Filling talent shortages with foreign students? Understanding foreign exchange students’ willingness to work for host-country organizations

Abstract

Foreign exchange students can serve as a valuable talent pool for host-country organizations. This study draws on the ability-motivation-opportunity framework and the intergroup contact theory to examine how foreign exchange students’ motivation to study abroad, host-country language ability, and direct and indirect contact opportunities with host-country nationals are related to their willingness to work for host-country organizations. Data were collected from a multi-wave survey of 167 foreign exchange students in Germany. Providing support for our hypotheses, the results suggest that foreign exchange students’ motivation to study abroad was positively related to direct contact opportunities (e.g. interacting with locals). Further, exchange students’ host-country language ability was positively related to indirect contact opportunities (e.g. visiting cultural sights), which in turn was positively related to their willingness to work for host-country organizations. Opportunities for direct interpersonal contact were not significantly related to willingness to work for host-country organizations. The results also show two-way and three-way interactions among host-country ability, motivation to study abroad, and indirect contact opportunities in predicting exchange students’ willingness to work for host-country organizations. Implications for theory, management practice, and policymaking are discussed.