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Practical Guidelines
Clustering Masters Courses and Attractiveness Projects:
Lot 2 – Thematic Cluster on Employability
October 2011
OCTOBER 2011
MKW Wirtschaftsforschungs GmbH Adelheidstraße 6 80798 München Germany T +49 (0)89 273 49 340 F +44 (0)89 273 49 348 http://www.mkw-gmbh.de in cooperation with Céreq – Centre des etudes et des recherches sur les qualifications 10, place de la Joliette 13657 Marseille France T +33 (0)4 91 13 28 28 F +44 (0)4 91 13 28 80 http://www.cereq.fr
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 1
2. Context information………………………………………………………………….. 2
3. Methodology of the survey………………………………………………………….. 3
4. Case studies………………………………………………………………………….. 6
4.1 Career orientation within EMMCs………………………………………… 6
4.2 Career orientation of students…………………………………………….. 8
4.3 Creation of networks between students and alumni……………………. 10
4.4 Assessment of competences……………………………………………… 12
4.5 Current occupation – employment prospects…………………………… 14
4.6 Residence issues – mobility………………………………………………. 16
4.7 Erasmus Mundus – an asset for job search?....................................... 18
4.8 Sustainability of the Erasmus Mundus programme as regards
employability…………………………………………………………………......
20
5. General recommendations and Conclusion………………………………………. 22
List of Abbreviations
CV Curriculum Vitae
EACEA Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency
EM Erasmus Mundus
EMA Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association
EMBN Erasmus Mundus Brand Name
EMMC Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses
EU European Union
GIS Graduate Impact Survey
HEI Higher Education Institution
PhD Doctorate
1
1. Introduction
The Erasmus Mundus programme (EM) aims to promote European higher education, to help improve
and enhance the career prospects of students and to promote intercultural understanding through
cooperation with third countries, in accordance with EU external policy objectives, in order to
contribute to the sustainable development of third countries in the field of higher education. For this
purpose the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency commissioned an in-depth quality
assessment of Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses (EMMCs) and related projects to enhance its
attractiveness, among which the present study on employability of Erasmus Mundus students and
graduates.
Erasmus Mundus, actually, can be regarded as an educational programme to meet the challenges
arisen from dynamic and international oriented labour markets. In the framework of Europe 2020’s
aim “to enhance the performance and international attractiveness of Europe's higher education
institutions and raise the overall quality of […] education and training […], combining both excellence
and equity”1 Erasmus Mundus can be seen as one important measure, providing high level education
for mobile and high skilled students from all over the world in trans-national learning environments
covering leading faculties of all academic disciplines offering European double, multiple or joint
degrees. Simultaneously, the programme poses high requirements, comprising a highly selective
quality recruitment procedure, a time-intensive curriculum, a multitude of educational systems and
languages, which demands students’ adaptability.
The present Guidelines offer a means to explore, individually or collaboratively, the challenges
Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses have to deal with in bringing their approved excellence in research
and teaching in accordance with improving their students’ position on the labour market. Moreover,
discovered examples of good practice can lead to practical recommendations of concrete measures
how to provide students with prerequisites and resources that make them “employable”. The Practical
Guidelines should thus enable Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses as well as universities willing to
start a EM programme to reappraise existing course designs in order to develop intrinsic and self-
contained strategies enhancing employability.
Nevertheless, this publication is in no ways foreseen to outline a tailor-made approach to enhance
employability, nor as an exhaustive “to-do-list”. Due to the high diversity of the Masters programmes,
not every measure can be applied according to the same logic. Notwithstanding the remarkable level
that many EMMCs already exhibit, they have been launched at disparate times and to different pre-
conditions and some measures are still “under construction”. Future progress in the area of
employability will therefore be exciting to be monitored and continuously updated.
To base the practical guidelines on a scientific point of view, the present document starts with
introducing the undertaken quantitative and qualitative survey methods and its most important results.
For each of the topics treated, the major findings are summarized and strengthened by a related
graph or chart. Afterwards, every topic is illustrated by an example of good practice from one
EMMC, which have been gathered during the qualitative interviews and the Erasmus Mundus
Employability Workshop, identifying recommendable strategies and solutions. It has to be mentioned
that this good practice neither depicts the entire scope of activities of each EMMC, nor is exhaustive
for the whole topic. Therefore, each section ends with recommendations drawn from the entire
sample of interviews. Finally, a section of general recommendations will conclude these guidelines.
1 Goals formulated under the Flagship Initiative “Youth on the move”
2
2. Context information
Erasmus Mundus makes high requirements on the quality and performance of the selected Masters
Courses, which are being evaluated within five different clusters. The current study on employability
treats the initiation of employment-related activites in the EMMCs, the acquirement of competences in
the courses and the professional perspectives and concrete careers of EM students and graudates2.
Six years after the first EMMCs were released and three generations of EM having entered the labour
market, a more detailed assessment of quality and attractiveness of EM programmes related can be
given. Among the five thematically structured assessment topics, the aim of the present study is to
evaluate employability of graduates and students who have been/are enrolled in the Erasmus Mundus
programme3.
On behalf of EACEA, the cluster activities of Lot 2 on employability were executed by MKW
Wirtschaftsforschungs GmbH (Munich) and Céreq – Centre des études et des recherches sur les
qualifications (Marseille), starting in September 2010. The central task – a study on employability
consisting of a qualitative (guided interviews with EMMC coordinators) and a quantitative part (online
survey among EMMC students and graduates) – was carried out between December 2010 and March
2011. Besides this study , the activities within this cluster comprise the realisation of the Erasmus
Mundus Employability Workshop in May 2011 in Leuven, the publication of a thematic section on the
EACEA website and the present Practical Guidelines with recommendations for stakeholders and
higher education representatives in the framework of Erasmus Mundus.
Generally, employability is the combination of factors which permit individuals to access to work, to
maintain it and to progress in their career. Employability of students and graduates deals with the
transition from higher education to work (early career and perspectives), with competencies that
are required on the labour market, the position that graduates from higher education are supposed to
have in it and finally with the role of higher education to enhance students' employability. That makes it
also necessary to assess the support given to the students/graduates by the Erasmus Mundus
programme and its representatives. However, this assessment has to reflect the large diversity of
respondents (e.g. social background, age, work experience) and Masters Courses (disciplines,
mandatory mobilities, governance of higher education institutions, assistance, employment
expectations).
