The Effects of Studying Abroad on Graduate Careers

This chapter investigates the relationships between the effects of study abroad on educational outcomes and careers after university graduation. This fills the gap in the existing research by regarding the effect of study abroad as a part of human capital formation leading to career development. The data is based on a survey of graduates who majored in social sciences and humanities at a Japanese university (N = 1,271). The results of the structural equation modeling demonstrated that study abroad experience has a positive impact on the acquisition of both subject-specific and international competencies and that the human capital accumulated by these competencies has an effect on career formation including intrinsic motivation such as leadership and adding value to society. The correlations were also confirmed that graduates with study abroad experience studied harder for both general and subject-specific subjects and gained more competencies than those without study abroad experience.