3 Why student mobility?

Student mobility can have a wide range of positive effects, for the students as individuals, for society, and for the higher education sector. The outcomes of different types of study periods abroad will depend, among other things, on the length of the stay and how the study period is incorporated into the student’s study programme.

When assessing impacts, the time dimension must also be taken into account: Some positive effects will be immediately apparent (for example, improved foreign language skills in the individual student), while others will not be manifest until much later, perhaps even many years later (for example, improved academic reputation for the institution, or socioeconomic gains). The element of time and the fact that other factors may have an impact make it difficult to pinpoint and measure the exact benefits of different types of student mobility, but a number of studies have been conducted that shed some light on these issues. Below, the key findings from Norwegian and international academic literature on international student mobility are presented.

3.1 Benefits for the students

There are three main types of benefits for students who have a study or training period abroad. The first are effects linked to the quality of the education itself, in the sense of academic learning outcomes and motivation. The second are effects linked to career relevance, i.e. whether the period spent abroad affects the students’ job opportunities, career choices, earning potential, etc. The third are effects linked to general skills, personal development and general moral, social and cultural education, such as collaboration skills, foreign language skills, independence, creativity and cultural awareness. The latter category of benefits is more a result of spending time abroad per se, as opposed to the actual content of the study or training period. These more general skills and competencies may also be relevant to and have value in the workplace.

3.1.1 Academic learning outcomes and motivation

A learning period abroad provides students with new academic perspectives on their own studies through the contrasts that exposure to different teaching styles and practices provides. They encounter different academic approaches and questions, different ways of learning and teaching methods, different academic content, and different perceptions of quality than those they are familiar with from Norway.1 A study period or practical training abroad also provides access to more and different study opportunities and different work experience than are available in Norway. Studies show that a learning period abroad also boosts students’ motivation.2 Motivated students tend to do better in their studies and are less likely to drop out.

In 2019, the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) conducted a survey among students and institutions to follow up indications in the national “Study Barometer” student survey of a lack of academic connection between the study programme at home and the students’ study or training period abroad.3 However, it is not the case that students always go overseas to take courses that correspond to or are identical to courses offered at their home institution. On the contrary, the fact that exchange students take courses that supplement or complement their study programme at home may in fact be beneficial. Limited academic continuity thus does not preclude high academic relevance. Students often travel in semesters where they are scheduled to take elective courses, and in these semesters they have the option of taking courses that do not have the same obvious connection to their study programme as the other, compulsory courses. In addition, NOKUT states that the academic relevance of the learning period abroad is mainly ensured through two channels: participation from the academic community when the exchange agreements are established, and preliminary pre-approval of courses in connection with the individual overseas stays.

However, similar to the results of other analyses, NOKUT’s survey shows that the students’ primary motivation for going abroad is not related to the academic benefits, but to the opportunity to acquire cultural skills, improve their foreign language skills, and general personal development and experience.4

3.1.2 Mobility and the labour market

Analyses of the value employers attach to international experience provide inconsistent findings. Both the 2014 and the 2019 Erasmus Impact Study conclude that graduates with international experience perform better on the job market.5 Mobile students acquire skills and personal traits that are highly valued and sought after in the workplace, such as problem-solving skills, proactivity, creativity, collaboration skills, and flexibility. Furthermore, graduates with international experience are more often given internationally oriented work.6 The Erasmus Impact Study from 2019 found that graduates who had taken part in Erasmus+ were employed more quickly and were more satisfied in their job than non-mobile students, and that they tended to have a slightly higher than average income. The study also showed that 40 per cent of graduates who had participated in an international traineeship or training were employed by or received a job offer from their host company or organisation. However, it must be pointed out that there is no basis for comparing these figures with students who did traineeship or practical training in their home country. Fewer of the Erasmus students were unemployed five years after graduating, compared with other students.

There is limited research on the employability impact of a learning period abroad. Two reviews of research from different countries from 2016 and 2018 respectively conclude that there is a positive correlation between a study period abroad and attractiveness on the labour market.7 In their project “International student mobility: drivers, patterns and impact”, the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU) and Oslo Metropolitan University () have reviewed relevant research on student mobility and outcomes in the employment market. They highlight a much-discussed paradox: Employers attach high value to the competencies and skills that students gain from a period of international study, but do not prioritise international experience per se in connection with recruitment and hiring.8 This may in part be because employers are not sufficiently aware of the competencies and skills that study or training periods abroad can provide. In this perspective, it is important to increase the students’, the academic communities’ and study programmes’ awareness of the relevant skills and competencies that mobility can stimulate and how these can be rendered more visible. The lack of prioritisation of international experience on the labour market may also in part be explained by the fact that even greater value is attached to other categories of relevant experience. In this context, the researchers point in particular to practical work experience and collaborative activities in which the students help resolve real-life issues. In line with this, it is concluded that not all international experience is assessed equally, and that experience from traineeships, work placement or periods of supervised professional training is valued more highly than ordinary study periods abroad.