Consequently, evaluating employability within the Erasmus Mundus programme is an issue of
involving different dimensions. As far as performance levels are concerned, we have to face not only
current standards, but also (ex-ante) expectations and (ex-post) outcomes. A further separation has to
be drawn on the actor level. Employability is thus primarily an attribute that affects Erasmus Mundus
students and graduates, but it is also important to comprise the mediation of work-related
qualifications at the universities. In order to integrate all dimensions and depict the various factors
affecting employability of EM students and graduates, present study accommodated to this by a dual
methodological approach that will be presented in detail in the following chapter.
As regards the output side, besides producing representative results on employability effected by
the Erasmus Mundus programme, the study – and in particular this publication – aims at providing
feedback to mentoring faculties in the form of trends and practical recommendations that help to
promote the programme. These outcomes can serve as a benchmark within European higher
education for other institutes and future engagements to refer to and will be summarized thematically
at the end of each Case Study in chapter 4.
2 Further information can be found on the website of the Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association (EMA):
http://www.em-a.eu/erasmus-mundus/graduate-impact-survey.html 3 All topics and related actions can be found under: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/clusters/index_en.php
3
3. Methodology of the survey
The survey to which these Guidelines relate pursued a double approach: one that covers both the
beneficiaries/users of the programme and the way Erasmus Mundus is disposed to students by the
academic representatives – always relating this to the requirements and responses of the labour
market. In its core element, the study focuses on competences and their mediation within the Erasmus
Mundus Masters Courses, which implies:
a) an assessment of competences (distinguishing between performance and requirements)
among students and graduates
b) a critical elevation of the methods and reasons to mediate those competences among
Erasmus Mundus Masters’ coordinators.
Consequently, the study consisted of a quantitative online survey among EMMC students and
graduates and qualitative interviews with coordinators and representatives from the different
EMMCs. Both instruments have been thoroughly conceptualised (based on literature research and
previous studies), pre-tested and amended accordingly before being installed in the field.
The interviews were carried out between December 2010 and February 2011, with a total response
from 51 EMMCs and an average duration of 44 minutes per interview. The respondents are distributed
according to the 6 different fields of study as follows:
The online survey, which was combined with the annual Graduate Impact Survey, was launched via
the website of the Erasmus Mundus Alumni Associaton (EMA) in February 2011 and was available for
5 weeks until March 2011. Within this time, an impressive rate of 3.660 respondents has been
reached, of which 2.820 completed data sets could be gathered.
n = 51
4
The distribution over fields of study is consistent:
The population of the online survey is further characterised:
The survey distinguishes between students that have graduated from an EMMC and students
who still study in this programme. Following this logic 55 % of the completed questionnaires were
filled in by graduates (1.554), 45% (1.266) by students of Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses.
As employability is largely determined by the experience on the labour market, a further
discrimination is necessary for the year of graduation, resp. enrolment to the EMMC:
o Of the graduates, 41% have graduated in the year of the survey (2010), another 45% at least
one year before (2009/08) and only 14% have passed more than 2 years on the labour market
(2007/06).
o 54% of the students’ population is less than one year in an EMMC (2010), 41% since 2009
and 5% began their studies in 2008.
As for nationalities, the highest share of the respondents (24%) come from South, West and
Central Asia, followed by Latin America (17%) and the EU (16%). Further origins are Europe non-
EU (11%), Africa (10%), South-East Asia (9%), East Asia (8%) and North America (5%).
n = 2.820
5
All in all, the study tackled the following topics, which will also serve for structuring the Practical
Guidelines:
Career orientation within EMMCs (4.1):
Within this topic, the vocational orientation of the EMMC programmes was examined. A particular
focus laid on the integration of practical elements in teaching, the participation of employers and
professionals and the preparation for and consultancy on further career steps.
Career orientation of students (4.2):
In contrast, this topic deals with the prerequisites and expectations that EM students bring into the
courses and with the way professional plans and perspectives are changed through the experience of
course elements (e.g. internship).
Creation of networks between students and alumni (4.3):
Besides work-oriented elements and contacts to professionals established during the Master Course,
the community of EMMC students and alumni create networks that effectuate knowledge transfer,
advice and links to the professional world. The study revealed the different strategies to establish
networking and the extent to which this interaction remains relevant for the further career.
Assessment of competences (4.4):
A core element of the study that builds on respective studies in the field (e.g. REFLEX/HEGESCO4) is
the comparison of competences provided by the EMMCs with those required in the world of work. The
assessment from the graduates’ perspective revealed differences according to certain groups of
competences and fields of study.
Current occupation and employment prospects (4.5):
In order to evaluate employability, it is crucial to gather information on the employment status of
graduates along with variables on the quality of occupation like salary, position and job satisfaction.
Apart from that, many students are expected to continue their studies in a PhD. In regard of certain
influence factors (such as nationality, field of study, year of graduation), important conclusions can be
drawn on employment prospects.
Residence issues / Mobility (4.6):
Employment and career opportunities are closely linked to which countries graduates access to apply
for a job. Relating back to the mandatory mobility within the course, many EM students are expected
to keep mobile after graduation in terms of access to the labour market. In order to assess relevance
of mobility for employability personal motivations, influence factors and residence issues have been
subject to the analysis.
Erasmus Mundus – an asset for job search? (4.7)
This section highlights the job search phase and investigates to what extent the Erasmus Mundus
programme provides a good basis to enter the labour market. Starting from an assessment of
programme impacts and the length of job search compared to non-EMMC students, it was identified
which factors can serve as assets for employers to hire Erasmus Mundus graduates.
Sustainability of the EM programme as regards employability (4.8):
The enhancement of employment perspectives goes hand in hand with a sustainable involvement of
partners and the maintenance of academic quality in the light of expiring funding. Thus, of the several
measures that EMMC coordinators take to ensure the quality of their programmes for the future, those
relating to employability have been gathered in the study.
4 These surveys are a collaborative and international work (co-elaborated by the consortium partner Céreq) introduced in
2005 in order to evaluate the role of higher education graduates in a knowledge society.
6
4. Case studies
4.1 Career orientation within EMMCs
“Career orientation” deals with the way the EMMCs help to concretise professional plans and
perspectives of students, with the general vocational orientation the programmes contain and in
particular with their connection to the working environment. Through the active involvement of
practitioners and contact to possible employers, study coordinators can contribute to build bridges for
their graduates to future jobs during their courses already.
Challenges and major findings:
The challenge for EMMCs is to offer professional orientation to students without determination of
certain career paths, to foster working experience through practical course elements without
neglecting academic standards and to guide students with a well balanced mix of obligatory lessons
and voluntary modules giving them the chance to build and follow individual career paths themselves.
