UK businesses need the qualities that language graduates can bring to their workforces

Seventy percent of SME firms surveyed for the British Academy’s project on language skills for employability, trade, and business—Born Global: Implications for Higher Education—believe that future executives will need (foreign) language skills and international experience.

Of the 146 senior UK business figures with bi- or multilingual language skills questioned, 71% felt their language skills had given them a competitive edge in applying for jobs, and 67% that their skills had enabled them to apply for a wider range of jobs than would have been open to them otherwise.

However, 22% of companies surveyed felt they had insufficient language capacity to meet their operational needs. Two-thirds indicated that misunderstandings generated by a lack of language skills resulted in client dissatisfaction, supply chain difficulties, and problems of communication with coworkers.

Businesses need the qualities that language graduates can bring to their workforces, but that need is not currently being met adequately. Furthermore, economic opportunities are being lost where such recruits are in short supply.

Report summary
—University language departments and institutionwide language programs should review their course content, assessment methods, and delivery modes to ensure that they develop the skills employers are seeking.
—Language departments and careers services should encourage and facilitate study or work abroad during undergraduate programs.
—Universities should increase their range of joint honours and interdisciplinary programs to ensure that the range of language options available to students matches the demand for language skills in the economy.

Gilles Grenier has written about the value of language skills for IZA World of Labor, noting how “a dominant language enables people to communicate with others in the same region or country, and having a common international language extends that ability beyond national boundaries.” However, whilst learning the dominant or common language is a good investment in human capital, he is aware that people also value their native language and want to preserve it. Grenier believes that these two objectives can be pursued together if more people become bilingual or multilingual. He recommends that “in highly educated societies, part of the education curriculum should be to encourage the learning of foreign languages and cultures.”

Alternatively, Giorgio Di Pietro has explored the effect university study abroad has on graduates’ employability. He states that “[e]mployers, students, and administrators who manage international student mobility programs at higher education institutions perceive a connection between study abroad and graduates’ employability.” There are many potential advantages associated with participation in such programs—especially for those students interested in pursuing globally oriented careers. He calls for “greater promotion of study abroad programs in general, and particularly among students from relatively disadvantaged backgrounds and in countries where participation has traditionally been low.” This includes the UK, where the share of Erasmus students as a percentage of the graduate population is much lower than in other European countries.

Related articles:
The value of language skills, by Gilles Grenier
University study abroad and graduates’ employability, by Giorgio Di Pietro

More evidence-based research on language skills can be found in the Education and Migration key topics pages on IZA World of Labor