Higher education

German

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Work experience

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Human capital

Study abroad

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Endogeneity

Mechanical engineering

Higher Education

International student mobility (ISM) is considered increasingly important for professional careers. Referring to theories of human capital and job market signalling, we assume that different forms of ISM experience can serve as signals for general, specific and transnational human capital. To test this idea, we use a factorial survey experiment to investigate the weights HR managers of German employers allocate to ISM experience in hiring decisions, both generally and conditionally to other characteristics of the application. A screening situation was simulated by randomly presenting hypothetical applicants, thereby systematically varying ISM experience (no experience, private sojourn, studying abroad, internship abroad) and other graduates’ characteristics ascribed and achieved. In contrast to the usual graduate and employer surveys, the experimental approach allows us to investigate employers’ evaluations directly while capturing problems of endogeneity. Results show that while an internship abroad is more rewarded by employers than studying abroad or a private sojourn, good grades and occupation-specific professional experience are still the most important. Though the effects of ISM experience are partly independent of those of other characteristics, graduates with migration background and those with a master’s degree benefit less from ISM experience. Moreover, ISM experience is more rewarded by employers who operate in international contexts. Overall, the analysis uncovers a heterogeneous signalling power of ISM experience, conditional to different types of human capital and to characteristics of applicants and employers.

Heterogeneous effects of graduates’ international mobility on employers’ hiring intentions—experimental evidence from Germany