Studying abroad has become common among students in Europe. It is considered beneficial, for example, to improve foreign language skills and intercultural knowledge and to foster personal and academic growth. Surprisingly, empirical evidence whether and to what extent international experiences actually helps to find better jobs with higher income or higher occupational status is less clear.
A recently published study by ISS researchers Marita Jacob and Michael Kühhirt together with Margarida Rodrigues (Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa) examines job characteristics five years after graduations for those who studied abroad and those who didn’t. This empirical analysis of graduates from 13 European countries finds large country differences in the impact of studying abroad on both wages and attaining a high occupational position in Europe, i.e. in some countries studying abroad does result in better jobs, in other countries it does not. Generally, the labour market returns to international experience were larger in countries in Eastern and Southern Europe, countries in which university quality is lower, with high graduate unemployment, and fewer students with experiences abroad. In contrast, in countries with higher university quality and less competition among graduates, international experience does not increase job chances. Hence, studying abroad improves employability only under particular circumstances.