Having a look at the current practice the question appears which measures are taken within EMMCs to
enhance the career orientation of students and which differences appear between fields of study.
In general, the integration of practical elements into EMMC planning is ranging from guest lecturers,
company visits, fairs and forums with companies up to practical projects with employers.
In addition, most EMMCs offer administrative help for students (e.g. visa, housing, bank account) or
mentoring on course-related issues (curriculum, thesis), but only 36% provide active consultancy on
career issues such as CV/job interview training, identification of career paths or entrepreneurship
classes.
The work orientation within EMMCs varies according to disciplines: it is best assessed in „Agriculture
and Veterinary“, quite well also in “Health and Welfare” and lowest in „Humanities and Arts“.
Source: Graduate Impact Survey 2011, respondents were asked to assess work orientation of EMMC using a scale from „- -“ to
„++“ (Self-assessment)
+
0
–
7
Good practice:
NOHA - Joint European Master's in International Humanitarian Action (launched in 2004)
http://www.nohanet.org
Partners:
Universidad de Deusto (Spain),
Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium),
Université d'Aix-Marseille III (France),
Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Germany),
University College of Dublin (Ireland),
University of Uppsala (Sweden),
University of Groningen (Netherlands) Coordinator: Cristina Churruca, Universidad de Deusto
NOHA takes up the possibility to guide students through close dialogue with and active involvement of
professionals and employers both in the phase of course planning, in daily practice of teaching and
through mediation of employment.
Recommendable elements:
NOHA follows a course programme with strong emphasis on case studies and case-oriented work in a specific humanitarian conflict field to relate theory and practice.
NOHA relies on active responding to a demand of professionals: Having started widely content-based, the coordination team now puts itself into a dialogue with organisations: “which competences are required?”
Employers (mostly NGOs) are involved continuously starting from the intensive course at the beginning, through lecture series in the 1
st semester up to a 3-months-internship in the 3
rd
semester.
Involved universities pose as mediators: employers send concrete profiles and offers, coordinators forward them to appropriate candidates.
It’s through the excellence of the students that NOHA can attract partners willing to support the programme with professional know-how, but also financially.
Career advice even serves as a possibility to promote the programme to external stakeholders and employers,which is particularly needed in Social Sciences/Humanities.
Recommendations:
The involvement of employers in EMMC planning and outcome evaluations (e.g. participation in an
advisory board, employment surveys) can be a useful instrument in order to adapt the programme
to expectations and needs of the labour market. On the other hand, there is the persisting need to
balance the employers’ participation, always guaranteeing the autonomy of academia.
The excellence of their students is probably the most relevant promotional aspect for EMMCs when
involving employers. Meetings and forums where both can exchange are therefore the first step to a
continuous involvement (e.g. guest lectures, internships, excursions, thesis cooperation).
Common “real case” projects or studies – assigned by companies to students – are a good way to
attach students’ ideas to current requirements. Leading to a free scenario-building or the publication
of papers and solutions, such projects benefit both companies and students.
Besides offering concrete services to enhance the professional orientation (e.g. job preparation
classes, mediation of internships and jobs), EMMCs should rely as much as possible on the
important role of graduates posing as linking pin between EM students and the professional world.
8
4.2 Career orientation of students
In addition to career services offered within EMMCs, the individual career plans of students and the
input and fundamentals they gathered before the EMMC phase or in work placements during their
studies is another important aspect to investigate when putting the focus on employability. Fostering
career development of students is successful if the various professional backgrounds, individual
motivations and expectations of students are known and taken into account when shaping an EMMC.
Challenges and major findings:
The challenge for EMMCs is to design curricula, modules and teaching styles in a way that respects
backgrounds and motivations of students while keeping a straight conceptual framework at the same
time. Students who can bring in own perspectives and to a certain extent gain influence on course
elements and contents taught are enabled to broaden their individual knowledge adequately and to
draw optimal benefit for their individual career plans. Now, what about the current situation in EMMCs?
The motivation and commitment of EM students is an added value for EMMCs. “One thing that
distinguishes Erasmus Mundus students from local students is that they always seek to take part
actively in the courses, they want to discuss and get to know their teachers. They almost force the
course to become something special.” (EMMC coordinator, France) Besides, many EM students
engage in extra-curriculum activities like study groups, alumni associations or the organization of
conferences. However, this only partially goes along with a clear focus towards a specific career. A
majority of coordinators describes the professional orientation of EM students as “not significantly
higher than in other study programmes” (EMMC coordinator, Italy).
A lot of EM students come with previous work experience; almost 50% had a permanent job before
starting their EMMC. Those students have particularly clearer plans on their future career. Regarding
the plans of EM students, only about 60% plan to work directly after graduation, while about 30% want
to go on with (PhD-) studies. A good 10% is still undecided.
The element of internships is not so central in many EMMCs, for more than 40% of the studuents an
internship is not foreseen at all. However, internships are highly appreciated in terms of employability;
84% of the graduates assess the internship experience as (highly) profitable for their future career.
Source: Graduate Impact Survey 2011, Student population
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Social Sciences,Business and Law
Engineering,Manufacture and
Construction
Health andWelfare
Agriculture andVeterinary
Science,Mathematics and
Computing
Humanities andArts
Total
Internship by field of study Already completed Foreseen No
9
Good practice:
IMMIT – International Master in Management of IT (launched in 2007)
http://www.immit.eu/
Partners:
Tilburg University (Netherlands),
IAE Aix-en-Provence (France),
Turku School of Economics (Finland)
Coordinator: Piet Ribbers, Tilburg University
IMMIT reaches high commitment of the students
by leaving room for their needs and motivations
through a visible framework of career services and information systems. In parallel IMMIT is open to
external influences such as employers who provide regulated advice to the course in terms of an
advisory board or mentors who accompany students during their internships/thesis.
Recommendable elements:
IMMIT involves companies into the course planning and structuring in terms of an industry
advisory board and via presentations of companies on the campus.
Internships should be found by the students themselves in a pro-active way, but based on
info systems & career services at each university. A code of conduct regulates this cooperation.
Connection of practical and educational results: during his/her internship, every student has a
personal mentor in the company. This mentor assesses the students’ performance in a report.
This report is sent to the first supervisor at one of the 3 universities in the IMMIT consortium, who
oversees the Master thesis writing process and determines the final grade.
Students are highly committed and motivated during their internship, they take it more as a
preparation phase for their future working life more than 50% step into permanent
employment directly after graduating.
