Just over one-third of the world’s top CEOs have completed a study abroad program of some kind, and this figure is also increasing over time, a new report indicates. African CEOs lead the pack for internationalised experience.
Study.eu, a European study choice portal has released the report looking into the academic backgrounds of some of the world’s top CEOs.
283 CEOs took part in the survey, which looked at the largest public companies on each continent, using the Forbes Global 2000 company ranking system.
“Living in a different country shifts perspectives and enables graduates to thrive in the context of globalised, intertwined economics,” told founder and CEO of Study.eu, Gerrit Blöss.
A sizeable 68% of CEOs who are from Africa studied abroad, with Latin America not far behind with 54% of CEOs from the region having found study somewhere other than their home country.
The region with the lowest amount of CEOs with study abroad experience is the US – however, that number, which has grown from 11% of CEOs to 13%, is still set to grow according to the report.
When only focusing on the youngest third of the CEOs analysed, the number who studied abroad jumps to 41% – almost half having had experience studying in another country.
Europe’s percentage of CEOs studying abroad stands at a sturdy 20%, with Asia already at 31% and Australia at 45%.
One thing that does stall the process, however, is affordability. “Studying abroad is still a privilege, but the situation has improved a lot over the last one or two decades,” said Blöss. “Mobility schemes such as Erasmus+ as well as institutional partnerships have played a major role. ”