The mobility of young generations is increasing more and more over years and many teenagers are willing to leave their own houses looking for better future perspectives. Moreover, many surveys proved that migration in changing also in terms of “quality”.
It is worth noting, indeed, that while until some years ago most migration waves were made up of unqualified labour which used to leave its own country towards the most developed ones hoping for a job that would guarantee a good level of self-sufficiency, nowadays young people looking for new horizons are mainly highly alliterated people with a very solid technical background. Such people, most of the times aim at very ambitious future perspectives, for they believe they can become the future leaders given the broadness of the market (a market which requires a constant innovation and thus generational replacement). it is evident, however, that some specializations require a higher mobility for students, among which we have the economic sector, but also communications, journalism, political and social sciences, etc.
As history has always proved over time, everything has cause and effect and this is not the exception. Markets all over the world are now globalised and this process seems to go on irreversibly, global value chains are making multinationals stronger and stronger, competition is not local any longer, but a Spanish student has to face any American or Asian student who might be considered more valuable for a certain job position in his own country (just to make an example). It comes as a direct consequence that students are broadening their horizons, they need to have a wider view and, most of all, they need the best qualification possible that represents the guarantee for their personal skills. The university as institution is what embeds the presentation of the student.
The process that is taking place nowadays is a twofold one. On the one hand, universities are striving against each other in a global context because they just want to attract students from all over the world, since everyone is considered a valid new entry to be “launched” in the labour market (It is not occasional, indeed, that the internationality of the students attending the institute is just one of the key elements that shapes the prestige of the institute itself). On the other hand, the leading industries, banks and societies are aiming at keeping the widest view as possible, since they need to exploit at best the human resources of every country. What’s more, such process is being backed up by the fact that Asian countries in particularly are catching up with those that until some years ago were considered the most advanced countries and this implies that all over the world mutual exchanges are taking place in this sense. Countries such as China and Japan are having outstanding performances in the economic field and their Universities are not falling behind but simply keeping pace. The more developed the country is, the higher the competences of its experts: Universities cannot do anything but to enjoy this situation by disposing a wide range of highly qualified experts that the market can offer. Fudan University, for example, is now forging ahead in all world rankings. Many European students are heading during these years to such university because they are now considering the Chinese market as one that can offer more opportunities of job placement. It is not actually that they are abandoning their own continent, it is simply a matter of knowing the possibilities that surround them. Should the experience be disappointingly unsuccessful, the student can anyway enjoy the opportunities that European markets offer boasting a more solid and wide portfolio that is an important advantage for him. Any CEO of a multinational needs to have competences in terms of knowledge, technical capabilities, but also language and culture!
As far as Rankings, many societies are being given light today and their aim is just that of drafting world rankings. The criteria they base their researches upon are mainly the attractiveness to international students, the timing in placing their students into the labour market after the degree, the kind of job the students will get and the opportunities (with relevance to the foreign ones) to which the university exposes its students. It is not by chance, therefore, that universities such as Bocconi (Milan) are climbing global rankings, for their project is that of “internationalising” their institution, which in turn means offering opportunities not only internal to the country, but also external: the disposable choices are more. Some institutes such as the London School of Economics are undergoing the improvements done by other universities and they do not have the elitist image they could boast until some years ago. Investment banks and great multinationals are placing more and more attention to those students coming from emerging institutes. However, is it enough to study in the same college for the whole academic career?
Many suggest that, even though your own university could be the best in the world, students aiming at becoming the future leaders should build their background on personal experiences, which might regard either other universities or temporary jobs to build up some experience. This is exactly what the main employers take into account.
Overall, the labour market is now, more than ever, in mobility and in search of opportunities in the most globalised environment. University are keeping pace with this process and their behaviour seems more a consequence rather than the cause of this situation. Many of these institutes are gaining momentum in the global competition, due to many factors. However, will such universities be ever able to achieve the prestige of the absolute leaders, if we referred to Harvard and the MIT? Over history their position has never been put in doubt, but conditions do not seem to suggest that such situation will go on for long.