Job preferences of international science and engineering students: a discrete-choice experiment

Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the cultural backgrounds of foreign science and engineering (S&E) students on their preference for various attributes of their future job. Design/methodology/approach We use a unique discrete-choice experiment fielded among M.Sc students of the two largest Dutch technical universities. Building on Hofstede’s (2001) national culture dimensions, we estimate mixed rank-ordered logit regressions that relate international students’ cultural distance to the Netherlands to their preferences for job autonomy and teamwork in their future jobs. Findings We find that students who come from cultures characterized by a higher power distance and lower individualism have a lower preference for jobs with higher levels of autonomy, whereas those from cultures characterized by higher masculinity have a lower preference for jobs requiring working in teams. Practical implications Our findings challenge the HR practices of high-tech companies, which production processes require high degrees of worker autonomy and teamwork, aiming to mitigate their severe skill shortages by recruiting foreign S&E graduates with different cultural backgrounds. These companies should improve their attractiveness to applicants from cultures characterized by high power distance, low individualism and/or high masculinity by offering compensating wage incentives or emphasizing their supervision and training to bridge cultural distances in the workplace and the career opportunities they offer new hires. Social implications Implementing courses aiming to develop teamwork skills as well as workshops that enable students to work equitably in diverse teams in engineering studies could also be a tool to reduce barriers to teamwork for international students as well as other underrepresented groups. Originality/value The paper is the first study that shows the different job preferences of foreign S&E students related to their cultural backgrounds.