Foreword

This research study traces the personal and professional paths of VET graduates from Ireland, after a period of mobility experience funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ 2014-2020 or Leonarda da Vinci 2007-2013 Mobility programmes. The research was carried out in 2019 as part of a transnational project with partners from nine other countries: Austria, Belgium (Flanders), the Czech Republic, Latvia, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. The transnational study report reflecting findings from all project partners, ‘Tracing VET Graduates With Foreign Mobility Experience’ (Fassl, Kirsch et al, 2020), is available to download from https://www.frse.org.pl/czytelnia/tracing-vet-graduates-with-foreign-mobility-experience.

Since this research was conducted, the Erasmus+ 2014–2020 programme has concluded and a new programme cycle for 2021 to 2027 has begun. Much more significantly, the practice of educational and training mobility in Europe has been completely transformed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Mobility programmes of all kinds were effectively brought to a stop in March 2020, when the full extent of the crisis began to unfold. It is only now, in summer 2021, that pandemic-related restrictions on international travel from Ireland are beginning to ease. As such, it is an apposite time to ask what the impact or potential advantages of resuming funded educational and training mobility in Europe may be. This is extremely pertinent for both Irish VET organisations and learners facing into a period of renewed economic uncertainty post-pandemic and post-Brexit.

Perhaps the other most notable societal change to occur in 2020 was increased recognition, in Ireland and globally, of the importance of true inclusion and diversity in our communities – and the very long road that needs to be travelled to achieve it. This study illustrates that VET learners who had transnational mobility experience felt it had enhanced their intercultural and interpersonal skills; recent research carried out at NUI Galway has examined whether transnational mobility could also serve as a basis to bond increasingly multicultural and diverse teams. The research found that:

Overseas experience was found to be a salient social category, which means that people inside and outside of the group attribute specific labels to people with that experience. However, more research is needed to see if this is enough for a group bond. It does offer one way to potentially allow the benefits of diversity to be retained in the group, while providing another, non-threatening, bonding mechanism. Managers could intentionally use overseas experience as a basis for forming team bonds.1

While the context in which mobility programmes operate has changed fundamentally since the conclusion of this research, there can be no doubt that mobility retains an important role in addressing these key economic and societal challenges. Indeed, the Erasmus+ 2021–2027 programme has pledged 70% of its overall budget of more than €28 billion to fund mobility projects across Europe2: mobility continues to be a cornerstone of European Union strategy. I hope that this study will shed light on the influence of mobility on participants’ subsequent paths and choices, and help to guide Irish VET organisations on how to make the most of these opportunities.

Charis Hughes

June 2021

1 ‘The paradox of teams: diverse teams are smarter but not easy’, The Irish Times, 4 June 2021 https://www.irishtimes.com/business/work/the-paradox-of-teams-diverse-teams-are-smarter-but-not-easy-1.4582110

2 Press Release ‘Erasmus+: over €28 billion to support mobility and learning for all, across the European Union and beyond’ https://ec.europa.eu/commission/ presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_1326