Background and Employability of Mobile vs. Non‐Mobile Students

Abstract

In this paper, a comparison is made of the background and the early career of graduates with higher education from abroad to graduates with all domestic degrees, based on a survey among Norwegian graduates. Results show that those who have studied abroad constitute a selected group regarding social origin and mobility capital (exposure to international experiences). Exchange students have a higher performance score from upper secondary school than others. Regarding labour market outcomes, positive as well as negative effects of education from abroad are seen. Graduates with a diploma from abroad face more challenges entering the labour market, but obtain higher economic rewards compared with other graduates. Exchange students do not seem to encounter any particular difficulties in the transition from higher education to work. Exchange students as well as mobile degree students obtain more international jobs than non‐mobile students. The relative success of exchange students is partly explained by selectivity.

Keywords:

• student mobility
• employability
• selectivity
• mobility capital
• labour market outcomes

Notes

1. Domestic admission restrictions are still an important reason for studying abroad for certain groups, in particular medical students.

2. The support is provided partly as a loan, partly as a grant. As of 2010, the maximum amount is NOK 89,000 (approx. €11,000). Restrictions can be made in the event of high income.

3. Other popular study programmes are health sciences and arts. For various reasons, they were not included in the present study. Regarding health sciences, previous studies have covered these groups (Wiers‐Jenssen & Try, 2005). Regarding arts, this is a very heterogeneous group and difficult to compare with domestic students. Moreover, standard questions regarding labour market outcomes are not applicable.

4. Some people not belonging to our target group were included in the gross sample. The target group was graduates who had completed higher education. The database of the State Educational Loan Fund does not contain information on whether a person has actually completed a degree for the cohort included here. For this reason, we had to select students who had received support for a given semester, but not the following one. But students who have stopped receiving support have not necessarily completed a degree; they may have taken a break, dropped out of the study programme or found other ways to finance their studies. Hence, people outside our target group were included in the gross sample. Such students were asked to tick one question in the questionnaire and return it, or alternatively contact NIFU by email or phone. Those who did so (347 persons) were excluded from the survey, but we assume that a substantial number of those outside our target group did not inform us. This has contributed to a low response rate. In regular graduate surveys, we have information on graduates who have completed higher education, provided by Norwegian higher education institutions. As corresponding information is not available from corresponding foreign establishments, we rely on information from the State Educational Loan Fund.

5. The proportions of females vary by subject field. Women constitute a majority (approximately two thirds) of the graduates in social sciences.