Global Career Compass
Leveraging Education Abroad for Student Career Development & Employability
The Next Big Thing in Career Development-Post-Graduate Internships
While most professional graduate school career offices provide services to their alumni, this has not been a practice at the undergraduate level. But Bryn Mawr has taken the next step in opening up this door -at least for two 2013 grads: http://news.brynmawr.edu/2013/09/12/bryn-mawr-students-begin-paid-post-graduate-internships-at-care-and-womens-world-banking/. In collaboration with two excellent international organizations – and thanks to a major gift explicitly earmarked for this purpose – each student will receive $30,000 for a paid internship at both CARE and Women’s World Banking. This kind of funding is not common at most institutions and its impact is modest, but, it does point to a broader sense of responsibility for assisting students pursue their careers after they graduate.
There’s little doubt that post-graduate internships hold tremendous value for students as a bridge to the workforce. As career offices broaden their overall role and pay more attention to how they prepare students to graduate with transferable skills, internships have become commonplace on campuses. In fact, there is a movement for beginning to work with students on their career development upon their arrival on campus (see the Chronicle of Higher Education, 9-30-13, “Career Centers Stretch to Fill New Roles.”
My hope is that more centers, in concert with planned and intentional institutional practice- align themselves with the advising process taking place in study abroad offices regarding how education abroad experiences are linked to student career aspirations. Domestic and international internships, work abroad and service learning all have the potential to shape student values, develop transferable skills, and deepen understanding of other cultures –all critical assets when students prepare to enter the workplace.
Moving From Classroom Into the “Real” World
This Institute for International Education blog summarizes statistics relating to work, internships, and volunteering abroad (WIVA) over the past four years.:http://www.iie.org/en/Blog/2013/August/Education-Abroad-Moving-Out-Of-The-Classroom?utm_source=IIE+Global+News+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d77b059562-RSS_Email_Campaign_Blog&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_aae91ae631-d77b059562-56549445
I’m not sure why headlines always frame student experience which takes place in the workplace as being “real” which of course, leads you to immediately link being in the classroom as “unreal.” I do recall having moments like that while in college, but, when families are looking at the cost of a college degree, they certainly do not want to believe that they’re investing in an unreal four-years for their child!
According the data collected by IIE, In 1999/00 there were just 5,584 students engaged in these kinds of extra-curricular activities abroad. By 2006/07 that number grew to 8,584, and has almost tripled in the past four years to reach a total of 25,080 students engaged in WIVA both for-credit and non-credit in 2010/11. These numbers are also not terribly accurate – they’re likely much higher – because IIE had a very low response rate to their survey in the first survey in 1999-00 and even for the latest one, only about 50% of institutions responded.
WIVA has always been on the NAFSA agenda through its very active sub-committee of the same name [on which I’ve served for many years]; and the recent NAFSA publication, Internships, Service Learning and Volunteering Abroad: Successful Models and Best Practices, of which I’m a co-author, is an excellent volume outlining the tremendous value of “real” world experience! There is a a great deal more attention to this now because of the recession, and campus career service offices are increasingly seeking to integrate experiential learning – another way to frame WIVA – with classroom learning.
The future of higher education is going to be re-shaped around the issue of better preparing students to transition to the workplace -as opposed to compartmentalizing learning on campus as distinct from learning taking place through WIVA experiences.
The Liberal Arts & Employability: Facing a New Reality
We’ve seen a regular stream of news articles in all media during the the recession trying to figure out whether or not there’s still “worth” for students to major in the liberal arts. No doubt this has surfaced with vigor now both due to the narrowing of the job market for ALL graduates, but, in particular, because of the continued rise in tuition taking place at the same time. Naturally, this has led to anxiety for parents and students over how to navigate choosing a major, at which institution, and towards what end (ah- this is the key word: the “end” meaning either self-enlightenment or self-interest or a hoped-for link to increased employability post-graduation).
This recent essay in the NY Times examines how one institution, Wake Forest University, has attempted, through the creative and hard-charging effort of their new Vice President of personal and career development, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/magazine/how-to-get-a-job-with-a-philosophy-degree.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0, Andy Chan, to impact both how parents view this issue and how students deal with it.
