A presentation given at the 17th Association of University Language Centres Conference on 7th-8th January 2016.

1. Anne Marie Graham, Head of Programme
Catriona Hanks, Outward Mobility Policy Researcher
UK Higher Education International Unit
The UK Strategy for Outward Mobility and
the Go International Programme: increasing
participation in outward mobility.
www.go.international.ac.uk
outwardmobility@international.ac.uk

2. Aim: to increase the proportion of UK domiciled
students accessing international experience as part
of their higher education
www.go.international.ac.uk

3. How mobile are our students?
22,100 UK domiciled mobile students = 1.2% UK domiciled students
Total number of mobile students in 2013/14 by domicile

4. 96%
Level of study
UG
PGR
PGT
Other UG
74%
Activity
Study
Work
Volunteering
84%
Socioeconomic Background
lower four SEC codes
top four SEC codes
Who goes abroad?
31%
69%
Language mobilities
Language
student
mobilities
Non-language
student
mobilities

5. What do they study?
Subject group No. of instances %
European Languages, Literature and related subjects 6,570 26.6
Business and Administrative studies 2,740 11.1
Medicine and dentistry 2,250 9.1
Social studies 1,880 7.6
Linguistics, Classics and related subjects 1,550 6.3
Creative Arts and Design 1,360 5.5
Physical sciences 1,140 4.6
Historical and Philosophical studies 1,040 4.2
Biological Sciences 1,035 4.2
Eastern, Asiatic, African, American and Australasian
Languages, Literature and related subjects
1,025 4.2
Law 870 3.5
Subjects allied to medicine 755 3.1
Engineering 750 3.0
Education 375 1.5
Architecture, Building and Planning 290 1.2
Mass Communications and Documentation 285 1.2
Computer sciences 225 0.9
Mathematics 210 0.9
Combined studies 180 0.7
Veterinary Sciences, Agriculture and related subjects 115 0.5

6. Where do they go?
France: 4,230
Spain: 3,270
Germany: 1,960
Italy: 1,065
Netherlands: 655
Russia: 370
Sweden: 335
Belgium: 275
Ireland: 270
Austria: 245
USA: 2,680
Australia: 1,185
Canada: 940
China: 660
Malaysia: 335
Japan: 320
Hong Kong SAR: 310
New Zealand: 255
India: 185
South Africa: 180
Top 10 destinations:
In Europe Outside Europe

7. Do study abroad offices collaborate with ULCs?
Study abroad/ ULC Survey (Spring 2014)
 69 study abroad/international office or language centre responses
 59% of institutions offer pre-departure language courses
Those who don’t say due to:
• Cost
• Students can take classes through language centre independently
• Office not involved in academic preparation
• Language already part of their curriculum (language/dual honour students)
• Language of instruction overseas is English
• Impossible to cover all languages of the countries students go to
 The majority of respondents had a language centre at their institution
 38% worked with their language centre to offer pre-departure courses

8. • Language found to be:
– A commonly reported motivation (varied strongly with
subject – language degrees)
– An important factor in decision-making
– The 4th biggest perceived barrier to mobility
– A perceived impact (both positive and negative).
• Language students more likely to be on compulsory
study abroad/work placements than other subjects.
How does language affect mobility?
Surveyed 2,842 students in 37 institutions
Asked for their views on benefits and barriers of mobility

9. How does mobility affect language proficiency?

10. What do academics think?
Academics report that:
• Increase in number of outwardly mobile non-language students,
but language skills still limiting participation
• Limited participation partly due to students’ lack of knowledge
of language support on offer
• Staff from institutions taking strategic approach to language
support reported a positive impact on mobility
 e.g. making ‘Language for All’ modules available to all
students and promoting them widely
Surveyed 56 staff in 30 institutions; conducted 14 in-depth interviews
Asked for their views on benefits and barriers of mobility

11. Mobile students in this cohort:
- Were less likely to be
unemployed
- Had higher starting salaries
- Were more likely to enter
employment in more senior roles
- Were more likely to graduate
with a 1st or 2:1
Cohort study
Comparison of mobile vs non-mobile students
What are mobile student outcomes?

12. Gone International key findings – academic outcomes

13. Overall, a lower proportion of non-
language graduates who were
mobile were unemployed.
And there were also significant
differences for other student
profiles
Gone International key findings – employment outcomes

14. • unemployment rate
of mobile students
(7%) was 23% lower
than that of non
mobile students (9%)
five years after
graduation.’
• 39% of Erasmus
alumni, compared to
47% of non-mobile
alumni, did not have a
management position
5 years after
graduation.
The Erasmus Impact Study 2014 (European Commission) finds:
How about Erasmus student outcomes?

15. CBI reports (2015 report: Inspiring Growth) –
55% of employers dissatisfied with graduates’
international cultural awareness; 61% dissatisfied
with graduates’ foreign language skills
Born Global (October 2014 interim findings) -
51% of employers dissatisfied with foreign
language skills and only 8% satisfied with
intercultural skills
CIHE/AGR Global Graduates into Global leaders
(2011) – ‘openness to learning new languages’
and ‘communication skills’ highly valued.
Employers recognise ‘Operating effectively in a
global economy relies on the right language skills’.
How do employers view mobility?

16. Mobility-inspired language learning
‘My experience did not require language skills and before I went away I
had not considered learning another language. Whilst I was away, I
lived in an international house with students from all over the world,
many of which could speak 3 or 4 languages. This experience made me
realise that learning another language would expand my
opportunities even further and upon returning to the UK I have
started taking Spanish classes and plan to spend time in South
America in the upcoming year to improve my language skills.’
Rosie Willis,
MSci Mathematics,
King’s College London
‘It can be hard to get around on a day-to-
day basis if you don’t speak any Korean
and frustrating at times.” Team took
Korean language classes, and they helped
a lot. “It's good to pick up some basic
Korean to get by on a day-to-day basis.’
Team Tan,
BSc International
Management,
The University of Warwick

17. Will spent a year learning Afrikaans and working
on countryside management in Botswana: how did
he find the language barrier?
‘This was particularly apparent when working with
the local workers as they either spoke Afrikaans,
Setswana or Bushman. The management of the
company all spoke English which helped to start
with. Over the 12 months I learnt Afrikaans and by
the end of the placement I could hold full
conversations in Afrikaans which helped immensely
with communicating but also with gaining the
respect of the locals as learning the local language
was a sign of respect. Along with Afrikaans I picked
up a bit of Setswana, but the main focus was on
Afrikaans’.
William Armitage,
BSc Countryside and
Environmental Management,
Harper Adams University

18. Discussion points
How do you
collaborate
with your
study abroad/
international
office?
What do you see
as the barriers to
collaboration?
Do you collaborate
with your study
abroad/international
office?