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Causes and Effects

Personal reflections on Erasmus

Reading time: 4 min.

The question of impact is a central aspect of all Erasmus+ projects. In this section, we present seven, often very personal, reflections on this subject, highlighting both the direct and indirect effects Erasmus study visits can have on individuals’ lives and career paths. We also offer general views and insights into the broader social and economic significance of Erasmus+.

A few basic observations

Erasmus+ makes a difference! This is the conclusion drawn by numerous studies commissioned or carried out over the years by various institutions, not least the European Commission and the NA DAAD. It applies to all key actions: individual mobilities, partnerships and collaborative projects as well as policy support.

Students, teachers, researchers, administrative staff and universities all gain from Erasmus+ projects in the higher education sector, both individually and in partnerships. But companies and their employees, research institutions, municipal associations as well as the broader public can – and should – also benefit from Erasmus+.

The impacts are manifold, as student experiences show. A European Student Network (ESN) survey carried out in 2013, for instance, proved the positive influence Erasmus stays can have on students’ European identity. The Campus International 2022 study published in spring 2024 also demonstrates that studying abroad enhances general and multicultural self-efficacy, personal adaptability and, as a result, employability.

7 personal observations

In the following section, we showcase some of these impacts by looking at firsthand experiences. We invited 5 alumni to share their personal Erasmus stories and explain how studying abroad influenced their professional journeys. Alongside these personal accounts, we include 2 external perspectives of the broader significance of Erasmus+.

International activities of Erasmus+ graduates

Responses as percentage of respondents

Anna von Röpenack

Anna von Röpenack, International Coordinator at a private university in Cologne, describes her time as a student in Birmingham, England, as a profoundly transformative experience which she still benefits from even day. She feels she can advise students more effectively and help them make a period abroad the best experience of their lives. «Without Erasmus+, I wouldn’t be doing the job I do today,» she says.

To the article by Anna von Röpenack

Henriett Wilke

Henriett Wilke is deputy headteacher of a primary school in Plauen, Saxony, and Erasmus+ coordinator. While at university, she spent time with the Erasmus programme in France. Together with the two language assistantships on La Réunion and in Normandy, the year in Aix-Marseilles, she writes, «changed the way I saw myself and the world. I developed leadership qualities in certain areas, which are very clearly linked to these experiences».

To the article by Henriett Wilke

Dr. Moritz Botts

Dr Moritz Botts is a DAAD long-term lecturer at the Turkish-German University in Istanbul. During his studies, he took part in an Erasmus programme in Poznań, Poland. Now, as Erasmus representative for TDU’s TDU's business department, he actively encourages students to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the programme and to go abroad as early as possible. The experience students gain, he emphasises, is invaluable for both their academic and professional life.

To the article by Dr. Moritz Botts

Nicole Broer

Nicole Broer, European coordinator at a vocational college in Paderborn, emphasises the positive impact her Erasmus periods – a semester in Nottingham and an internship semester in Paris – had on her personal development. Erasmus also enabled her to «make an impact professionally,» she says. «Without these experiences, I probably wouldn’t be so committed to coordinating Erasmus+ projects today – because I understand just how valuable they are.»

To the article by Nicole Broer

Gilles Roux

Another alumnus is Gilles Roux, a management consultant. Roux left Provence and came to Baden-Württemberg on an Erasmus scholarship in the late 1980s, originally for two semesters – but he ended up staying. «Erasmus [...] was the most significant event in my professional life,» he says. «Coming from a middle-class family in southern France, I definitely wouldn’t have had the career I have today without Erasmus». The programme also introduced him «to a different culture».

To the article by Gilles Roux

Michael Stuber

Michael Stuber came into contact with Erasmus at around the same time as Gilles Roux. At the end of the 1980s, he helped set up the Erasmus exchange programme at the University of Karlsruhe. Stuber advises businesses and organisations on the topic of diversity. He stresses the opportunities the programme has created for generations of students, particularly in terms of their «personal growth within an intercultural context».

To the article by Michael Stuber

Professor Dr. Axel Plünnecke

Professor Dr Axel Plünnecke of the German Economic Institute considers the importance of studying abroad for graduates’ prospects in the labour market. According to Plünnecke, it can «create additional career opportunities», because the skills students acquire abroad, such as the ability «to effectively interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds», are «increasingly valued in a rapidly changing and unpredictable working world».

To the article by Professor Dr. Axel Plünnecke