The European Commission has recently released the report The Professional Value of ERASMUS Mobility. The report is the result of the VALERA research project (where VALERA stands for Value of ERASMUS Mobility), conducted by the International Centre for Higher Education Research, INCHER-Kassel. The aim was to evaluate the impact which mobility within the ERASMUS programme had on the mobile students’ and teachers’ careers. The report is based on a survey of the ERASMUS generation 2000/01. The survey also included university leaders and employers. The research focused on four fields of studies: mechanical engineering, business studies, sociology and chemistry.

Some of the conclusions are:

• temporary student mobility encourages ERASMUS students to be interested in advanced education;
• student mobility also stimulates students’ maturity and personal development, knowledge and understanding of the host country, foreign language proficiency, and new ways of thinking;
• nevertheless, respondents in the latest survey reported some slight delay in finding a job in comparison to previous generations of ERASMUS students;
• there has been a decrease in the percentage of those former students who consider the period abroad as helpful in obtaining the first job.

Report: The Professional Value of ERASMUS Mobility INCHER-Kassel: Project information