RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP VISION DEVELOPMENT AND ETHICS

414 RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
they would have a higher chance to cooperate in the future, to become aware of the similarities,
of a common cultural pattern or of the things that unite them (Sigalas, 2010).
Student mobility is mostly based on a push-pull framework consisting in a series of factors
(such as poor economic conditions, lack of appropriate educational opportunities, low
level of focus on international interactions) that push students from their home countries, and
pull them to a host country, considering here the political or economic ties between countries,
available resources for mobility or quality of education (Beerkens et al. 2016). Students
look for intercultural experiences and living abroad time, personal and academic development,
language competence, openness to diversity, understanding of global affairs and better
career opportunities. Both at the country level, and the EU, mobility is perceived to enhance
international competitiveness, stimulate effective labor markets, reduce youth unemployment
and enhance career paths (European Commission, 2014; Institute of International Education,
2011). However, long-term effects of student mobility, return rates or career outcomes are
poorly investigated as former beneficiaries are difficult to trace (Wiers-Jenssen, 2012).
This paper addresses Romanian students’ concerns and perspectives about future careers
and employability in relation to academic mobility. We center our paper on recent experiences
of young Romanian students who enrolled in a foreign educational system or took part
in exchange programs to investigate how they perceive the impact of the mobility experience
on their employability or future careers, and to what extent they consider a job abroad
after finishing their sojourns.
Literature review
Youth employment at the EU level
The European Union is actively promoting intercultural exchanges to help youth employment
and entrepreneurship. Along the years, the European Commission has supported several
initiatives to address the concerns of young people in terms of employment and career
opportunities. However, the economic crisis had a substantial impact on the European labor
markets. The crisis led to high rates of unemployment, especially among youths, and with
long term consequences as the reduction of lifetime earnings, high risk of unemployment in
the future, insecure or improper jobs, low job satisfaction, or overall decreased well-being.
Moreover, the flexibility of the labor market at the EU level led to unstable or short term
employment, the migration became more extensive, and employers changed the requirements
and skills demands (O’Reilly et al., 2015; Heyes & Lewis, 2013). The regulation of the labor
market also protects employed workers, disadvantaging the youths as entrants on the job market,
the youth unemployment and the number of temporary jobs being higher in these conditions
(Wolbers, 2007). The levels of education are usually not aligned with the
requirements, taking mostly the form of over education and over skilling for a current position
(O’Reilly et al., 2015; European Commission, 2012).
EU mobility can constitute an efficient mechanism for reducing regional disparities in terms
of unemployment and for efficient work allocation. However, EU migration takes place mostly
from Central–Eastern states to Western Europe, a high share of migrants consisting in youths
that despite their qualifications, get jobs with low earnings (OECD, 2014; Favell, 2008). Youth
mobility can be stimulated by economic factors, proximity in terms of geography, culture and