Mobile Graduates: Who stays, who goes; what do they do there; and what

kind of barriers do they experience?

Dr Heike BehleInstitute for Employment Research

University of Warwick

Some recent figures…HESA data show that he number of undergraduates

from the UK and EU taking jobs overseas has increased over the last few years.

22 % of all students stated that in order to get a ‘good graduate job’ they would have to go abroad (Trendence Institute 2013).

Over the last years, the largest group of migrants from the UK to other European country belongs to ‘professional or managerial’ occupations (UK Home Office 2011)

Mobility within EuropeStrengthen the academic and cultural internationalisation of

European HE;Knowledge-transfer;Extended labour market for graduates;Personal development and employability;Hallmark of the new EHEA;Mobility is changing within Europe (EUROSTARS), in terms of

- human capital - value added to education - continuity of process

Three groups of UK-educated mobile graduates

UK home students

UK mover

International non-

European students

Other mobile graduat

es

European students Returners

The big questions:Who goes? How can the social composition of

leavers be compared to those remaining in the UK?

How does the career paths compare to those remaining in the UK?

Which benefits and barriers do mobile graduate educated in the UK experience?

The data base – the Futuretrack survey and it’s qualitative follow-up study

Futuretrack was a national longitudinal survey of UK undergraduate students of all full-time 2005-6 UCAS applicants including EU and overseas applicants. The following analysis is based on the forth wave of the survey, two or three years after graduation (depending on the time of graduation) - Winter 2012

The following quantitative analyses are based mainly on weighted data of the forth wave (n = 17,075, 7 per cent of which moved to a different European country).

The qualitative analysis is drawn from interview with returners, UK graduates and other mobile graduates:

Group Number of intervieweesReturner, Employed 2Returner, Further study 2UK graduate, Employed 3UK graduate, Further Study 2Other mobile graduate, Employed 1Other mobile graduate, Further Study 2

Who goes? More likely to be mobile are…

Personal characteristics: age group of 21-25 year olds (when starting HE in 2006); male graduates; higher SES; citizenship of other European countries.

HE-related impacts: those from highest and high tariff HEIs and those from general and specific HEIs; languages or interdisciplinary subjects; those with previous experiences abroad (as part of their course).

Activity related variables: those with a graduate job; and other activities.

What do they do there? - Employment

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 180%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Returner

other mobile graduates

UK mover

UK stayer

Months following graduation

What do they do there? Employment in non-graduate occupations

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 120%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Returner UK mover

UK stayer

Months following graduation

What do they do there? Unemployment

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 120%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%Returnerother mobile graduatesUK moverUK stayer

Months following graduation

What do they do there? Further Study

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 180%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Returner

other mobile grad-uates

UK mover

UK stayer

Months following graduation

Benefits of mobility – personal growth Meeting new people, making friends, meeting

partners (networking, socialising)Openness (different cultures, way of thinking),

broadening views and horizonsFlexibility, adaptability, toleranceShaping self

‘would be a totally different person if I hadn't travelled’‘You turn into another person’‘makes you a better person’

Benefits of mobility experience – skill growth

Language skillsFlexibility, adaptability, toleranceCompare and contrast in professional settingSkills necessary to initiate and sustain cooperation

with people from different cultures (research team)Relate easily and liaise more effectively to people

from all over the worldMobility Capital

Benefits of Mobility - Reflecting on national/European/Global identity

Rethinking national culture, perceptions and social norms “Meeting many people from different place, it makes it easier for you to rethink your culture which I think is very important.(EU4, returner, employed)

Enhancing European identity

Barriers to mobilityBarriers to further study

General barriersAdmission to further studyLevel of skill obtained

Barriers to employmentEmployers / Admission officers lack of

informationUK qualification worth less than qualification

from home HEILack of networks

Concluding RemarksMobility is changing Europe. Mobile graduates come from

highest SES and have graduated from the highest tariff HEIs. Mobile graduates are a part of a new form of inner-European elite

Post-graduation mobility is employment-driven for UK students; and education-driven for returners.

No prolonged experiences of unemployment due to mobility. Benefits of Mobility include personal growth; skill growth;

national / European / global identityEven though the transfer of degrees within the EHEA is

politically desired, many graduates have experienced barriers in the transferability of their skills.

This research was based on a previous project:

The research was sponsored by the

For further information see: Behle and Tzanakou (2014) 'The transferability of (under-) graduate knowledge gained in

UK higher education institutions (HEIs) within the European Higher Education Area.', https://www.srhe.ac.uk/downloads/Behle.pdf

Behle (2014) 'European Mobility of UK educated graduates. Who stays, who goes?', Higher Education Quarterly, 68 (3), 288 – 304

Behle (2015) ‘The early Career Paths of UK -educated Intra-European mobile Graduates’, currently under review.

Tzanakou and Behle (2015) ‘The Intra-European transferability of graduates’ skills gained in the UK ‘, currently under review

Heike.Behle@warwick.ac.ukFollow me on Twitter @HeikeBehle