Rebecca Tlatlik Place-related factors, employment opportunities and international students' migration Intention Evidence from Göttingen, Germany kassel university
Table of Contents Abbr eviations Definitions xix xxii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Research Statement 1 1.2 Research methodology 6 1.3 Research objectives and questions 6 1.4 Organisation of the study 8 2 Theoretical framework 10 2.1 The Creative Class Theory 10 2.2 The Human Capital Theory 14 3 State of research 17 3.1 The migration decision of international students after graduation 17 3.2 The spatial distribution of students and highly skilled migrants 22 3.3 Place-related and employment factors 27 4 Hypotheses 31 5 The framework of Germany's demand for highly skilled migrants 35 5.1 The rise of the Knowledge economies 35 5.2 Demographic development 36 5.3 Shortages of skilled labour 37 5.4 Policy changes 40 The German Green Card 41 The Immigration Act 42 The Blue Card directive 46 5.5 Highly skilled migration 47 6 International students as labour migrants 50 6.1 The global competition 50 xii
6.2 The global development of the number of international students 51 Regions 52 Destination countries 53 Reasons for destination choice 55 6.3 Internationalisation of higher education in Germany 56 6.4 Policy changes regarding international students/graduates 58 6.5 Attracting and retaining international students in Germany 60 6.6 International students in MINT subjects 63 6.7 International graduates 66 6.8 International students becoming labour migrants 70 7 Methodology 73 7.1 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 78 7.2 Survey of international students 82 Methods of data collection 82 Questionnaire design 83 Questionnaire distribution 84 7.3 Statistical data analysis 86 Binary logistic regression 87 Factor analysis 92 7.4 Interviews with representatives of regional companies 97 Data collection method 97 Sampling of interview participants 98 Semi-structured Interviews 100 Transcription of the Interviews 102 7.5 Data analysis of Interviews with representatives of regional companies 102 8 Results of international students' survey 107 8.1 Personal characteristics 107 xiii
German language skills 111 First choice of study destlnation 111 8.2 Staying Intention after graduation 113 8.3 International students' perceptions 115 International students' job opportunity assessment 116 8.4 International students' staying Intention in Göttingen 120 8.5 Employment opportunities in the region of Göttingen 122 Company attributes 126 8.6 Place-related factor 128 8.7 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 138 9 State of research: the demand side 139 9.1 The demand for labour force 139 9.2 The demand of recruiting labour force front abroad 140 9.3 Strategies to cope with labour shortages 143 9.4 Obstacles in recruiting international labour force 145 9.5 Measures to facilitate the recruitment of international labour force 145 9.6 Further literature 146 10 Results of Interviews with Company representatives 149 10.1 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 151 10.2Measures to cope with the growing labour shortage 153 Recruitment strategies 153 Cooperation with higher education institutions 155 xiv
New place of location 155 Other Strategie: 156 10.3Experience with the international labour force 157 10.4Challenges 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 169 10.6Differences between types of companies 169 11 Conclusion 172 11.1 Policy recommendations 177 11.2Future research 179 German abstract 181 References 184 Appendices 195 xv