Recommendations:
As EM students are highly committed, but not outstandingly well-oriented on their career, EMMCs
should try to offer as much practical attachment and assistance as possible to help students getting
a clearer view on work opportunities.
Universities should accord internships with their partners to connect course contents to relevant
professional fields and to ensure their quality (duration, payment). This can lead to a pool of
positions managed in a database. The selection of placement, however, should happen on the
students’ initiative.
Internships and work placement is just one way to achieve orientation. EMMCs should also make
use of previous work and international experiences that their students bring along.
As regards the application for an EMMC, multi-criteria procedures help to identify excellence and
commitment among students. Besides academic quality (grades), universities can also select by
motivation letters, treatment of special themes (in papers/projects/theses), practical experience etc.
A good strategy to both offer career guidance and to promote an EMMC towards possible
stakeholders is making students’ success stories or research projects visible, e.g. on the EMMC
website, by publications and via the own alumni association or EMA.
10
4.3 Creation of networks between students and alumni
As the previous chapters illustrated, work-oriented course contents and the introduction of professional
contacts within EMMCs positively influence the career orientation of students. In addition to targeted
employers’ involvement or practical elements integrated into the EMMC planning such as internships,
excursion or practical projects, alumni can be an important link for students to exchange with thus
opening up paths to the professional world.
Challenges and major findings:
As regards networking between students and alumni, the challenge for EMMCs is to leave room for
dialogue and exchange of experiences between both groups. Simultaneously, continous monitoring
and accompanying those interactions is essential for EMMC coordinators and their staff in order to
extract valuable information out of the community which might result in structural adaptations of
EMMCs (e.g. lessons, modules, services) bettering the employment perspectives of students. Which
role do these networks play in practice and how are they mangaged by EMMCs?
The discovered networks between students and graduates provide helpful devices for students (e.g.
job offers, professional contacts, knowledge transfer) and coordination staff of EMMCs (e.g. feedback
on employability, required competences and current labour market needs).
EMMCs accord high importance to networking: about 45% of the interviewed EMMCs offer a broad
variety of alumni activities integrating concrete strategies to enhance employability through alumni
networking.
For Erasmus Mundus students and graduates the EM contacts are among the two most important
sources for professional networking. For graduates they are even more relevant than contacts to
current work colleagues, which underpins their importance for future career development.
Source: Graduate Impact Survey 2011, Respondents asked to select max. 3 items out of 10 sources of networking
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Other
Professional club membership
Online platforms (not EMA)
Social activities hobbies
School friends from home
Current work colleagues
Family
Former work colleagues
College university Alumni(non EM)
EM contacts
Important sources of networking
Students
Graduates
11
Good practice:
CIMET - Color in Informatics and Media Technology (launch 2008)
http://www.master-erasmusmundus-color.eu/
Partners:
University Jean Monnet (France),
University of Eastern Finland,
Gjøvik University College (Norway)
University of Granada (Spain)
Coordinator: Alain Trémeau, Université Jean Monnet
CIMET promotes networking within their student/alumni group by student-to-student tutoring and
through the implementation and maintenance of online communities. Monthly mentoring sessions with
advisory staff as well as periodical surveys and questionnaires intensify the exchange of EMMCs with
their student/alumni community.
Recommendable elements:
Cooperation among students is fostered through small class size, working groups or tutoring
(from older to younger students).
Being “close to the students” through faculty advisors and an intervention meeting every 3-4
weeks: each partner university offers personal mentoring meetings with a faculty advisor, students
can discuss their academic progress as well as other issues that could affect their studies.
Indication of career paths: Along the course, students have opportunities to experience research
or applicative work (summer research projects, Master Thesis project) enhancing their
professional orientation. The coordinating institution and the partners regularly provide information
about positions available in industry or in further doctoral studies.
Students can deepen and continuously exchange on career opportunities with alumni via an own
CIMET group on facebook and on linkedIn.
The programme coordinators gather feedback not only by semestral questionnaires on course
contents and students’ satisfaction, but also by a graduate survey every 6 months that compares
the current workplace with the initial course assessment.
Recommendations:
During the course, students should be actively involved, by tutoring lessons or the participation of
student representatives in join the management board of the EMMC. Therefore, it is important to
identify active and committed students who take over networking activities (e.g. web page design,
databases with publications, events, CVs, blogs, student stories…) or who can perform as “contact
points” for fellow students or compatriots also after graduation.
Common course elements for all study tracks like summer or winter schools help to create a group
identity. This is further accentuated with former students, now professionals, participating and
informing about their acess to the professional world and career opportunities.
The communication in online communities, mailings and newsletters is ideal to perpetuate this
exchange and to inform on new developments, events or positions. For the programme
representatives, the notion of a regular “keeping in touch” and a sensitive monitoring is more useful
than permanent communication. The network itself should be managed by students and alumni.
12
4.4 Assessment of competences
Employability among EM students and graduates is not only about solid management of professional
networks, clear career orientation and good access to employers but also about their skills (soft and
hard) and special qualifications that make EM students different from others.
Challenges and major findings:
The assessment of competences acquired by EM graduates and their relation to competences
required on the labour market is a core element for EMMCs to measure the level of employability
within their course. How do EM students/graduates perform in different kinds of competences and to
what extent do these competences match with current labour market needs?
Results show that graduates assess the competences provided during their EMMC as highly relevant
and important. Comparing this provision with the requirements from the labour market, some deficits
become apparent. Especially competences in the area of “functional flexibility” are equally assessed
important by EMMC coordinators and graduates, but not mediated in a way that provides students with
all necessary skills for a future work. In contrast, EM graduates are best prepared as regards
"international competences”.
Source: Graduate Impact Survey 2011, Graduates in employment; Competences provided by the EMMC vs. Competences
required in the world of work, rating based on a scale 1 to 5 (1 = „poor“ and 5 = „excellent“) Means provided
competences
Means required
competences
Means provided competences Means required competences
„Professional
expertise“
„Functional
flexibility“
13
Good practice:
MERIT - Master of Science in Research on Information and Communication Technologies
(launched in 2004) http://www.meritmaster.org
Partners: Coordinator:
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain), Asunción Moreno, UPC
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany),
Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (Sweden),
Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium),
Politecnico di Torino (Italy)
Besides imparting technical know-how to students, MERIT accentuates the direct application of
acquired skills to concrete cases and real-life problems. Companies monitor the practical relevance of
acquired skills in their role as external observers and even pose as sponsors of Master's theses. In
addition, MERIT offers separate practical courses, e.g. on how to step into an own business.
