Catalan university students and their previous and prospective experiences abroad: answering the wh-questions in a context of economic crisis

Abstract:

Mobility is one of the buzzwords in political discourse regarding solutions for youth unemployment in times of crisis. Young Spaniards are seen to be leaving en masse. However, there is no statistical basis to confirm this hypothesis, especially regarding the Schengen Area, and little is known about the predisposition of highly skilled young people to move abroad.

This paper answers the research questions: (1) How many university students consider emigrating?; (2) What are their profiles?; (3) What are their motivations and expectations?; and (4) Where do they want to go? Our results were obtained through an online survey on Catalan university students and contrasted with data from different Catalan youth services.

Our results show a high predisposition to emigrate for temporary stays. The EU, in particular the UK, is the favourite destination; however, this situation could change drastically with Brexit.