I’ve written often about how the two ways that students can interpret the value of studying abroad as related to their career development: there is the obvious visceral intrinsic value of such experience, and there is the extrinsic value of the learning which takes place while abroad which can be linked to student career development. It seems that this same approach holds value with respect to addressing choice of major – albeit what is often missed in this discussion is that the choice-making process is different for students who do attend college with the expectation of going to work right after graduation. These students are not only at community colleges; more and more middle class students are at four-year institutions and their families are more actively engaged with them when it comes to the choice of a major.
Back to the article: seems that at Wake Forest, many faculty are relieved that Chan is actively working to allay fears of parents whose children opt for liberal arts majors. And this is because they do not want to answer the questions coming at them about the relevance of their field when it comes to prospects for employability. Of course, I think more faculty need to understand how they can still focus on the intrinsic value of their courses while, at the same time, be attentive and knowledgeable to the career development issues facing their students. In fact, I think it is the responsibility of all – student affairs staff and faculty – to be actively engaged with students about their career development.
The mission of the university has always been, and always will be, to prepare young adults to be actively engaged in the public life of the nation. The liberal arts will survive the turmoil of this time and remain “relevant.” But the fact is that these times do demand that students more carefully consider why they choose a major and how their choice will impact their options when they look for work in their senior year. I think this is a discussion which needs to begin as soon as students enter college…
How Studying Abroad Boosts Employability of Students with Disabilities
MIUSA, http://www.miusa.org, has played an important and singular role in widening awareness of and supporting opportunity for those with disabilities to participate in education abroad programs.
Guest Post by Michele Scheib
Mobility International USA
One of the disability community’s top priorities is how to improve employment outcomes.
People with disabilities complete college at a statistically significant lower rate than people without disabilities, and those who do complete college have a persistently lower rate of employment irrespective of the level of degree attainment (associate’s, bachelor’s, and higher).1 University researchers, government agencies, and non-profit programs have used all types of approaches to reduce these inequalities. One strategy that holds promise is to tap into the power of study abroad.
Recent studies among study abroad alumni, though not specific to disability, have shown that study abroad increases retention and reduces time to graduation of postsecondary students (see: http://globaledresearch.com/study-abroad-impact.asp). Study abroad is also perceived as positively impacting career development and developing the skills that employer’s value, such as adaptability, self-confidence, and problem-solving skills (see: http://www.aifsabroad.com/advisors/pdf/Impact_of_Education_AbroadI.pdf).
“A great many prospective employers are hesitant about hiring someone with a disability, because they unfortunately make a lot of negative assumptions about people with disabilities,” such as their ability to meet job responsibilities or costs for accommodations, says Jessica Chesbro, who has a mobility disability and is a Foreign Service Officer with the United States Department of State. “If you can show employers that you have successfully lived and worked or studied in a developing country, it’s much easier to get them to believe you are capable of facing challenges.”
Jessica studied abroad in Europe as a high school, undergraduate, and graduate student, and joined the Peace Corps after graduation. “Many exchange programs teach skills which are applicable to a wide range of professional environments. Working with people from different cultural backgrounds, finding creative ways to solve problems, coping with challenging environments, communicating effectively, these are all excellent skills to have for any kind of career,” she says.
And students with disabilities who develop an ability to understand their disability and advocate for the accommodations they need – also skills developed in negotiating access in study abroad — do better in transitions to employment.1
To read more from Jessica and others with disabilities, read A World Awaits You, a publication of the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Mobility International USA: http://www.miusa.org/publications/books/findyourcareerpath
References:
Barber, Paula. (September 2012). College Students with Disabilities: What Factors Influence Successful Degree Completion? A Case Study, Disability and Work Research Report, A joint publication from the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development and the Kessler Foundation http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/content/College_Students_Disabilities_Report.pdf
The Value of “Paper-based” Communication
This post does not neatly fit into any of my usual categories, but, I wanted to share it just the same. The idea comes from an op-ed (Sunday, Aug. 18) titled, “Dear Emma,” in the NY Times. Written by an airline pilot who is also a writer (I’d like to hear his announcements while in flight), he outlines his lengthy “old” fashioned pen-pal friendship with a woman from Australia which began when they both were just 13, in 1987. He describes it as “…pure, conjured serendipity – a random, unweighted connection with someone you never knew existed and would surely never meet.” As lovely a description of a relationship as I’ve ever read.
