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

How being an exchange student within Europe influences the future career path of young European professionals?

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Timothe BECKERT, 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 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

How being an exchange student within Europe influences the future career path of

young European professionals?

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.

1 Speech of the US President Barack Obama to European students, Strasbourg, 03-04-2009

2 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 20

th Anniversary Conference by

3 SOCRATES was a European educational initiative composed by five programs: Comenius, Erasmus,

Grundtvig, Lingua, Minerva. It is now named Lifelong Learning Programme 20072013.

4 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:



5 Speech of Jan Figel, 20 years of Erasmus: from higher education to European citizenship, Lisbon, 04-10-

2007


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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):

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


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Europe America

DE BE LUX FRA UK AT CH PT NL IT ES IE DK SE USA CAN

Other

countries

Total amount

of students

1645 1605 1393 1392 700 385 218 138 74 65 60 15 12 5 54 25 14 7800

21,08% 20,57% 17,85% 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% 0,19% 100%

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.

7 Merriam Webster Dictionary, Exchange Student, (page viewed on 11-04-2009),

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

9 ZWEIG, Stefan, Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1934 (Original title: Triumph und Tragik des Erasmus von

Rotterdam)


2007


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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,


2007

13 European Commission,


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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,

18 VAN MAANEN, J., Organisational careers: some new perspectives, New York (1977:8).


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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

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.

2. Wish to work abroad after a student exchange: one longs for a job abroad after

such an experience.

3. 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.

4. Place of the first job position after graduating: exchange students start their

career abroad, e.g. in the country they spent a semester.

5. Being more self-confident when applying: this experience abroad makes the

applicant feel stronger while searching for a job.

6. 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.

7. Vector to reach ones professional goal: this experience abroad was a step on

ones professional way.

8. Changing of way of life: this experience has had effects on the everyday

behavior.

9. Changing of identity: after this time abroad, exchange students feel more

European than from the country they were born in.


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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 so-

called 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,


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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).


- 26 -

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


- 27 -

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.


- 28 -

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,

26 European University Association,


- 29 -

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,

28 Eurostat,


- 30 -

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%.


- 31 -

Countries with the biggest amount of answers are France (83 persons took the

questionnaire), Finland (48), Italy (40) and Germany (38).

EU Countries 91,30%

Non-EU Countries 5,90%

Out of Europe 2,80%

Figure 5: Country of origin of the respondents

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%).


- 32 -

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


- 33 -

More than three quarters of the respondents have already studied abroad which is

way more than the European average.

Male Female Bachelor Master Ph.D

76,1% 78,2% 75,7% 79,1% 63,2%

Applied Sciences 66,7%

Business & Economics 81,1%

Engineering & Technology 61,8%

Humanities & Arts 79,8%

Law 72,2%

Life Science, Medecine & Health 63,6%

Natural Sciences 77,8%

Political Sciences 87,5%

Social Sciences 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.


- 34 -

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 40,7%

2 semesters 37,9%

3 semesters 3,6%

4 semesters 5,7%

More than 4 semesters 6,1%

I studied exclusively abroad 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-en-

Provence Universities in History, Science-Po Paris/Sankt-Gallen Universities in

Politics).


- 35 -

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


- 36 -

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 BEFORE your stay abroad

One Two Three More

One language 5% 50% 30% 15%

Two languages - 47,8% 46,2% 6%

Three languages - - 100% -

More than three - - - 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.


- 37 -

1 1,8%

2 1,8%

3 5,7%

4 3,2%

12,5%

5 9,3% 9,3%

6 9,3%

7 15,4%

8 25,0%

9 15,4%

10 12,1%

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


- 38 -

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

Did not go

on exchange

First job abroad 31,0% 20,9%

Working now abroad 42,3% 30,1%

Wish to work for a company with an international orientation 70,3% 69,2%

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), 21-

10-2008


- 39 -

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.


- 40 -

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).


- 41 -

1 0,0%

2 1,2%

3 2,4%

4 4,8%

8,4%

5 4,2% 4,20%

6 9,6%

7 13,3%

8 23,5%

9 16,3%

10 24,7%

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.


- 42 -

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

European

Jan Figel

is right

Amount of

respondents

I have not graduated yet 56,8 88,0 58

I will graduate this year 63,4 86,7 90

One year 58,6 88,2 58

Two years 50,0 73,0 33

Three years 90,0 90,0 10

More than three years 44,0 88,9 18

More than six years 25,0 75,0 5

More than ten years 100,0 100,0 2

Average 59,8 86,3

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


- 43 -

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 11-

02-2009],


- 44 -

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. 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.


- 45 -

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


- 46 -

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

35 In Latin: I try, I dare.


- 47 -

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.


- 48 -

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, 10-

11-2008

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

09-2008


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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

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Serbia Montenegro

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

Ukraine

United Kingdom

*

3. How long ago did you graduate ?

I have not graduated yet

I will graduate this year

1 year

2 years

3 years

More than 3 years

More than 6 years

More than 10 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


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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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2 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

Master Thesis T.beckERT

Documents

Transcript of Master Thesis T.beckERT