The Value of an International Degree: Matching Expectations on Career Prospects to Reality
Nuffic recently conducted a study on the effect of a Dutch degree on the career prospects of alumni from Neso countries. What do the results tell us?
The Holland Alumni Barometer
Nuffic’s Holland Alumni Network database includes information on international students who have studied in the Netherlands (both self-financed students and those who had a scholarship). Nuffic research funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science resulted in a report about the needs and wishes of Holland Alumni and another on their career paths. In the first study, focus was on 
Neso countries and 11 other countries (Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, the Philippines, Peru, Germany, Romania, Turkey, Greece and the US) while the second study focused only on Neso countries. The current blog is based on the second study, which had 1539 respondents.
Why study abroad?
The study confirmed that when students choose for study abroad, they often have the expectation that an international degree will give them an advantage on the labour market. More than half of the respondents (56%) said that they had studied in the Netherlands because they thought it would help them progress in their careers. A further 35% of the respondents said they chose to study in the Netherlands mainly due to their interest in the subject matter of their study programme. The level of satisfaction by these alumni for having studied in the Netherlands is also high. As many as 94% of them are highly satisfied with their living and study experience in the Netherlands. Many of them have full time employment (76%), a permanent contract (63%) and earn a salary which is above average in the country where they work (49%). However, is this success in the labour market due to the fact that they hold a Dutch qualification or is it due to other reasons?
Motivation of Holland Alumni to study in the Netherlands
(click on the image to see the pdf version of this diagram)
The value of a Dutch Degree
Although the majority alumni are satisfied with a Dutch qualification, the fact that the qualification was obtained in the Netherlands was, according to the alumni, not a priority for the majority of employers when making the decision to employ them. Respondents (70%) indicate that although a Dutch qualification was an advantage in finding a job, employers placed more priority on the actual subjects studied (i.e. the knowledge level and knowledge type). The benefits enjoyed within these respondent’s careers (i.e. full time employment, permanent contract, above average salaries) were, therefore, primarily due to their knowledge level, knowledge type and competences rather than the fact that they held a Dutch (international) qualification.
Having said this, it is important to note that 14% of the respondents said that a Dutch qualification was in fact the most important aspect for their employer when making a decision to employ them. A further 7% said that holding a Dutch qualification from a specific Dutch higher education institution was the most important aspect for the employer when making a decision to employ them.
Apparently, the brand value of a Dutch qualification needs increasing. Nuffic will be launching the Career and Business Web Portal in February 2013, which will show international students and Holland alumni how a Dutch qualification can contribute to their career in the international labour market and in the Dutch labour market in particular.
What employers valued most when deciding to employ Holland Alumni
(click on the image to see the pdf version of this diagram)
Are these results conclusive for the rest of the world?
The results presented in this blog are true for countries where a Neso office is located and show the extent to which a Dutch qualification is currently valued by employers in these countries.
The situation may be different in other parts of the world. In this globalised world there are many organisations with a global orientation, and which therefore value employees with international experience. Such employees bring insights into cultural, social, economic, technological and knowledge dimensions of regions of interest and help their organisations attain and maintain global competitiveness.
It would be interesting to identify and map specific organisations, countries, regions or other cases where holding an international degree receives more priority than the actual knowledge acquired by the graduate and why! This would be useful information with regard to study abroad promotional activities.