Students very positive about experience abroad

In a recent survey, no fewer than 97 percent of respondents say that “their time abroad has had a positive or very positive impact on their personal life today”. The survey asked Dutch higher education students who studied abroad for a few months thanks to an Erasmus scholarship to reflect on the experience five years later.

Open attitude
The positive effect is stronger the longer students spend abroad. They list benefits in areas such as personal development, independence, knowledge of language and culture, adopting an “open attitude” and making social contacts. The respondents cite learning to work with people from other cultures as the most important professional advantage.

There is a strong element of self-selection in this survey, which was conducted by ResearchNed and commissioned by the Erasmus+ National Agency (part of Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education). The respondents volunteered to complete the questionnaires, which increases the likelihood of positive results. In addition, many students who embarked on an Erasmus exchange already had an international focus beforehand.

"It runs in the family"
In interviews with the researchers, many of the students explained that their family background had already given them a strong international outlook. They are well-travelled or have relatives who live abroad or studied in other countries as well. In the words of the researchers, “it runs in the family”.

An earlier study revealed that students are more likely to be motivated to study abroad if their parents have a higher education diploma. Nuffic would like to see more students get the chance to study abroad for a short time to increase the equality of opportunity. The hope is that this will give them a positive experience, on which can build later in life.