Studying, working and living in another EU country: Spanish youth’s point of view

Abstract:

The objective of the study is to examine the willingness of Spanish high school, college, and university students to go and study or work for some time in another EU country. The first research question was: Is the four-factor Pull/Anti-Pull/Push/Anti-Push structure proposed by Mullet et al. 'Studying, working, and living in another EU country: French youth's point of view' (European Psychologist, No.5, 216-227) able to account for data regarding attitudes expressed by Spanish youths toward Spain and other EU countries? Findings strongly suggested a positive response to this question. The second question was: Is this structure able to predict willingness to study or work in another EU country in general, and more specifically, is this structure able to predict willingness to study or work in any specific EU countries? The response was clearly positive. A combination of six to eight predictors was able to account for one quarter to one third of the variance of the intent to go and study or work in Ireland and the United Kingdom, in Italy and France, and in Germany. In each case, the Push factor played an important role. Among Spanish youth, intent to study or work in another EU country depends primarily upon the needs expressed by these youth of acquiring: (a) the complete mastery of a second language, (b) specific technical training, and finally, (c) new life experiences (e.g. adventure, encounters, personal experiences) that are associated with a stay in another country.