ESN Survey 2011

Labour market and mobility 

• Important obstacles for future labour mobility are owning real estate, financial commitments and personal ties and commitments in the home country. In this context, the difference between students having studied abroad and those not having studied abroad, but intending to do so, is slight. Respondents that indicate no intention to study abroad or are unsure about it, consistently evaluate different obstacles as more important. This result could be an indication that future mobility decisions are quite dependent on convincing individuals to go abroad at an early stage of their education. 
• The most important factors that motivate respondents to work abroad are greater opportunities for personal development, better working conditions, a better salary and previous experience in the potential host country. Differences between students that have had a study or traineeship experience abroad, those who are planning to do so in the future and those who indicate no intention or are unsure about it are small. A notable exception is that a large diaspora living in the respective country encourages the latter group more than the former two. 
• A majority of students (60 %) express their willingness to work in a field where they have no previous experience whereas half of the respondents (49 %) say they are willing to work in field not related to their studies. 

Employability 

• More than 97% of all respondents consider having studied abroad an advantage on the job market. 
• Students who studied abroad evaluate many professional and study related skills consistently higher than the peer group without a mobility experience. Most notably, students with study abroad experience rate their foreign language skills and ability to work in an intercultural environment much higher than their counterparts with no study abroad experience.
• Studying abroad helps widening individual career opportunities by enlarging networks, improving knowledge of foreign languages and boosting self-confidence. 

Environment 

• After returning from studies or traineeships abroad, international students change their environment-related behaviour such as the use of public transport or bikes, suggesting that the quality of supply in these areas has an impact on people’s choices. 

Recommendations of the ESNSurvey 2011

For national governments and EU decision makers

• Having found evidence of how student mobility subsequently enhances labour mobility, we encourage European policy makers to keep supporting international mobility initiatives, granting adequate funding and institutional support.
• To increase the willingness to move abroad for work, the promotion of mobility and the experience abroad should be a focus area for all stakeholders. Timely and adequate information provision of international study and internship opportunities should be ensured.

In particular, we recommend encouraging mobility as soon as possible, even before higher education studies start.

• The procedures for students and graduates to work abroad should be simplified. Where applicable, visa requirements and residence permits should be designed to facilitate access to a traineeship experience abroad.
• With respect to the on-going negotiations on the follow-up framework for the Life Long Learning Programme, we encourage the use of mobility programmes as a tool to enhance employability. We, however, want to stress that this can never be the sole focus and motives such as personal development, enriching societies and creating European unity and citizenship should not become less important.
• Seeing that environment related behaviour changes according to availability, we recommend stakeholders to enhance schemes of adapting best-practices regarding transport systems from their neighbours in Europe.

For higher education institutions

• As the results have shown a beneficial effect of mobility on employability, we encourage HEIs to continue their support for student mobility and work on improving it on all levels.
• New support services for graduates interested in working abroad should be implemented. Such support should include help with legal issues and the provision of essential information. University career services should be ready and open towards international job offerings.

For organisations providing services to international students

• We encourage organisations supporting initiatives to promote mobility as soon as possible. Projects such as “Erasmus in Schools” or similar approaches can contribute to increased interest in mobility and result in higher future student and labour mobility.