EDUCATION

The Impact of Studying Abroad on Graduate Employability



SUMMARY

The qualitative strand of this study explores different dimensions of student mobility and graduate employability to understand the impact of both variables on each other. The focus of this research paper is to address different factors of UK labour market with the role defining objectives of ERASMUS and other students exchange programs. An evidence based survey has also been discussed to understand underlying skills and knowledge necessary for graduate employability. The survey findings are reported after the year 2003 with exploration for the effect of students studying abroad and their international educational experiences.

Introduction3

Description: Literature Review3

Graduate Labour Market in UK3

General Analysis4

Analysis of Employability of Graduates: Comparison5

Skills and Knowledge5

Graduate Employability Test & Job Opportunities5

ERASMUS Programs (EU Destinations & non-EU Destinations)6

Likelihood of working in foreign country6

Possible Disadvantages7

Employment related disadvantages7

Conclusion8

Recommendations9

The Impact of Studying Abroad on Graduate Employability

Introduction

There is relative little development of literature for the exploration of benefits on graduate employability and educational mobility schemes. This research papers investigates about the impact of studying abroad on Graduate Employability. The major components of these concepts include the focus towards graduate labour market in the United Kingdom (Bracht et al., 2006, pp. 1-291). The objective of study is to compare or contradict the results of UK with other countries to understand the research topic of this paper. Erasmus Program is one of the fundamental disciplines of this research. There is thin difference between graduates who have pursued their university career in a foreign country and graduates who have only spend one or two semesters for abroad study in the foreign country. Erasmus program covers destinations of European Union. The collection of evidences is from scholarly articles and peer-reviewed journals with no data or results are reported earlier than the year 2003.

The primary focus of this research paper is to explore the effect of labour market outcomes of graduates who are studying abroad. Other secondary topics include skills and knowledge, job opportunities, likelihood of working, and possible disadvantages in a foreign country.

Description: Literature Review

Graduate Labour Market in UK

There are increasing numbers of students who have spent a considerable amount of time in university programs of Europe. The European Commission (EF) financed program, ERASMUS program to encourage students towards study abroad in the foreign countries. This program, since 1987, facilitates the student mobility within intra-Europe with the participation of cross 2.2 million individuals (Ballatore, 2012). This program is the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students that is not only channelling for temporary study of students in other countries. Various student exchange agreements of European higher education have diverse universities in the horizon of Canada, China, United States, and Japan (Archer & Davison, 2008).

There is indeed limited evidence for gains of such students for the international education experience, despite there are many strong arguments about the significance of study abroad program. Academic theories and educational researches have partially addressed the gap in this regard. The consideration of whether these study programs act as an important ...