The Education and Training 2020 Strategy wishes for a challenging 6% rate of VET students involved in a mobility experience abroad, compared to the current 0,7%. ROI-MOB springs from the idea that quality can increase quantity. But what is quality?All people say work experiences abroad are useful, enriching, favour employability, development of one’s skills, etc.. What are such statements based upon? Are there any studies or statistics about that declared worthiness, or better indicators to describe it and methods to measure it, in order to search for it from the very inception of mobilities and assess it downstream, to improve quality of offer, attractiveness to participants and companies, and to provide data to better focus mobility policies on EU territories?The topic is relevant, considering that in 2014 Erasmus+ KA1 VET co-funded over 3000 projects, involving over 126000 students, of which over 66000 in company training, worth over 264 million Euro.The topic is also a complex one (mobility is useful…to whom? students? companies? “the economic system”?... should usefulness be measured as to personal training and development? employability? career perspectives? salary? overall “system” competitiveness?) and impacts also on non-technical, rather social fields (families are involved, as well as psychology, soft- and cross-skills, etc.).Recent and accurate researches are available on the Higher Education side, especially regarding the Erasmus programme. However, it looks like no up-to-date study and statistics are available about the “Return on Investment” in VET mobility, nor apparently did anybody try to describe it with a single value, able to represent, with proper weights, the range of dimensions and factors affecting it.ROI-MOB aims at putting some order in these matters, by identifying and testing some indicators suitable to measure the “Return on Investment” (ROI) in EU VET mobility (especially for 19+ years old participants, and EQF levels 4 and higher), investigating affecting factors and devising methods and tools for turning them into success factors.More in detail, its objectives are:- increasing quality in learning mobility;- attracting more participants to EU mobilities;- attracting more companies available to host EU mobilities;- supporting policies for mobility either at institutional and at provider/intermediary organisation level.The project starts collecting data in partner territories at different stakeholders’: Erasmus+ VET National Agencies, VET providers, companies and Associations, students, etc.. Collected data will set the baseline for the definition of tentative performance indicators for the measurement of the ROI of EU VET mobility.Based on such indicators, partners will plan a second investigation round, actively involving a sample of some 4.800 stakeholders, and testing indicators on on-going mobilities where applicable.Collected data will be analysed, indicators will be weighted and conveyed into a single, composite, statistical figure, and outcomes presented as a comprehensive “system of measurement”, including a “toolbox” for exploitation in partner and other organisations. A final round among stakeholder will allow assessment and adjustment.ROI-MOB will deliver:- a survey, documenting factors that are perceived as drivers to EU VET mobility usefulness by stakeholders;- a set of indicators for measurement of ROI in EU VET mobility;- a report on actual ROI of EU VET mobility in partner territories and organisations;- a toolbox, collecting all the above and offering guidelines to replicate processes and measures on one’s own, plus recommendations for mainstreaming findings into mobility policies either at provider and at institutional level.By exploitation of such outcomes, the following effects are expected in the long term:- a wider use of the measuring system will lead to more prepared and competent players in EU VET mobility, able to assess their performance and progress;- hence, intermediary organisations and companies will be pushed into a positive competition, with those with lower “ROI” engaged in improving the quality of their offer in order to raise it, and those with higher “ROI” busy in innovating in order to keep or increase their standing;- public decision makers will benefit from a tool allowing them to assess their own performance and design mobility policies;- last but not least, companies could apply policies for the acknowledgement and valorisation of human resources having experiences of EU VET mobility in their CVs.SHINE is performed by a strong consortium of 8 partners in 5 EU countries: Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Belgium, representing a competent and skilled mix of public and private organisations, profit and non profit, mobility decision makers and players, including education and training organisations, social parts, public institutions, European networks, in the spirit of providing for a true strategic partnership.
The Education and Training 2020 Strategy wishes for a challenging 6% rate of VET students involved in a mobility experience abroad, compared to the current 0,7%. ROI-MOB springs from the idea that quality can increase quantity. But what is quality? All people say work experiences abroad are useful, enriching, favour employability, development of one’s skills, etc.. What are such statements based upon? Are there any studies or statistics about that declared worthiness, or better indicators to describe it and methods to measure it, in order to search for it from the very inception of mobilities and assess it downstream, to improve quality of offer, attractiveness to participants and companies, and to provide data to better focus mobility policies on EU territories? The topic is relevant, considering that in 2014 Erasmus+ KA1 VET co-funded over 3000 projects, involving over 126000 students, of which over 66000 in company training, worth over 264 million Euro. The topic is also a complex one (mobility is useful…to whom? students? companies? “the economic system”? should usefulness be measured as to personal training and development? employability? career perspectives? salary? overall “system” competitiveness?) and impacts also on non-technical, rather social fields (families are involved, as well as psychology, soft- and cross-skills, etc.). Recent and accurate researches are available on the Higher Education side, especially on the Erasmus programme. However, it looks like no up-to-date study and statistics are available about the “Return on Investment” in VET mobility, nor apparently did anybody try to describe it with a single value, able to represent, with proper weights, the range of dimensions and factors affecting it. In the above-mentioned scenario, ROI-MOB partners believe that: - European mobility is a key factor for the success of VET in the present economic and social context. - The success of European VET mobility is not just a feeling, nor does it relate only to emotional factors: precise indicators demonstrate it. - Knowledge and usage of such indicators allow design, implementation and exploitation of more effective and efficient mobility experiences, better fitting to the need for personal satisfaction and employability expressed by participants, for added value expressed by companies, for cultural and social growth expressed by the wider community. ROI-MOB identified and tested indicators suitable to measure the benefits brought by EU VET mobility (especially for 19+ years old participants, and EQF levels 4 and higher), compared to the ‘investment’ made by involved players (participants, schools and training centres, companies), by investigating affecting factors and devising methods and tools for turning them into success factors, with the aim of: - increasing quality in learning mobility; - attracting more participants to EU mobilities; - attracting more companies available to host EU mobilities; - supporting policies for mobility either at institutional and at provider/intermediary organisation level. The project started collecting data from different stakeholders in partner territories: Erasmus+ VET National Agencies, VET providers, companies and associations, students, etc.. Collected data set the baseline for the definition of tentative performance indicators for the measurement of the ROI of EU VET mobility. Based on such indicators, partners planned and run a broad investigation round, actively involving a sample of over 1.700 stakeholders, and tested indicators on on-going mobilities. Collected data have then been analysed, indicators weighted and conveyed into a single, composite, statistical figure, and outcomes presented as a comprehensive system of measurement. A final consultation round among stakeholders allowed for assessment and adjustment. Main products are: 1. A survey, documenting factors that are perceived as drivers to EU VET mobility usefulness by stakeholders. 2. A set of indicators for measurement of “return on investment” in EU VET mobility. 3. An algorithm to measure the “return on investment” of EU VET mobility in partner territories and organisations. 4. A book, available in 6 languages, collecting all the above and offering guidelines to replicate processes and measures on one’s own, plus recommendations for mainstreaming findings into mobility policies either at provider and at institutional level. ROI-MOB has been developed by a strong Consortium, gathering eight partners from five European Union countries.