Mobility in the form of overseas training periods or traineeships have additional value beyond the value of the practical work experience itself. Students get to experience a different country’s work culture and learn about the norms and values, formal and informal, that regulate working life in other countries. In an increasingly international business and social landscape, where the demand for intercultural understanding and international perspectives is growing, training mobility will be able to contribute both international knowledge and valuable networks, both of which will be useful for work in Norway and overseas. One of the main findings of the Erasmus Impact Study is that almost one in ten students who had undertaken a work placement abroad has started their own company, and that more than three out of four students plan to, or can imagine doing so.9 Studies also show that overseas training periods make students more confident in their career choices,10 and good and secure career choices will mean a lower drop-out rate and that students are more organised and focused in their studies. Given the potential of international traineeships and the fact that Norway makes little use of this opportunity by international standards, this is an area that ought to be paid greater attention going forward.

A new empirical study from Norway confirms the main impression that a learning period abroad has relatively limited impact on how well graduates do in the labour market. The researchers set out to explore whether there was a difference in unemployment between graduates who had undertaken a study or training period abroad during their studies or had similar international experience and other students, and whether there was a difference in the relevance of their work in light of their education. The main finding, after controlling for relevant background variables, was that international mobility has limited impact on graduate unemployment and the relevance of employment. The exception in this respect is the subject area economics and administration, where students with international experience do slightly better in the labour market than students without international experience. Furthermore, the results suggest that students with strong admission grades tend to profit more from learning periods abroad.11

Students who take a full degree abroad do relatively better in the labour market now compared to how they did a few years ago. The main finding of the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU)’s report The early career impact of education from abroad from 2019 is that individuals who have taken a full master’s degree abroad do as well, and on some indicators better, in the employment market as those who have not taken education abroad.12

Surveys of what Norwegian employers prioritise in connection with recruitment confirm the main impression that the skills and competencies associated with internationalisation are valued in and of themselves, while a study or work period abroad is relatively low on employers’ lists of requirements for new hires.13 Similarly, the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO)’s Skills Barometer from 201914 indicates that employers want the kinds of competencies that international exchanges and learning periods abroad can help foster. In view of this, raising awareness and visibility concerning the value of student mobility remains important challenges.

3.1.3 Personal development, social and cultural education, and general skills

Students who go abroad to study need to adapt to a new way of life and a new learning environment. This promotes general skills and abilities, such as problem solving, collaboration skills, self-confidence, tolerance and openness towards alternative ways of doing things, decision-making skills, active citizenship, and political and social engagement.15 While these kinds of skills and abilities of course are useful in connection with education and work, they can also be of great value to the individual in life in general.

Studying abroad can also contribute to greater cultural understanding.16 A number of countries are seeing growing polarisation and radicalisation of the political climate, meaning that intercultural competence, empathy and values that help prevent radicalisation will become even more important in higher education in the future. This applies not only in view of the fact that many people will be working in or with other countries, but also with regard to being able to deal with cultural challenges at work and in society at large. Regardless of whether an individual works in the private sector or in public service production, intercultural understanding is a useful generic skill for the workforce of tomorrow. This skill can also be developed without mobility, but a study or training period abroad is an effective way of acquiring it. As several studies have pointed out, studying or training abroad does not always result in intercultural skills and understanding. It depends on the student being able or encouraged to reflect on their own behaviours and norms in encountering a different culture. Some people may already have this ability to self-reflect, while others may need guidance in the form of organised preparatory or follow-up work.17

At the same time, it is important to note that due to demographic changes of the recent decades, it is now possible to acquire international and intercultural experience without going abroad. The composition of the general population and the student population in Norway indicates that students in higher education will meet significant numbers of people with a different cultural, educational and social background and experiences to themselves. This in itself represents a valuable potential arena for internationalisation.

English is the dominant academic language among mobile students. Some outbound Norwegian students also follow teaching in other languages, and a few inbound students learn Norwegian. However, it is mainly English language skills that are improved in connection with an academic exchange. English language proficiency is also most in demand by Norwegian companies, according to the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO)’s Skills Barometer for 2018.18 Almost half of the companies responded that they needed English language proficiency, while the second most in-demand language proficiency was German, with 13 per cent saying they needed this. Students who spend a prolonged period of time in a foreign country or who already know the relevant foreign language can learn or greatly improve their skills in languages other than English.

3.2 Benefits for society

In addition to the benefits for the individual students and the higher education sector, mobility will also have positive consequences for society as a whole. These include benefits related to democracy, knowledge diplomacy and the economic effects of Norwegian students going abroad and international students spending time in Norway.

