward new proposals which will make these programmes an even more comprehensive, coherent and vibrant instrument for the future. The students and teachers who travelled from one university to another under Erasmus planted the seeds of many of the structural changes introduced in Europes higher education over the past few years. Let me open an aside here. I have just used the phrase students and teachers. Everyone knows that Erasmus is a studentexchange programme; however, it is also open to faculty personnel. Over the years, over 140,000 teachers and researchers have exchanged their teaching and learning styles working side by side with their foreign colleagues. They have thus built up professional and personal contacts which have a lasting impact, not least in terms of developing networks for research. What are the implications of these exchanges? Students who spend a year abroad would want the work accomplished in their host institutions count towards their degrees at home. To do this, course structures and degrees need to be comparable even as they keep all their specific differences. Teachers who travel to a foreign institution would learn new ways of doing things and would return with innovative ideas for their universities of origin. I would like to stress one aspect in this process. The students, teachers and educational associations involved in Erasmus have set the conditions for change from the bottom up. In the end, even the most conservative academic had to consider the demands put forward by this grassroots movement, because the numbers were becoming significant and the proposals were realistic.
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Erasmus produced, almost as a side effect, a large transfer of knowledge which has inspired innovation and modernisation on a large scale. Public authorities and universities simply had to come to terms with the new needs generated by the mobility scheme. The Bologna process is perhaps the most spectacular result of the process set in motion by the success of Erasmus. As you know, the Bologna process now includes all EU members plus nine other European countries for a total of 46 participating countries. Moreover, a number of other countries around the Mediterranean are looking with growing interest at this process of reform; many of which would like to formally join the process or otherwise benefit from the unique opportunities it provides. Since the late 1990s, education ministers have been working together towards mutual recognition of degrees, transparency, and cooperation in quality assurance. The ultimate goal of this broad process of reforms is the establishment of a European Higher Education Area by the end of the present decade. The European Commission welcomes this process and has always provided all the technical and political support needed to ensure its success. However, the Bologna process does not belong to public authorities European or national. The current secretariatjointly held by the Benelux countriesrecognises the contribution of higher education institutions, their staff and their students. And this is the final indication I want to give you of the link between the success of Erasmus and the wave of reforms that is modernising higher education in Europe. Ladies and Gentlemen: Erasmus has encouraged us to see the larger, Europewide picture to which individual higher education systems and centres of learning belong. I and my fellow Commissioners have often spoken out on the need for universities to continue their march towards modernisation. This modernisation agenda focuses on working together and creating networks. We need networks not just between universities but also with other research centres and business. This will allow Europe to harness its potential for creativity and innovation. But the longterm benefits of the Erasmus programme are not limited to institutional reforms and to the boost that a stronger higher education can give to competitiveness and growth in the knowledge era. I believe that the main contribution of the programme lies in the opportunities it has provided for human and civic development. The Erasmus programme has given students and teachers the opportunity to discover other countries, languages, and cultures of Europe. There is nothing like firsthand experience during the formative years spent at university to shape individual perceptions about ones place within the European family and the peoples and cultures it includes. As the success of the Erasmus programme was taking shape, people have begun to talk of an Erasmus generation of openminded, young Europeans. Although the Erasmus generation is one of the best news for Europes process of integration in recent years, it is certainly not unprecedented in historical terms. The Erasmus generation of today follows in the footsteps of countless scholars, scientists, and intellectuals who have transcended and circumvented national boundaries since medieval Europe. To these people, the only boundaries that counted were the boundaries of erudition, innovation, intellectual and spiritual challenge. For many centuries the travelling scholars were among the few who could move freely around the continent. It was also thanks to this privilege that they laid down what we recognise today as Europes intellectual and moral foundations.
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We have named our mobility programme after Desiderius Erasmus, the humanist from Rotterdam who is perhaps the epitome of the travelling scholar. An untiring opponent of dogmatic thought, Erasmus worked and studied in Paris, Oxford, Padua, Cambridge, Leuven, and Basel. He spent his life in quest of the knowledge, experience and insight that only contacts with great minds and kindred spirits could bring. Many centuries have gone by, but the wandering scholar of the Middle Ages is still with us. The European project owes much to this emblematic figure which embodies our own quest for political integration, intercultural dialogue, peace and integrity. Ladies and Gentlemen: Todays schools and universities have a heavier civic responsibility than in the past because we expect them to prepare our young people for the knowledge economy and for a complex world where we are all increasingly interdependent. Clearly, learning about our own history and culture is the starting point for shaping our sense of belonging. However, we should complement the knowledge about our own roots with an understanding of other societies and cultures. If you think about it, this is precisely what the Erasmus programme has been doing for the past twenty years; and I can assure you this is precisely what it will continue to do for many years to come. When students and teachers go off to study and teach abroad under Erasmus, they are not just getting a highquality academic experience. They are imbibing a new culture and expanding their own horizons. Erasmus participants learn new languages, the habits of other peoples become familiar to them, they become more tolerant and openminded. And what counts most it that they take their newly acquired attitudes back home with them. Just think that, 80% of Erasmus students are the first member of their family to study abroad. Perhaps the best proof of the deeply personal impact that the programme can have is that those who travel with Erasmus also embark on a sentimental journeyto use Sternes words. Quite a number of students start relationships with longstanding partners during their Erasmus experience. Surveys tell us that no fewer than one in six Erasmus students finish up with a life partner from another country, and of these 50% are from the country where the student carried out his or her period of Erasmus study. In this way, the Erasmus programme can be seen to be making a very concrete contribution to the emergence of the European family. Links are also established with fellow Erasmus alumni and these links often become part of networks that will be with alumni throughout their personal and professional lives. Spending a period of study abroad brings openmindedness, greater capacity for teamwork, and increased independence. These are features that give students a clear added value for employment in international oriented jobs. This openmindedness and these crosscultural skills are becoming more important as Europe seeks to balance our common heritage of shared values with the promotion of cultural diversity. We are talking about 2 million direct participantsbut perhaps as many as 10 million people who are indirectly touched by the programmewith an outstanding ability to understand and accept linguistic and cultural differences. In this respect, the Erasmus generation can be regarded as a new type of social actor the truly ambassadors of the European values and probably the first generation of truly European citizens. Thank you.
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ANNEX 5: Results of the online questionnaire
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Master Thesis T.beckERT

