Online Study’s Influence on International Student Employability Factors in Germany: Germany Vs. Overseas Based Students

ABSTRACT

Many graduate students enroll in a program abroad to obtain an international education and afterward obtain employment in the host country. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the influence of imposed nonresident status program participation on international graduate level students regarding future employment in Germany. Students were divided between resident and nonresident status and evaluated based on L2 language, development of basic German cultural values and creation of social capital. COVID-19 presented a unique opportunity to evaluate online education for employment preparedness in a foreign country as the participants could not self-select enrollment status. Results from a sample of 91 students indicate that a difference between resident and nonresident status exists – leading to likely employment challenges. Beneficiaries of the results are international business educators, reviewing or designing programs with online aspects, and university and tertiary education institutions, due to insights for enhancing employability for all students, and students, seeking a program abroad and interested in seeking employment in the country. Further, the study offers value to companies recruiting graduate level students from online programs by developing awareness about their integration into a foreign market.

KEYWORDS:

• Online learning
• study abroad
• Germany
• employability
• social capital
• COVID-19

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Christopher Weilage

Christopher Weilage has a PhD in web-based knowledge transfer from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. He is a Professor of International Management at Munich Business School.

Gabriella Maráz

Gabriella Maráz has a PhD in General Linguistics and Intercultural Communication from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. She is a Professor of Intercultural Management at Munich Business School.