Recommendable elements:
Transversal courses provide the students with skills and competences not linked to any
particular specialisation track, are rather practice oriented. Examples are courses in foreign
languages, classes about how to get patents and how to start up with an own company.
Despite a strong focus on research the practical application of knowledge and theoretical
concepts is a central competence being explicitely taught in the programme.
MERIT students have already proved to be able to find companies that are interested in their
know-how without any external assistance. There is an increasing cooperation with companies
during the Master Theses (partly via grants) and for the future (e.g. PhD or post-doc positions).
The competences required reflect relevant labour market skills. The companies are involved e.g.
as external observers, and their role shall be intensified in a special agreement which clearly
defines the conditions for an engagement of MERIT students and grants for the Master Thesis.
Recommendations:
Management skills like leadership, working under pressure, coordination and negotiation are best
learned on-the-job. However, EMMCs can prepare for that, e.g. by organizing real-case projects,
entrepreneurship classes and a high involvement of practitioners in running classes.The transfer of
specialised knowledge into concrete practical matters for problem-solving should be even
strengthened by the EMMCs in future.
Course contents can be designed in accordance with requirements from the labour market.
Hearings among companies in the field, study results on required competences or an own survey
amongst employers can be appropriate sources to gain such feedback.
Although EMMC coordinators stress the importance of keeping autonomy of their course design, a
prominent strategy to involve companies is as external observers, e.g. via an advisory board.
14
0
10
20
30
40
50
Health andWelfare
Science,Mathematics &
Computing
Engineering,Manufacture &
Construction
Humanities andArts
Social Sciences,Business & Law
Agriculture andVeterinary
Current occupation by field of study in % Employed permanent term Employed fixed term PhD/Master student
Intern/Trainee Unemployed/seeking a job Other*
4.5 Current occupation – employment prospects
In order to assess the employability of EM students and graduates it is necessary to track and monitor
the current occupation of alumni. By analyzing variables such as job position/responsibility, level of
salary or individual job satisfaction valuable insights can be gained which may result in potential
revisions or consolidation of running EMMC structures.
Challenges and major findings:
Job prospects of EM graduates might be fostered and further improved through targeted actions by
EMMCs based on lasting linkages to alumni and regular evaluations and surveys. What do the current
results tell us about the performance of alumni on the labour market?
The present observation of survey data shows that about 50% of 2006 graduates hold permanent
employment contracts at this stage (March 2011), while only 3% remain unemployed. However, even
after 5 years on the labor market about 36% of 2006 graduates (in employment) still remain in non-
management positions.
Focusing on the most recent group of alumni the majority of 2010 graduates currently hold
PhD/Master positions (30%), of which Africans are clearly the leading group (54%). Most of
PhD/Master positions are currently held by graduates from the study fields of “Science, Mathematics
and Computing” and “Engineering, Manfucaturing and Construction”, the highest unemployment rate
has been observed in the field of “Agriculture and Veterinary”.
As regards income and salary issues 32% of all graduates in employment rate their salary above the
average compared to other professionals in the same field (outside EM) with the same level of
education, EMMCs “Science, Mathematics and Computing” and “Engineering, Manfucaturing and
Construction” perform best as regards the annual gross salary.
With respect to the most relevant job attributes (criteria which are considered as valuable for a job)
both groups students and alumni rate “salary” and “opportunity to learn” best while “work autonomy” is
lowest. While the level of job satisfaction is rated best by graduates of “Health and Welfare”,
“Humanities and Arts” is in last position.
Source: Graduate Impact Survey 2011, Graduate population, *Other (Self-employed, family care, other)
15
Good practice:
EMMNano - Master of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (launched in 2005)
http://www.emm-nano.org
Partners: Associated Partners:
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), IMEC, Leuven (Belgium)
Chalmers Tekniska Högskola (Sweden), CEA-LETI, Grenoble (France)
Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble (France), Leibniz Institute for Solid State Materials
Technische Universität Dresden (Germany) Research, Dresden (Germany)
Coordinator: Guido Groeseneken, KUL
Besides providing highly sophisticated academic know-how
(for future research or PhD positions), EMMNano explores the
fields of applications in nanoscience and builds bridges to
industry. This enables their students to start off in good
positions at the cutting edge of research and technology.
Recommendable elements:
As nanotechnology is still a developing discipline, about
2/3 of the graduates go for a PhD. They often remain in
research because of the high job satisfaction. But there
is a hard competition for PhD students between
research institutes and private industry.
During the EMMC there are mixture of events with employers, a lecture series with practitioners
from industry, regular exchange with associated partner institutes that prepare students, so there
are no bottlenecks or problems for students to find a job.
Coordinating and teaching staff is in a position as interface between university and business
players. Thus, they very well know both environments and interests.
“We see ourselves like what we call a Transformer. We pick up ideas from the university which
are usually at a very low investment level, but we take these ideas to a higher level to make
them manufacturable for industry.”
Following this logic start-ups often stem from PhD projects and job positions evolve as the result
of scientific applications initiated in terms of the EMMC.
Recommendations:
The EMMCs enable their students to achieve rewarding and satisfying positions. Nevertheless,
there are – like in other HE careers – also insecurities in terms of contract conditions and income
perspectives that highly depend upon academic disciplines. Over all aspects, “Health and Welfare”
performs best, while “Humanities and Arts” is the most unsteady sector.
Therefore, EMMC representatives will highly rely upon inter-disciplinary exchange and intra-
disciplinary consulting in order to accentuate their particular added value for employability.
A particular feature of Erasmus Mundus is the high percentage of PhD positions.
Whether this high share of research can be considered an additional boost for employability,
remains up to further monitoring.
16
4.6 Residence issues – mobility
International mobility is one main characteristic of all EMMCs. As regards employability, the main
investigation aspect is whether students or graduates are ready to move for a job (employment-related
mobility). To measure this, graduates were asked to indicate their actual region of residence and their
home region. If the regions were not convergent, graduates were considered in a mobility situation.
Besides, coordinators were asked in the qualitative interviews to estimate the proportion of returning
and staying graduates and their assumptions on possible reasons for their choice.
Challenges and major findings:
As the EM programmes and its funding structures were designed to attract particularly students from
outside the EU, the question of brain drain or brain gain is at stake when discussing the reasons for
moving to another region for graduates. Interestingly, the tendency to return to the home region and
the tendency to remain in the non-home region (mobility) are almost in balance (52% non-mobile, 48%
mobile). Regarding the new residence region of mobile graduates, a large majority of 70% is now in
the EU. The attractiveness of the EU is also reflected in the observation that graduates from the
European Union are significantly less likely to move to another region (only about 11%), whereas more
than 50% of the mobile students are non-EU-nationals.
