Career Outcomes of Learning Abroad - National Report

Learning abroad is an enabler of skills development and all graduates should be able to access co-curricular learning experiences that will help to shape their future.

The Career Outcomes of Learning Abroad project surveyed more than 3,300 alumni of Australian universities in the first comprehensive, national study of learning abroad outcomes. This report is the second in the series and presents the major findings of the study.

In terms of the development of important employability skills, around 95 per cent of respondents rated their learning abroad experience as important or very important for developing their ability to interact with diverse individuals, communication skills and the capacity to adapt and learn quickly.

The report further highlights that learning abroad program leaders and designers are providing a highly contextualised international experience to participants, no matter the length of stay in host country.

Students are learning the entire time they are abroad and yet the learning recognition frameworks of many Australian universities are based entirely on classroom contact hours. Within this context, the report’s author, Dr Davina Potts, proposes standard credit evaluation practices could be redesigned to better recognise the entire learning proposition of learning abroad programs.

View a short video on the key findings:

Suggested Citation

Potts, D. (2020), ‘Career outcomes of learning abroad: national report’, International Education Association of Australia (IEAA). Retrieved from www.ieaa.org.au

Author

Dr Davina Potts – Associate Director (Careers, Employability and Global Learning), The University of Melbourne; Chair, IEAA Research
Committee.

Published: June 2020