opportunities and international students'

Transcription

1 Rebecca Tlatlik Place-related factors, employment opportunities and international students' migration Intention Evidence from Göttingen, Germany kassel university

2 Table of Contents Abbr eviations Definitions xix xxii 1 Introduction Research Statement Research methodology Research objectives and questions Organisation of the study 8 2 Theoretical framework The Creative Class Theory The Human Capital Theory 14 3 State of research The migration decision of international students after graduation The spatial distribution of students and highly skilled migrants Place-related and employment factors 27 4 Hypotheses 31 5 The framework of Germany's demand for highly skilled migrants The rise of the Knowledge economies Demographic development Shortages of skilled labour Policy changes 40 The German Green Card 41 The Immigration Act 42 The Blue Card directive Highly skilled migration 47 6 International students as labour migrants The global competition 50 xii

3 6.2 The global development of the number of international students 51 Regions 52 Destination countries 53 Reasons for destination choice Internationalisation of higher education in Germany Policy changes regarding international students/graduates Attracting and retaining international students in Germany International students in MINT subjects International graduates International students becoming labour migrants 70 7 Methodology Study area 73 The district of Güttingen 73 The district of Northeim 74 The district of Osterode am Harz 76 The demand for human capital 76 The supply of human capital Survey of international students 82 Methods of data collection 82 Questionnaire design 83 Questionnaire distribution Statistical data analysis 86 Binary logistic regression 87 Factor analysis Interviews with representatives of regional companies 97 Data collection method 97 Sampling of interview participants 98 Semi-structured Interviews 100 Transcription of the Interviews Data analysis of Interviews with representatives of regional companies Results of international students' survey Personal characteristics 107 xiii

4 German language skills 111 First choice of study destlnation Staying Intention after graduation International students' perceptions 115 International students' job opportunity assessment International students' staying Intention in Göttingen Employment opportunities in the region of Göttingen 122 Company attributes Place-related factor Results of binary logistic regression 131 Standardised beta coefficients 133 "Quality oflife" 135 Age 136 "Quality of place" 136 German language knowledge 136 Duration of stay State of research: the demand side The demand for labour force The demand of recruiting labour force front abroad Strategies to cope with labour shortages Obstacles in recruiting international labour force Measures to facilitate the recruitment of international labour force Further literature Results of Interviews with Company representatives The labour force Situation of regional companies 149 Labour shortage 149 Reasons for recruitment problems 149 Assessment of the development of labour shortages 151 Requirements of candidates Measures to cope with the growing labour shortage 153 Recruitment strategies 153 Cooperation with higher education institutions 155 xiv

5 New place of location 155 Other Strategie: Experience with the international labour force Challenges in hiring international labour force and international students 158 Knowledge of German language 159 Bureaucracy 161 Application 162 Gelting in contact 163 Staying Intention 164 Cultural diversity 166 Recognition of credentials 166 lo.sbenefits of employing international labour force 167 Intercultural knowledge 168 Foreign languages 168 Special soft skills 168 Other Differences between types of companies Conclusion Policy recommendations Future research 179 German abstract 181 References 184 Appendices 195 xv