Regarding the reasons for mobility, graduates rate better job opportunities or career perspectives as
most important drivers for leaving or not returning to the home region, while the most crucial pull
factors for the home region are home and family issues. Moreover, those who returned also indicated
that besides their wish to benefit their home countries, the employment perspective is particularly good
with a European degree. Moreover, mobility differs between fields of study: graduates from
Engineering and Science/IT are more mobile (a fact that may cohere with the higher amount of PhD
students in these fields), while graduates from Social Sciences and Agriculture/Health have a stronger
tendency to return.
Overall, coordinators state a general trend towards an extended stay in Europe (for gaining work
experience or doing a PhD) and thereafter returning to the home country/region. The figure below
summarizes the most important findings and general trends:
Source: Interviews with EMMC coordinators
Access to European industries
Field of Science, Mathematics, IT
PhD at European university or
research institute
Gathering European experience
Former employer - better position
Growing sectors,
eager to benefit home country
Fields of Health - Social Science - …
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%Distribution of graduates' mobility patterns - summary
focus Europe extended stay in Europe, but also returning returning to home countries
17
Good practice:
Agris Mundus – Master of Science Sustainable Development in Agriculture (launched in 2006)
http://www.agrismundus.eu
Partners:
Montpellier SupAgro (France),
Wageningen University and Research Centre (Netherlands),
University of Copenhagen (Denmark),
University College Cork (Ireland),
Università degli Studi di Catania (Italy),
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain)
Coordinator: Didier Pillot, Montpellier SupAgro
Due to its contents of sustainable development in agriculture, job markets for students and graduates
of Agris Mundus are mainly outside the EU (as the figure above illustrated, graduates from this
discipline display a stronger tendency to return home). Thus, the coordinators force the establishment
of links to international employers by extensive practical classes and a sustainable network between
EU and non-EU higher education institutions.
Recommendable elements
90% of students come from developing countries (Africa, Latin America, Asia). AgrisMundus
graduates are encouraged to go back to their home countries and help institution building there.
For those who were studying before the major reasons are to get the access for undertaking a
PhD and the opportunity of studying abroad. For employed graduates, main incentives are a
better degree of specialisation and a better salary and professional position.
For the PhD candidates, the AgrisMundus network shaped an option: two thirds of the hosting
institutions are members of the partnership.
The professional activity of the AgrisMundus graduates concentrates on international
organizations. Among the returners to their previous job, all have experienced an upgrade on
their position (“from field to office work”) and mostly also on their salary.
The ultimate goal is to have former students establishing own training programmes in their
home countries. Once the Erasmus Mundus programme will end, the course shall be held in
Ethiopia, Thailand or South Africa. Through the programme an alliance was built with currently 25
higher education institutions and already running courses. This shall be extended using
supporting programmes such as EDULINK, TEMPUS or ASIALINK5.
Recommendations:
5 For more information, please consult the homepages of Edulink, Tempus and Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window
First and foremost, the mobility of students is closely linked to employability aspects and incentives
the target regions offer.
The wish to keep qualified graduates in Europe might also be subject to concrete political decisions
in the future, especially as persistent visa and residence permit difficulties (f.ex. for nationals from
Pakistan, Iraq or Iran) may influence the graduates’ freedom of movement.
However not all graduates can or intend to enter the European labour market. Thus, the links
initiated through Erasmus Mundus contribute to the establishment of academic/professional
networks that may facilitate students to gain ground on their home labour market.
18
4.7 Erasmus Mundus – an asset for job search?
The following chapter focuses on the question if graduates of an EM programme have good or maybe
even better baseline conditions for finding a job than “normal” Master students. Therefore, EM
participants were asked for their estimation as regards the impact of Erasmus Mundus on their
professional and personal development.
Challenges and major findings:
Overall, students and graduates assessed very positively the impact of EM on career and job search
in general, as their job search took significantly shorter time than for fellow students who graduated at
home. When it comes to the the special assets of EM students compared to other graduates,
international experiences and intercultural competences were considered the most striking
distinguishing features.
As the figure below shows, EM graduates in employment consider foreign language experiences the
most important hiring criteria for employers. Even though academic and professional expertise
gathered during the EMMC are qualified as also highly decisive criteria for being hired, Erasmus
Mundus itself (as regards the ‘label’ or the overall reputation) cannot (yet) be regarded an asset for the
Mundus students when applying for a job outside university. The rising of employers’ awareness of the
quality of the programme is one main challenge EM programmes are still facing, as only 11% of the
graduates relate their employment to the good reputation of EM.
Source: Graduate Impact Survey 2011, Graduates in employment, Respondents asked to select max. 3 items out of 11 (Self-
assessment by graduates)
19
Good practice:
IMIM – International Master of Industrial Management (launched in 2006) http://www.imim.polimi.it
Partners:
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain),
Politecnico di Milano (Italy),
Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (Sweden)
Coordinator: Felipe Ruiz, UPM
Being aware of the excellence within the programme on the one hand and the lack of knowledge
among employers on the other, the IMIM universities have elaborated a strong link between
application and acquirement of knowledge, while additional assets of EM students (intercultural and
international experiences) are consciously furthered.
Recommendable elements:
Practical application of knowledge in group excursions to companies, where students
become part of the management process by experiencing production lines, practical planning,
manufacturing and coordination.
IMIM tries to resolve the heterogeneity of the group of students with and without working
background (different learning process, different expectations) by keeping the group of students
together in all 3 partner countries, thus focusing on a strong community and interpersonal
relationships – which brings intercultural competence to the fore.
An advisory board consisting of companies, associations, organisations but also alumni was set
up in an early phase of the course, stemming form personal contacts of the coordination team.
Some companies host Master theses and give feedback about students’ competences,
weaknesses or the set up of curriculum.
“It’s the best way to give us a practical feedback on our ‘product’”
As this feedback is often about single competences and special wishes, coordinators try to keep
influence of external parties on a maintainable level. On the other hand, the input of the
advisory board led to changes in a way to increase the level of specialisation and to sharpen
the logic of the course. It also helps the coordination team to give students clear orientation on
future activities and concrete career paths and examples in which fields to go to after graduation.
Some companies within the advisory board also pose as employers which hire graduates
regularly, e.g. one company employs 2-3 graduates almost every year.