As this story goes, and it’s not fictional, they met recently and closed the circle on their friendship…But I’m writing about it because the author reminds us that writing “builds anticipation” in communication and the sharing of information about ourselves and our lives. It reminds me of my first sojourns to India as a grad student and later, as leader of intercultural programs in that nation. Trying to convey facts and emotions on the tiny blue aerogram letters home to friends and family was impossibly difficult and took much time. Yes, it took time. Time to think about how I could convey a clear idea or picture of an event or something I had learned. And I then threw it into the wind and hoped it landed in the mailbox of the recipient. Despite learning later that not all of my letters reached their destinations, I valued the exercise of having to be so determined to share my experience regardless of whether or not the information arrived at the intended address. It was a risk worth taking.
Wouldn’t there be great educational value if students studying abroad had to write in prose to describe their cross-cultural experiences. To discuss their lessons learned and problems solved. Not just blogging about experiences in a random manner but as part of a purposeful exercise to focus their communication to convey an accurate description of events and experiences.
If you direct a program that is doing this, let me know !
Global Dexterity: How to Adapt Your Behavior Across Cultures without Losing Yourself in the Process
I’m pleased to share this guest post by Andy Molinsky with readers. I think his book provides a useful new approach to the vexing problem of students’ inability to make meaning of their time abroad.
Few people would deny the value in gaining international experience. But it’s not the experience itself that matters most; it’s what you make of it. I know this first hand from my own experience studying as a foreign-exchange student in Madrid many years ago. I had a fun experience, don’t get me wrong, but I certainly did not get the most out of my foreign cultural immersion. It was challenging to master the language, but even more challenging to interpret and understand the culture.
Fast forward twenty years later, and I am now a professor helping foreign students grapple with very similar issues. Take, for example, a situation that many of my foreign-born students here at Brandeis struggle with: promoting themselves during an informal networking event. Of course, this isn’t the easiest of situations for many of us. But imagine what it’s like if you come from a culture where modesty is a core cultural value and the way you need to promote yourself in the US runs counter to your deeply held cultural values and beliefs. For example, these are the words of a Nigerian-born student describing her experience trying to promote herself during an informal networking event in the US:
“It felt very uncomfortable and artificial to be expected to participate in an informal conversation with this senior person. Thoughts going through my head were ‘What can I possibly have to say to this man who has much more experience than I do?’ The values that were instilled in me were to “speak when spoken to” and “children are to be seen and not heard”
From my work interviewing and working with hundreds of students and professionals from a wide range of different countries and cultures, I find that it is very common to feel awkward, inauthentic, or even resentful when trying to adapt behavior overseas. And when you have such strong internal reactions to adapting cultural behavior, your external performance can suffer and you can get far less out of your foreign cultural experience than you intended.
To help solve this problem, I’ve written a new book to help students and professionals from any country and culture adapt more successfully during their time abroad. The book is called “Global Dexterity: How to Adapt Behavior Across Cultures without Losing Yourself in the Process.” In the book, I offer concrete tools to help foreign-born students and professionals successfully adapt behavior to new cultural contexts while staying authentic and grounded in their own natural styles.
There is no question that study abroad has become increasingly important around the world. But are we providing students with the tools they need to get the most out of their experiences? My hope is that Global Dexterity can be a useful tool for helping today’s students get far more out of their experiences living, studying, and working abroad than I was ever able to.
Andy Molinsky is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology at Brandeis University. Follow Andy on twitter at @andymolinsky.
Are We Starting Too Late?
Landing a good job starts before you are born! Perhaps I’ve overlooked this critical perspective in my posts to-date…
Separate And Unequal Access to Higher Education & Impact on Equal Access to International Education
This report in the Chronicle of Higher Education http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/08/01/how-to-fight-growing-economic-and-racial-segregation-in-higher-ed/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en is very troubling to me.
During the recession, I’ve had increasing concerns about the longstanding issue of unequal access to international educational experiences on campuses. We used to refer to this as a need to focus on “under-represented” populations but this often was a bit vague: men are in this category, but, most of the time we were really talking about race and not gender equality. And now this report focuses on an even more pernicious problem: the lack of access of poor students to a college education. The report states:
“Within university communities, there are organized constituencies for recruited athletes, the children of alumni, and underrepresented minority students, but by and large there are no such groups for poor and working-class students. Because racial and ethnic diversity is more visible than socioeconomic diversity, colleges hold themselves to a higher standard in ensuring diversity by race. And because doing something about socioeconomic diversity is more expensive than recruiting upper-middle-class students of color, universities shy away from it.”