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Timothe BECKERT Master Thesis, under the direction of Miss Virginia Drummond

Timothe BECKERT, under the direction of Miss Virginia Drummond

MASTER GRANDE ECOLE MASTER THESIS

Academic year 2008/2009

Tbingen, April 26th 2009

Jan Figel is still occupant of this post in April 2009.

CHAPTER 1: Definition of the concepts

MARQUES, David, Les tudiants en nette progression, Le Quotidien (Luxembourg), 26-09-2008

America USA 54 CAN 25

Other countries 14 0,19%

Total amount of students 7800 100%

Figure 1: Percentage of Luxemburgish students studying abroad (2008-2009)

Merriam Webster Dictionary, Exchange Student, (page viewed on 11-04-2009), <www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/exchange+student>

European Commission, <http://ec.europa.eu/news/culture/061207_1_en.htm>

Figure 3: The ERASMUS student mobility 1987-2007. Source: Eurostat (2008)

LAMBIN, Karine (with AFP), Le programme Erasmus s'essouffle, www.lemonde.fr, 10-11-2008

Survey Monkey, <www.surveymonkey.com>

KIPLING, Rudyard, Letters of Travel, 1892-1913

3 Reading of specific researches and papers

European Commission, <http://ec.europa.eu/education/index_en.htm> European University Association, <www.eua.be>

EurActiv, <www.euractiv.com/en> Eurostat, <http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal>

CHAPTER 3: Analysis of the result

Figure 4: Gender of the respondents

Figure 6: When did the respondents graduate?

Figure 7: Subjects studied by the respondents

Figure 8: Degree obtained by the respondents

Figure 9: percentage of the respondents who studied abroad - 32 -

66,7% 81,1% 61,8% 79,8% 72,2% 63,6% 77,8% 87,5% 65,6%

2 The experience abroad

Figure 11: Place where respondents went on a university exchange

Figure 12: Length of the respondents studying abroad experience

More 15% 6% 100%

Figure 19: Respondents idea regarding the European identity

2. The details of your student experience abroad

3. The working life

4. End Thanks for your precious time and answers.

Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

ANNEX 5: Results of the online questionnaire

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