3.2.1 Bolstering support for liberal democracy

By strengthening students’ international orientation and intercultural competence, student mobility can help counter national tensions and anti-democratic forces. In the EU, Erasmus+ is seen as a means of promoting cohesion and positive social behaviour, countering extremism and anti-democratic tendencies, and increasing the social inclusion of vulnerable groups.19 The liberal democratic aspect of student mobility has recently resurfaced as an important political element, after having been somewhat overshadowed by interests related to the economy, employment and industry for several years.

3.2.2 Country knowledge and knowledge diplomacy

Intercultural competence and language proficiency were highlighted above as positive effects of mobility that benefit the individual student. However, these effects also benefit society as a whole. Another benefit is greater knowledge of the country students travel to and spend time in. This kind of in-depth knowledge about a specific country is different to intercultural competency, which is a general ability to manoeuvre in a multicultural setting, regardless of which cultures and nations are involved. As a society, Norway benefits greatly from Norwegian students acquiring concrete knowledge about specific countries. In this context, it has been a long-standing goal in Norwegian policy for the education and research field to have outbound students go to Norway’s priority partner countries. International networks in the higher education and research sector can help build common identities and defuse or resolve conflicts and tensions in other, more controversial fields. In this way, student mobility is part of the emerging concept of “knowledge diplomacy”.

3.2.3 Labour market and socio-economic gains

The current era is characterised by major societal challenges that require international solutions, and a labour market that is becoming increasingly more international. The knowledge, skills and competencies that students gain through international mobility in general and training mobility in particular are vital to our ability to educate students to meet tomorrow’s challenges and a changing labour market. Today, many Norwegian workers already need to be capable of functioning as part of an international workforce, and in the future, this will be the case in a growing number of occupations and industries. There is nothing to suggest that the need for international experience and expertise will diminish in the foreseeable future. The Government therefore wants more students to go abroad and gain international experience, through both study and training periods.

In addition to Norwegian students who go abroad bringing new knowledge, perspectives and networks back home to Norway, international students who come to Norway can also offer in-demand expertise and innovation to Norwegian workplaces and trade and industry, if they stay and work here after they complete their degree. Inbound students who stay on and transition to employment in Norway integrate faster and better than foreign workers who have no experience of Norway before they get a job here. Accepting international students can therefore be an efficient way of providing the Norwegian knowledge economy with highly qualified workers.

Innovation often occurs in the interface between different perspectives, combined with knowledge of the latest advances in different areas. This can take place in connection with inbound international students and returning Norwegian students.

At the same time, there appears to be something of a communication challenge in this respect, such that the knowledge and expertise that students acquire through international mobility is not being fully utilised. In the much-discussed report Hidden Competences published by the Finnish Centre for International Mobility (CIMO) in 2014, it is argued that a learning period abroad contributes greatly to the skills employers look for in candidates, but without employers seeing this as related to international experience. This includes, for example, foreign language skills and cultural knowledge, intercultural understanding and communication skills, ability to collaborate, problem solving, and entrepreneurship. It appears from Norwegian and international studies that employers attach little importance to international competence in the recruitment process.20 Part of the explanation for this challenge in Norway is the structure of our business sector, which is dominated by small companies.

With the forthcoming white paper on labour market relevance in higher education, the Government aims to strengthen the cooperation between higher education and the labour market. Closer collaboration will also help ensure better use can be made of international competence.

Aside from the fact that international student mobility leads to the flow of skills and expertise across borders, international students in Norway have a positive impact on the economy, even if they do not pay tuition fees. They spend money during their study period, and if they work in Norway during or after their studies, they pay tax. This has been demonstrated in a number of studies from other European countries. According to an official Danish report from 2018, international students make a net contribution to the nation’s public finances.21 Studies from Finland, Germany and the Netherlands reach similar conclusions.22 This positive financial contribution is primarily related to students who stay on and work in the country after graduation, but it also comes from students who work alongside studying and from the money that international students (and their friends and family who visit them) spend and thereby inject into the national economy.

3.3 Benefits for the higher education sector

Student mobility has implications for higher education institutions beyond the benefits it entails for the individual inbound or outbound student. For example, mobile students can help enhance the quality of education, strengthen the ties between academic groups and institutions, make study environments more international, and boost the institutions’ reputation. The internationalisation of student communities is particularly important for students who do not themselves have a period abroad and can ensure that they too are exposed to international perspectives and influences.

3.3.1 Strengthen institutional cooperation

Since the 2003 Quality Reform, it has been an express goal to ensure student mobility is linked to research and teaching cooperation between academic groups and between institutions. The aim has been to make mobility a more integrated part of the study programmes and thus more academically relevant, but also to strengthen academic and institutional cooperation through student mobility. The networks that are created and the interaction that occurs through student mobility provides a basis for academic discussions and in the long term perhaps also research cooperation. The institutions can recruit talented students, some of whom will go on to do a doctoral degree and join the academic staff. International alumni networks are also useful in terms of long-term research and teaching cooperation. Institutional agreements that encompass both academic cooperation and student mobility will further underpin this.