To the point: if we cannot and do not diversify our campuses in terms of socio-economic “diversity” than, de facto, we’ll never be able to provide equal opportunity in our society to the type of global education required of all students to become competitive in the global economy when they graduate. We will leave behind a swath of our young citizens and widen the gap between those who both get to college and reap the rewards of access to international experiences and those who don’t find their way to better paying jobs and career success beyond the limits of their socio-economic class in American society.
Updated Selected References: Impact of International Education on Employability
This is an update of an earlier post on this topic.
In addition to these titles, I’d call attention to the work of Elspeth Jones of the UK at: http://www.idp.com/about-idp-education/research-database/quick-search.aspx
Akanmu, O. (2011, January 19). Graduate employment and employability challenges in Nigeria. Retrieved from http://olusfile.blogspot.com/2011/01/putting-nigerian-graduate-to-work.html.
Archer, W., & Davison, J. (2008). Graduate employability: The views of employers. London: The Council for Industry and Higher Education.
Rretrieved from http://employability.ulster.ac.uk/ppts/Hermann%20CIHE.pdf
Arthur, N. (2004). Show off your international experience. The National Consultation on Career Development, Canada.
Retrieved from http://www.natcon.org/archive/natcon/papers/natcon_papers_2004_arthur.pdf.
Bikson, T. K., & Law, S. A. (1994). Global preparedness and human resources. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Institute on Education and Training.
Bremer, D. (2006, May/June). Global Workers. International Educator, pp. 40–45. Washington, DC, NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
Retrieved from http://www.nafsa.org/_/File/_/global_workers_inted_2006.pdf
CEW Careers Conference, January 2013: Global Competence: What, why and how? Retrieved from http://cew.wisc.edu/docs/C8%20CEW%20Conference%20January%202013-References.pdf
Chisty, K. K. S., Uddin, G. M., & Kumar, G. S. (2007). The business graduate employability in Bangladesh: Dilemma and expected skills by corporate world. BRAC University Journal, 4(1), 1–8.
Continental AG. (2006). Final report of the global engineering excellence initiative. Hanover, Germany:
Retrieved from http://www.continentalcorporation.com/www/download/gee_com_en/themes/download/study_order_long_en.pdf
Crossman, J., & Clarke, M. (2009 August 12). International experience and graduate employability. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com/content/fqk1337344360215
Deardorff, D. K. (Ed). (2009). The SAGE handbook of intercultural competence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Dodyk, P., Richardson, A., & Wu, Michael (2012) Talent management at multinational firms in China. In The Lauder global business insight report 2012: Transformative times:
New opportunities for business in an era of upheaval (pp. 7–10). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, The Lauder Institute.
Retrieved from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/papers/download/012012_Lauder-Report-Transformative-Times.pdf
Gardner,P., Gross, L., Steglitz, I (2009). “Translating Study Abroad Experiences for Workplace Competencies.” Peer Review, Americana Association of Colleges and Universities. Retrieved from http://catcher.sandiego.edu/items/cee/Reading7.SA%20for%20Workplace%20Competency.pdf
Institute of International Education. (2009, October). The value of international education to U.S. business and industry leaders: Key findings from a survey of CEOs.
Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Publications/Publications-and-Reports/IIE-Bookstore/Value-of-International-Education
Jones, E (Winter 2012). Internationalization and Employability: Are We Missing a Trick? EAIE Forum 06 www.eaie.org/…/forum/forum…Forum…/Internationalisation%20of%20h.
Kaznowska, E., & Usher, A. (2011, January 6). Internationalization at Canadian universities: Are students seeing the value? Toronto, Canada: Higher Education Strategy Associates.
Malerich, J. (2009). The value of international internships in global workforce development. Tempe: Arizona State University.
Mangan, K. (2011, February 10). Business schools worldwide fall short on globalization, report says. Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, DC.
Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Business-Schools-Worldwide/126320/
Matherly, C., & Nolting, W. (2007, March). Educational experience abroad: Preparation for a globalized workplace. National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Journal, 14–44.
Matherly, C., & Robinson, D. (2001, September 9). Get ready for the global workplace. Retrieved from http://public.wsj.com/careers/resources/documents/20000125-matherly.htm
Mattes, B. (August 7, 2008). Higher education should link workforce development to economic needs.
Retrieved from http://archives.huntingtonnews.net/columns/080807-mattes-columnshighereducation.html
Middleton, D. (2011, April 12). Schools set global track, for students and programs. Wall Street Journal Online.
Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576244980620638072.html
Moloney, J., Sowter, B., & Potts, D. (2011) QS global employer survey report 2011: How employers value an international study experience.
Retrieved from http://content.qs.com/qs/qs-global-employer-survey-2011.pdf
NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Resources: Global Workforce Development.
Retrieved from http://www.nafsa.org/Find_Resources/Supporting_Study_Abroad/Global_Workforce_Development/
Parey, M., & Waldinger, F. (2011, March 27). Studying abroad and international labour market mobility. Retrieved from http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/6287
Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc. (2006, December 28). How should colleges prepare students to succeed in today’s global economy? Washington, DC.
Retrieved from http://www.aacu.org/leap/documents/Re8097abcombined.pdf
Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc. (2010, January 20). Raising the bar: Employers’ views on college learning in the wake of the economic downturn. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.aacu.org/press_room/press_releases/2010/employersurvey.cfm
Rediff India Abroad. (2008, May 16). Only 39.5% Indian graduates employable. Retrieved from http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/may/16job.htm
Salt, B. (2008, September). The global skills convergence: Issues and ideas for the management of an international workforce. Geneva: KPMG International. Retrieved from http://www.areadevelopment.com/article_pdf/id86996_GlobalSkills2.pdf
Tillman, M., Nolting, C., Matherly, C., Donohue, D. (2013).Career Impact and Global Workforce Development (pp. 63-69) in Internships, Service Learning and Volunteering Abroad:
Successful Models and Best Practices, Washington, DC: NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
Tillman, M. (2012). Employer Perspectives in International Education in The SAGE Handbook on International Higher Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Tillman, M. (2011). AIFS student guide to study abroad and career development. Stamford, CT: American Institute for Foreign Study.
Retrieved from http://www.aifsabroad.com/advisors/pdf/Tillman_AIFS_Student_Guide_Career.pdf
Tillman, M. (2005, August). The right tool for the job. International Educator. Washington, DC: NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
Retrieved from http://www.nafsa.org/_/File/_/therighttool.pdf.
Wheeler, D. (2011, July 8). Global companies want universities to help scoop up student talent. Chronicle of Higher Education.
Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/global-companies-want-universities-to-help-scoop-up-student-talent/28448
Williamson, W. (2011, June 23). The quest for collaboration in study abroad. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/The-Quest-for-Collaboration-in/127981/
New Grads & Employability- Campuses and Employers Need to Talk
What I liked about this recent story in the NY Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/29/your-money/a-quest-to-make-college-graduates-employable.html?smid=li-share&_r=0, is that it very clearly points to a central conundrum facing both students, campuses and employers: who is responsible for what? What is the value-proposition that campuses place before students and their families when they make those high school visits? What expectations are set up right then in the student’s mind about the connection, if any, between a major and a job? What do employers think when they view resumes of recent grads who are social science majors? Much of what I’ve been writing and speaking about deals with the dis-connect between these three parties.
Students are working harder to get good grades in high school to get into “good” if not “great” colleges and universities. International students and their families base their decisions in much the same way as American students and families: What can we afford? Does the curriculum align with what my child is interested in studying? But no one [except for those going into STEM fields] really has a clue about what employers are looking for or what type of coursework or internships will best prepare Jane or John or Lin or Oscar for their first job after graduation.
A reason this is all so complex is that the real moment when all the parties try to connect and make meaning is during the last year of college! Perhaps a bit sooner if the student is studying, working or interning abroad in their Junior year [but less than 2% of all enrolled students have to worry then about that decision]. Think about this for a second: this is 6 years after the student first thought about going to college. A lot would have changed in the marketplace and likely within the student’s heart and head in terms of his/her career aspirations.
A 2013 Accenture report made a cogent statement: “Rather than simply bemoaning the inability to find employees with the skills required for available jobs, organizations must step up with new and more comprehensive enterprise learning strategies.” Of course, campus faculty would agree that they certainly are not to be expected to do the job of preparing their students for the workforce. The head of Accenture’s Talent and Organization group in North america states: “Universities are not in the job of vocational training [although that is part of the mission of our community colleges] but they are in the job of evolving…The magic lies in finding a model that’s appropriate for students to build skills, but palatable and effective for employers as well.
This is the heart of the dialogue that needs to take place in the U.S. and around the world.
Global Career Compass 