Small percentage of international alumni start their own companies

International students are good for the Dutch economy, say proponents of internationalisation. That is to say, if they stay here after their studies, and contribute to the economy.

Five years after graduating, a quarter of international alumni has managed to find a job here, according to the internationalisation monitor made by Statistics Netherlands. An additional ten percent do live here, but is unemployed, or is continuing their studies.

One in sixteen international alumni (over 6 percent) start their own companies. Of the Germans and Chinese (the largest group of internationals), only 4.5 percent do so. Among Surinamese alumni, one in four start their own companies, and British, Italians, and Americans also tend to do this more often than the Germans and Chinese.

The international graduates of Radboud University are the most eager to become entrepreneurs: one in ten start their own companies. Amsterdam, Delft, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and Leiden are also relatively ahead of other universities. Wageningen is at the bottom of this list.

It’s especially graduates in health care and language & culture find possibilities for entrepreneurship, whereas economists and law graduates aren’t eager to start for themselves at all.

Among Dutch university alumni, the percentage of entrepreneurs is roughly one in six (17 percent), and unlike the number amongst internationals, the number is rising. In the Netherlands, men are more likely to become entrepreneurs than women, while there’s no such difference among international graduates.

Translation: Indra Spronk