Student mobility can also be useful in connection with establishing international work or training opportunities, in the sense that traineeships etc. can be found via the networks of people who have studied in Norway and who later work in relevant positions in other countries. There are also examples of partnerships that initially encompassed only education and/or student mobility, but that evolved to also include research and innovation.23 This approach may be particularly apt to establish cooperation in countries where Norwegian academic groups have few contacts, but want to develop academic partnerships.

3.3.2 Better and more relevant education and research

A study or training period abroad adapted to the individual study programme may improve the programme, for example by enabling students to take modules that their home institution does not offer, or the opportunity to take courses in areas where the partner institution is academically stronger. With their perspectives and expertise, visiting foreign students enable Norwegian institutions to see the education they offer in a comparative perspective and measure themselves against other countries. Most Norwegian students will also have to relate to perspectives from other countries in their future careers. Talented inbound students also help raise the level of research.24

3.3.3 Internationalisation at home

The fact that some students go abroad, and international students come to Norway enables students who are not themselves mobile during their education to encounter international perspectives and influences. The international students who come to Norway can contribute directly to a more international study environment at Norwegian institutions, and on their return, Norwegian students who go abroad can share their experiences with their study environment at home. However, this presupposes that the interaction between the international students and the Norwegian students is good, and that the lessons learned by people who have been abroad are incorporated into the teaching at home. This effect will be stronger if mobility is properly integrated into the study programmes and if it is part of an established academic partnership between a Norwegian and an overseas institution.

3.3.4 Reputation and visibility

Student mobility is an indicator in international rankings and thus plays a role in promoting the institution’s visibility and reputation. In a global and increasingly commercial education market with competition for the best students,25 Norwegian institutions need to pay growing attention to their international visibility and reputation. This will also be important in connection with finding good, recognised international partners for research cooperation.

The option to take part of the programme abroad can also help make institutions more attractive to Norwegian students. This has gained traction since the restructuring of the state funding of higher education in Norway in the early 2000s, with the introduction of a system whereby part of the funding now depends on the number of students at the institution and the number of credits they complete.

3.4 Choice of instruments

There are thus many motives for prioritising international student mobility and many positive potential effects of mobility. In choosing policies and instruments, there must therefore be a clear focus on what results and achievements that are wanted.

Attracting international degree students in order to recruit them to work in Norway after graduating requires a different approach compared to establishing institutional exchange cooperation. Having Norwegian students on exchange to partner institutions in Europe because of cooperation between academic staff, is different to sending students to priority partner countries as these countries are also important global players and trading partners. Another aspect is sending students abroad due to a lack of capacity at home, as is the case in medicine, for example. Norway’s policy for education and research aims to safeguard the interests of the individual student, society as a whole, and the higher education institutions.

A marked increase in the number of students who go abroad for a study or training period will require well-organised mobility stays. A good framework will help ensure academically integrated stays at partner institutions abroad. At the same time, this could lead to exchange students ending up in a study environment with co-students from Norway, thereby preventing some of challenges international exchange students have previously faced concerning socialisation and an unfamiliar environment. It is important that the institutions are aware of the kinds of learning outcomes that different types of mobility can have.

Another question is how useful study or training periods abroad are in terms of finding a relevant job after graduation. The research is undecided on this point. The value of studying abroad and the general competencies it provides ought therefore to be made clearer to Norwegian employers. In addition, the type of mobility concerned will determine how big an impact it has on work after graduation. Training mobility seems to have the strongest and most direct impact.26 The length of the overseas stay appears to have less impact on the benefits in terms of both graduate employability and academic learning outcomes than it does on generic skills and foreign language proficiency, where a long period abroad will have more impact than a short one.

The following chapters explore different types of mobility, and will also address a number of other issues, including: the use of English versus other languages; the recruitment of international students to the Norwegian labour market versus migration control and preventing ‘brain drain’ from countries in the Global South; increased mobility per se versus mobility to specific priority partner countries; and political aims and priorities versus students’ rights and freedom of choice.

The political goals for outbound mobility must be achieved, at the same time it is important not to lose sight of the purpose of mobility – for the individual students, for society, and for the higher education sector. In addition to highlighting that student mobility contributes to personal development, the academic learning outcomes and relevance to the study programme must also be stressed. For the institutions, both inbound and outbound mobility must be given a central place in the work to ensure quality and relevance in the study programmes, at the same time as it must be recognised that stays abroad have an intrinsic value for the students as individuals and can also benefit society at large.