Recommendations:
Keeping in mind that employers often are not sufficiently familiar with Erasmus Mundus and the
contents of this excellence programme and in order to exploit the full potential of Erasmus Mundus
as for employability, the label should be also officially promoted to employers pointing out to
internationality and academic excellence.
As Erasmus Mundus is on a good way to become a brand in the academic context, this task can
also be assumed by universities, beyond issuing recommendation letters and diploma
supplements, e.g. by university-business cooperation, start-up possibilities and placement
opportunities.
20
4.8 Sustainability of the Erasmus Mundus programme as regards employability
As the aspect of sustainability is subject to a distinct thematic investigation on Erasmus Mundus, the
related questions and answers in the present study have only been assessed with a special focus to
their relation to employability. Of course, employability depends in certain cases upon sustainability
since some of the here presented examples can only unfold on the basis of long-lasting (and hence
sustainable) concepts, for example an increase of awareness of employers or the establishment of a
cooperation between employers and EMMCs. Besides, a good record of employability can also be a
driver for the sustainability of a programme, both aspects thus are interrelated.
Challenges and major findings:
First and foremost, a large majority of the coordinators report on high benefits they have drawn from
the programme, as for example the reformation of the previous Masters’ curriculum, the increase of
the overall academic quality and new inputs for research – aspects that positively impact on the
sustainable development of academic institutions, one important employer for EM graduates who
continue their studies with a PhD. In the same way, the closer or new links to partner universities and
scholars and new contacts with associated partners have been assessed as an added value
influencing in the university in long term.
Regarding the sustainability of the courses themselves, all EMMCs which have participated in the
interviews undertook measures of quality control and asked their students and graduates for their
feedback. Over 40% of the coordinators declared that these methods led to significant changes in the
course structures, in some cases students have even been nominated members of the programmes’
steering committee or quality board. In other cases, these measures have been extended to external
evaluation or employment-related feedback. By comparing actual positions of graduates with their
initial assessment or integrating the employers’ point of view, the programmes’ sustainability gets
closely linked to its employability potential.
Difficulties could be observed within EMMCs with a focus on employment in public or international
institutions, mainly because corporate funding can not be linked to employment perspectives for the
funding institution. Given that fundraising and the establishment of an adequate network are time-
consuming and administrative costs are scarcely covered by the EM funding, some of the coordinators
also said that they don’t have the means to allocate resources to measures for enhancing
employability, since the personnel is bound in other, curriculum-related or administrative tasks.
Obviously, the biggest challenge when it comes to guaranteeing the continuation of a programme after
the EU-funding has expired is the organisation of a future self-financing of the programmes. Overall,
coordinators agree that this may largely impact on the structure of students and particularly reduces
the non-EU students. Others also expressed their fear that unique features of EM (e.g. mobility,
internationality of students) may be cut down without EM scholarships, which would surely make it
more difficult to promote the added value of an EM programme towards employers.
A good fourth of the coordinators declares to have already successfully organised methods for a
sustainable continuation of their courses. Over the time of funding, some EMMCs have begun to
attract a high share of “self-funders” and thus gained more autonomy from the EM scholarship.
Moreover, through the quality of the established EMMC they could open up alternative ways of
financing: national and local grants for students, private grants from employers for research, Master
Thesis or doctorates or the allocation of resources from the university or through new research
cooperation. In some cases, the coordination team could build up alternative local Master programmes
of the same quality (partially even with a mobility part) or initiate a comparable Masters programme
outside Europe. Finally, 18% of the coordinators can imagine a full self-funding of the programme from
the EMMC under the precondition of a sufficient time span (at least two funding periods of 5 years)
in order to make use of the Erasmus Mundus label for promotion purposes.
21
Good practice:
VIBOT – Erasmus Mundus Master Courses in Vision and Robotics (launched in 2006)
http://www.vibot.org
Partners:
Université de Bourgogne (France),
Universitat de Girona (Spain),
Heriot-Watt University (UK)
Coordinator: David Fofi, Université de Bourgogne
VIBOT was founded from the urgency to create a high level European Master in computer vision and
robotics and to provide research topics easily transferable to technology. Over time, it has developed a
sustainability concept integrating university networks, fundraising initiatives and projects to enhance
employability. By this, quality and unique features (mobility, internationality) of the EMMC are ensured.
Recommendable elements:
VIBOT organises a yearly event to bring together students, graduates and private partners
working in computer vision and robotics on the latest research: the VIBOT-days.
In addition, corporate financing and individual grants are mobilised, for instance for European
students during the (entirely practical) 4th semester.
The lump sum provided by EM can only cover administrative and coordinative costs. But with a
little own initiative there are different ways of pay-back:
o very successful research labs that are closely linked and cover large parts of infrastructure o excellent students receive own funds from external (national) grants o high profit for research (PhD positions), visibility and reputation
“It’s a lot of work, but it helps a lot.”
By international agreements and mobility exchanges additional Masters have been created
that cover similar contents as VIBOT and partly also contain a mandatory mobility: VICOT,
Masters courses with Malaysia and Indonesia.
Moreover, a follow-up Erasmus Mundus Action 3 project6 has been started: EACOVIROE –
Enhance the Attractiveness of Computer Vision and Robotics in Europe
Recommendations:
6 Action 3 promotes European higher education through measures enhancing the attractiveness of Europe as an educational
destination and a centre of excellence at world level.
In terms of sustainability, the Erasmus Mundus funding is foreseen as initial financing and only
covers running expenses. To achieve long-term effects, also on employability, it is thus necessary
that universities invest, and not only administer, financial resources and manpower: a broad
academic and management board, events, contacts, research cooperation. It also takes an active
coordinator with good links to research and to the private sector.
As internationality of students is a) the biggest asset for graduates in job search and b) an important
resource for EMMC coordinators to attract partners/sponsors, future employability will largely
depend upon the ability to maintain the internationality of students.
In order to build quality Masters courses of enduring effect and to further promote the programme, it
is highly recommendable to assign the Erasmus Mundus brand name for longer than just for a pre-
defined period – bound to quality criteria.
One effective measure could be the provision of elaborate quality control systems that enable
EMMC coordinators to precisely assess and enhance the employability of their students and alumni.
22
5. General recommendations and Conclusion
In order to reassess the performance of the involved EMMCs, we will bring together the
recommendations drawn in the individual sections with some basic considerations. This enables us to
formulate 10 “key recommendations” that – based on the research within this cluster – shall give the
essential orientation on the way to enhancing employability within Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses.
