Abstract
The present paper provides an analysis of the impact of a semester abroad during university studies on a students’ likelihood of pursuing a PhD. I use a sample of 66 812 German university students and analyze the program-specific subsamples. Propensity score matching reveals that business students who go abroad during their studies have higher intentions to pursue a PhD than their non-mobile peers. The findings are robust across matching estimators. In addition, I find positive and significant effects for cultural and social studies, whereas the effects for medical and law students are insignificant. When splitting the sample at the median grade, a semester abroad has a significant positive impact on below-median grade natural sciences students’ PhD decision. In contrast, for engineering students there is a positive and significant effect of a semester abroad only for above-median performers. I build on existing findings concerning the existence of a positive correlation between mobility and the intention to pursue a PhD.
Highlights
The various benefits of student mobility are mostly taken for granted, while little research exists to empirically prove the actual outcomes of studying abroad
The present paper provides an analysis of the impact of a semester abroad during university studies on a students’ likelihood of pursuing a PhD
Propensity score matching reveals that business students who go abroad during their studies have higher intentions to pursue a PhD than their non-mobile peers
Summary
The various benefits of student mobility are mostly taken for granted, while little research exists to empirically prove the actual outcomes of studying abroad. Political parties in Germany have supported internationalization at universities and have explicitly aimed to increase the mobility of students (Coalition Contract, 2013). As a result, both the German government and the European Union subsidize programs for internationalization. For the period (2021-2027), the European Commission has increased its grants to 26.2 billion Euros, which is almost twice as much as during the previous period (European Commission, 2021). The outcomes of a semester abroad have not been analyzed sufficiently yet
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