In this paper we have investigated students' motivations for undertaking a full degree abroad. It examines how motivations can be categorised, and if this varies according to gender, social origin, field of study and mobility capital (previous experience of living abroad or parents who have done so). The analyses are based on a survey of Norwegian…

In this paper, we investigated how internationally mobile students from Norway diverge from students in Norway regarding social background, grades obtained at upper secondary school, and motivation to study. Data from two comparable surveys were used, one relating to students abroad and one relating to domestic students. Results showed that, on…

International student mobility (ISM) is often perceived to enhance career prospects. Surprisingly, the role of personality traits in explaining why students go abroad and relationships between ISM and labour market outcomes have received scant scholarly attention. Based on survey data from Norwegian graduates, we found that degree and credit…

In this paper we consider the experiences of international students studying in Norway, analysing data from more than 5,000 survey respondents. Variations according to students' region of origin and whether they are full degree students or exchange students are the focus. Students report a high level of overall satisfaction, exchange students in…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether international student mobility (ISM) has an impact on the transition from higher education to work. Two measures of labour market outcomes are investigated: unemployment and skills mismatch. To go beyond existing research, we analyse whether the effect of ISM on these outcomes vary by fields of…

Between 2000 and 2015, Norway has experienced a large increase in the number of international students compared with many other countries. At first glance, this may seem paradoxical considering that Norway is a country with few well-known universities, a high cost of living, and a geographical location on the northern fringe of Europe. This…

Full-degree mobility from Western countries is a topic that has been little researched. Existing literature tends to be normative; mobility is seen as an advantage per se. In this article it is questioned whether mobility is an advantage when investigating degree mobility and employability of students from the Nordic countries. Results show that…

In this paper, a comparison is made of the background and the early career of graduates with higher education from abroad to graduates with all domestic degrees, based on a survey among Norwegian graduates. Results show that those who have studied abroad constitute a selected group regarding social origin and mobility capital (exposure to…

This article investigates the early career of graduates who have studied abroad (mobile students) compared to graduates who have undertaken the entire education at domestic higher education institutions (nonmobile students). The main question is to what extent mobile students get jobs with international assignments compared to nonmobile students.…

Surveyed the experiences and viewpoints of Norwegian students abroad. They find studying abroad academically advantageous, and they put much emphasis on the social, personal, linguistic, and cultural rewards they acquire in addition to professional skills. Compared to students in Norway, those studying abroad are more satisfied with their…

The aim of this article is to analyse the transferability of higher education undertaken abroad to a domestic labour market. More specifically, how do Norwegians who have undertaken their education abroad cope on the labour market compared to those who have a corresponding education from Norway? To examine this, we analyse short-term labour market…