Companies are now looking for graduates with an international profile. Because of economic globalisation and the inherent population moves, cultural diversity within companies has dramatically increased over recent years. Managers are now expected to be able to coordinate international teams and to deal with cross-cultural issues on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, managers are often requested to relocate to other countries. This is an extremely stressful situation that can have a strong impact on managers' performance and on their personal life.

The best way to prepare for this type of situation is to go through the process of relocating in a foreign country during university studies. What we call ‘student mobility’, or the possibility to study at a partner institution for a period of time during a degree programme, allows students to learn these skills. Experiencing the lack of familiarity with everyday customs and procedures, language barriers and that people do things differently in other countries will benefit graduates' development. The skills learnt will help graduates to face the challenges of relocating to a foreign country and will make them more valuable to future employers.

Universities are adjusting to this new reality by offering double degrees or the opportunity to study at partner institutions. At a European level, huge steps have been made with first the Erasmus project at the end of the 1980s and then with the Bologna Process. However, the specificities of a national education system sometimes make this process more difficult: for example, the French Grande École system is not always clearly understood outside France.