Distinction or drawback? Employers’ perceptions of study abroad experience

Abstract

While studying abroad is often assumed to enhance graduates’ job prospects, research offers mixed findings. Furthermore, the existing literature has largely focused on individual outcomes such as graduates’ wages and employment. This paper shifts the focus to the employer perspective by providing large-scale experimental evidence on how study abroad experience impacts hiring intentions. Using an experimental vignette integrated into the Norwegian National Employer Survey (n=8,300), we examine whether employers value study abroad experience and whether attitudes differ by the length of the stay. Our findings show that studying one year abroad does not improve employability, and that applicants with a full degree obtained abroad are considered less employable than applicants with a domestic degree. The negative impact of a full degree from abroad is more pronounced for applicants with foreign-sounding names, linking our contribution to broader debates on foreign education.