Learn from different approaches – build up joint solutions
The Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses cover a large variety of topics at different levels of
specification. This refers not only to the general distinction between educating researchers or
educating practitioners. Some EMMCs cooperate with private partners, while for others the public
sector is more relevant, grown courses with long lasting cooperation are equally present as new
consortia arisen from recent initiatives. Eventually, different fields of study implicate considerable
differences as regards the access to employment. Nevertheless, useful strategies to enhance
employability have many common and transferable elements. Hence, profitable impact is to be
expected through more regular exchange between EMMC coordinators at two levels:
a) exchange of EMMCs with different backgrounds on concrete challenges (to gather new
insight, learn from others) – the cluster workshops can be an important impulse in that respect
b) exchange of EMMCs within the same field of study (to jointly tackle employability).
For the future, a board of coordinators that regularly come together, e.g. working on guidelines for the
promotion, seems a promising approach.
Communicate the Erasmus Mundus Brand Name (EMBN)
Exploiting the full potential of the Erasmus Mundus brand and raising the awareness of the
programme in the future requires a form of consistent institutional promotion. In this regard, the
creation of the EMBN is an important milestone enabling EMMCs that are no longer subject to EU
funding to maintain the labelling on the one hand and committing themselves to the quality criteria and
the high excellence on the other hand. Beneficiaries of this label are called upon to use and promote it
in all communication. In combination with further cluster-building events, this dissemination can
contribute to really create a “corporate identity” of Erasmus Mundus focusing on international
competences and academic excellence.
Link Eramus Mundus Masters Courses and labour markets
What can be assessed as of fundamental importance is the early – i.e. at an early stage of the course
– involvement of possible employers and other partners (research institutes, public institutions
etc.) in developing and adapting the course structure. By establishing a continuous exchange, both
parts become active designers of what is regarded to be the “labour market response”. Partners can
contribute by identifying required competences and expectations, while universities can discuss
possibilities on how to re-structure their curricula, but can actively check out fresh ideas or promote
further fields of activities.
Deploy professional alliances for academia
For this exchange, professional relations that coordinators and other academic staff share with
partners outside the university are the most important source. This might be a factor often
underestimated in the occupation of research personnel. The funding for the exchange of top-level
international scholars within Erasmus Mundus is one example where the scientific networks can profit
from multiplied relations.
23
Give practical learning a place
As the survey results have shown that internships are still only moderately presented within the
EMMCs, but for those students taking part in them turn out to be highly profitable for their future
career, it is highly recommendable that all EMMCs offer application-related course elements.
Ideally, all parts of the triangle of course representatives, business partners and students are bound to
engage in this. Already in the conceptualization phase, the course representatives should install the
practical application of knowledge as fundamental element within their curricula. Beginning from
practical projects, real case (business) planning over to internships and research cooperation, there
are many ways to raise interest and involve employers and institutions. Equally, students are asked to
actively demand for and make use of practical course elements to shape their career orientation
Mediate and integrate internships
Offering placement opportunities is by no means a self-fulfilling prophecy. Most importantly, they
should be valuable for the students, which as for internships implies that they take place in a
relevant field of action, are if possible paid and in a nearby place. As a matter of fact, practical
activities need to be accorded at an early stage with a set of employers or research partners. The
coordinating staff should prepare this phase with the highest possible attention, and – particularly in
disciplines with little private participation – by really pointing out to the added value for the
partners: the excellence and the commitment that Erasmus Mundus students bring in that can result
in valuable impacts, enduring contacts and possible employment. The goal in this context is a pool of
internship/placement opportunities, from which students can select according to their special
interest, but which at the same time puts the students in charge of the contacting and of embedding
outcomes into the context of their studies.
Confidence increases commitment
Generally, giving back “some” of the responsibility to the students is a key issue in working out
strategies to enhance employability. Throughout all Erasmus Mundus studies it becomes evident that
they are highly committed and active. Many EMMCs have benefitted from students’ initiative, e.g. in
building up scientific conferences, useful web tools or alumni networks. For sure in every EMMC there
are several fields in which students can actively effect new initiatives that are both raising
competences for themselves and raising visibility for the course. The coordination team should thereby
resort from controlling activities to supervising and setting stimuli if initiatives do not keep running on
their own.
Unfold the impact of internationality
Although mobility is a major characteristic of Erasmus Mundus and internationality a main added
value, the research revealed that too much mobility can also hinder orientation and settlement. In
fact, 3 or even 4 relocations within 20-24 months poses a surplus load on students that are anyways
faced with high academic requirements. During the Erasmus Mundus time, the students main
impressions should be academic contents, pracitical insight and professional and social contacts – not
moving stress, visa issues and administrative processes. The major recommendation to the consortia
is therefore to develop mobility streams that are both logical (i.e. accorded to a special focus in the
study programme) and enable the group to grow together and to deepen relations.
24
Student networks are employable resources
For all the actors involved during the EMMC, keeping in touch is a crucial factor. The international
contacts that consortia are gaining over time are a very valuable resource when it comes to founding
international research cooperation or follow-up programmes. They also help to build up relations to
alumni now figuring as employers or able to mediate job opportunities. Well-designed graduate
feedback forms (e.g. employment surveys) enable to draw useful conclusions or re-design courses. In
all the follow-up communication, punctual contacting and setting highlights (e.g. yearly reunions,
international conferences) is regarded a more promising strategy than permanent “controlling”.
Activate complementary abilities
Finally, when we conclude coming back to the pragmatic question what it is that we are dealing with, a
basic view on the meaning of employability helps to clarify the central recommendation. In that
sense, “employ-ability” denominates an ability, which is of double-sided nature:
On the one hand, it signifies the not passive, but relational ability “to be employed”, i.e. a range of
abilities or competences asked for by employers, a set of competences and practical experience. On
the other hand, however, a genuinely (pro-)active ability comes to the fore that emphasizes the
ability to open up job opportunities, the use of professional networks and a clear view on career paths.
Both aspects are of complementary importance and the EMMCs should continue working on both of
them. However, as we can conclude from the assessment of competences, for the first aspect only
slight deficits are affirmed; the general level of competences within Erasmus Mundus is high. The
latter aspect is the one where we find more occasion for improvement, e.g. when we consider the
results on career orientation. Strategies to enhance employability within Erasmus Mundus Masters
Courses should thus continue to foster knowledge and competences, but not neglect to expand their
students’ own activity in the search for employment, their ability to “employ themselves”.
Source for „key-symbol“: http://www.bilderkiste.de
