Lifelong Learning Platform | LLLP - European Civil Society for Education

Erasmus Careers

By now, most Europeans agree on the benefits of the Erasmus+ Programme. Its positive contribution to graduate employability has been established in, for example, two Erasmus Impact Studies (2014 and 2019). However, it is also essential that students are provided with an opportunity to “unpack” what they have gained while abroad. The aim of this project will be to ensure that competences that are gained on mobility contribute to the career prospects of Erasmus+ participants.

Erasmus Careers is a three-year long project which seeks to translate the lessons learned during Erasmus+ student mobility into competences, and to have students, employers, higher education institutes recognise and value them. The project’s six partners – ESN, UAM, ELM, AUTH, LLLP, TU – see the value of student mobility and its potential in favoring employment. Indeed, while student mobility unravels new competences, these often remain unnoticed because the students themselves, the employers and higher education institutes, lack awareness on what these competences are. Additionally, when such an awareness exists, their value is often overlooked.

By developing guidelines and publications, a digital self-learning tool, staff trainings, and activities on the topic of employment, the Erasmus Careers project seeks to ensure that competencies gained during student mobility are acknowledged and appreciated on the job, by the three target groups above: students (or the Erasmus+ participants), employers, and higher education institutes.

Objectives

  • Competences gained by students and trainees during their mobility abroad are identified;
  • A better understanding of the learning that takes place during the International Student Lifecycle;
  • The competences gained by students during mobility are better understood and recognised by employers;
  • Students understand the impact of international student mobility on their career path;
  • Competences gained abroad are recognised and integrated into education policies.

Project Activities and Outputs
The project’s activities are varied and include conducting research, building guidelines and publications, creating a framework and a digital self-learning tool, and organising trainings and local activities. All activities target the project’s three target groups, namely: students, employers, and higher education institutes. The outputs for each target group are listed below.

For STUDENTS:
1 – Research Publication on Competence Frameworks in the International Student Mobility
2 – Competence Inventory for International Mobile Students and Trainees
3 – Self-learning tool for Competence and Career Development

For EMPLOYERS:
1 – Research Report on Employer Recognition of Skills gained abroad
2 – Employer Manual for Recruitment of International Graduates

For HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTES:
1 – Roadmap for Learning in an International Student Lifecycle
2 – Internationalisation in Career Guidance: Guidebook

ALL the ABOVE, feed and result into:
1 – Implementation of Career Guidance Activities
2 – Policy Impact

Coordinator: Erasmus Student Network (Belgium), the biggest European student organisation acting in the field of student mobility and internalisation of higher education.

Partners: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), Lifelong Learning Platform (Belgium), Tilburg University (the Netherlands), Expertise in Labour Mobility (the Netherlands).

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