Students who spend time abroad have better career prospects

Students who spent some of their degree abroad have higher employment prospects according to a recent study.

The UK Higher Educational International Unit’s ‘Go International programme’ analysed the academic attainment and employment outcomes of mobile and non-mobile undergraduate students who completed their studies in the 2012 – 13 academic year.

Of the 233,185 UK graduates included in the research, 10,520 of these were identified as being mobile at some point during their course.

6.7 percent of the non-mobile students were out of work after graduation, whereas a lower proportion – 5.4 percent of the students who spent part of their degree, studying, working of volunteering abroad were unemployed.

In addition, 87 percent of students who spent time abroad achieved a first class or upper second class in their degree, while 69 percent of non-mobile students achieved the same.

Infographic: go international

However, the report explains that it is expected for many mobile students to perform well, due to the fact that eligibility for years abroad students are based on academic performance.

On average, graduates who were mobile earned more across 11 out of 17 subject areas and they earned more if they remained in the UK to work. Some of the subject degrees that demonstrated the highest disparities in salaries, were Sociology, Computer Science, Theology and Religious Studies, Engineering and Physical Geographical Sciences.

Gender, ethnic and academic backgrounds were taken into account, revealing that students from the most privileged backgrounds are three times as likely to have had an international experience than those from the poorest families.

Nevertheless, the proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds who went overseas has increased by four percent from 2002/3 to 2012/13.

Students from non-language subjects had a slightly higher average starting salary of £20,760 compared to £20,340, and a significantly lower proportion were unemployed compared to graduates who were not mobile.

Anna Khoo, a fourth-year English and German literature undergraduate, spent last year working as a teaching assistant with the British Council in Germany. She said: “I think that a year abroad probably does improve careers prospects.

“Mostly for the skills you learn on an individual level – you prove you are adaptable, you improve your language skills (English included) and you gain a whole lot more confidence going forward into whatever you have ahead.”

Ms Khoo explained how the experience helped her academically, “I study German, so the year abroad is essential for learning language skills that translate to exams this year.

“It gave me a years’ worth of work experience in a foreign country which can only be an asset on a CV. Teaching includes presentation skills, team skills, I have found I can always find relevant skills I learned abroad for everything I have applied for – and none of it is teaching related.”

Participants of the UK Strategy for Outward Mobility hope that the report will help them in increasing their understanding of the state of outward mobility in the UK and potentially reveal disparities between students who go abroad and those who do not.

Vivienne Stern, director of the UK higher education international unit said: “We want to increase the proportion of UK students who have an international experience whilst at university. If we want to encourage students to think about spending time abroad, we need to be able to show them what they will get out of it.

“This analysis is the first step in testing the hypothesis that mobility has a positive impact on the academic and employment outcomes of undergraduate students. It is a useful baseline for future research which will allow us to identify relationships between mobility and outcomes.”

Ms Khoo was very positive about her experience, “Altogether, I think a year abroad is an invaluable experience, particularly for those like me who haven’t had the opportunity to spend time in more than one dominant culture growing up.”