Title: Employable International Students or Internationally Employable Students Implications for Strategy
1Employable International Students or
Internationally Employable Students?
Implications for Strategy Practice
- Dr Siobhan L. Devlin
- University of Sunderland
- siobhan.devlin_at_sunderland.ac.uk
International Dimensions of Employability
Sheffield Hallam University 22 March 2007
2Where Im coming from
- Member AGCAS Internationalisation Task Group
- Mixed membership Careers Advisers, International
Student Support, Internationalisation Development
Manager, Academic, British Council, AGR,
Employer, UKCOSA. - Representatives from HE institutions in England,
Scotland and Wales - Remit to support, inform and promote the
internationalisation /of employability agenda to
students, employers, HE educators and support
professionals. - Member AGCAS/HEA Liaison Group
- (replaced former ESECT Think Tank)
3- Principal Lecturer (Pedagogic Practice) School
of Computing Technology - Teaching Fellow 2003-5 Investigating the
experience of and provision for international
students at the University of Sunderland - Run several International initiatives _at_ UoS
4where Im going to
- current focus
- International students need to be targeted as
something special/deficient/requiring of extra
resource - Employability for International Students
- should be
- How to benefit all our students through
internationalisation/ global employability/
intercultural, personal, skills development - Internationalising Employability
5Q. What makes someone internationally
employable?
6Desirable qualities (Leask, B., 1999)
7Global Economy Skills (DfES, 2004)
- 2004 report Putting the World into World-Class
Education - ability to work confidently in multi-national
teams - knowledge of different business methods,
legislation and ways of working - understanding and appreciating different
cultures - feeling confident when working in and with
different cultures.
8Q. How does a person acquire these
skills/qualities?
9A. By virtue of a UK Higher Education
10CIHE report (2006)Benefits of UK HE
- multi-cultural and diverse society, institutions
and systems - problem-based learning develops more innovative,
questioning, analytical, lateral-thinking and
entrepreneurial graduates - multi-disciplinary and work-experience approaches
available to students, creating a broader
knowledge and skill base - high international regard for our qualifications
and research and development excellence
11but!
- 2006 International Student Barometer careers /
employability scored low - How multi-cultural is our society / are our
institutions? - Tell us how to mix with UK people
properlybecause in fact theres lots of barriers
to get close to them - Problem based learning great for some
students / desirable skills for some markets - Work experience not available in practice
12International students disadvantaged in UK
- ?
- Difficult to know UK students/ other
international students - Have no/little knowledge of work application
process in UK or at home - It took me a few interviews to grasp the 'style'
of a British interview. - Our lack of understanding of this country...is a
big problem. It could make our work performance
much more worst - Not confident of own language abilities
- ?
- Employers have no/little knowledge of work
application process in UK - Employers not confident of students language
abilities - oral skills lackingdidnt come
across as confident in interview
- ?
- Want to find placements in UK
- Ambitious and motivated
- Part-time work through friends e.g. in Chinese
Restaurants, cleaning etc.
(Evidence from Bournemouth Sunderland focus
groups)
13UK students disadvantaged globally?
- Poor language skills
- Poor empathy skills / lack of self awareness /
reflection / bigger picture..in particular.. - Lack of cross cultural understanding and
competence - Some multinationals say overseas students who
come to the UK show - "more initiative, self-motivation and drive as
well as language skills.They wonder if such
students through their very mobility are a
self-identifying elite with senior management
potential. CIHE (2006)
14So, for whole student body
- 2 clear barriers
- language
- intercultural competence (linked to self
awareness, reflection and empathy) - It is a struggle to overcome these barriers
because - lack of opportunity for integration / interaction
which would make for better communication, cross
cultural competence / capability /
understanding.. in fact -
15lack of opportunities to develop
- the ability to work confidently in multi-national
teams - knowledge of different business methods,
legislation and ways of working - understanding and appreciating different
cultures - feeling confident when working in and with
different cultures. - (2004 DfES report!)
16Q. Why are the opportunities lacking?
17- Poor curriculum design/pressure to teach more
students in less contact time? - Pressure to ensure subject-based knowledge LOs
achieved leaves little room for inclusion of
these important other skills? - Other/transferable skills sidelined to
extracurricular activity - Tutors attitudes?
- Lack of awareness of student body no managed
interaction - Students attitudes?
- domestic students positive about presence of IS
but may lack interest or will to develop/initiate
contact, believing it is foreigners
responsibility to integrate into host community
(Sanchez, 2004 Ward 2006). - Fear of communicating across culture need
guidance! - Institutional attitudes/strategies?
- Most PG courses now largely international
students, means - less chance for contact with domestic students
- Implications for curriculum development
18Curriculum Development
- More varied LTA approaches
- More managed interaction between
students-students and staff-students (staff have
much to learn from the students!) - Intercultural interaction, in and out of the
classroom does/may not develop naturally (De
Vita, 2003) - When we do the group works I do wish the teacher
could give our opportunity to mix students from
any regions (Sunderland student)
19Curriculum Development
- More structured opportunities for student / staff
mobility - More globally relevant materials used
- PDP?
- most effective if linked to programme LOs/
supported by academics/ underpinned by support
from across beyond the institution - Integrating PDP into the curriculum may be the
best way forward to ensure cross-cultural
interaction, as - International students spend more time than UK
students studying subject content, attending
English classes etc. Many also spend time
volunteering for work experience. - Home students have own commitments outside HE
20Q. PDP is overtly about Employability should it
be overtly about Cultural Skills Development?
21Evidence from small scale evaluation at
Sunderland
- Q. Should the focus of PDP be specific to your
culture/nationality? - That would be useful for the overseas students
- (UK student)
- Either this is a viewpoint that culture
something that other people have - Or it is an awareness by students that current
PDP is ethnocentric
22Challenges/Implications for Strategy Practice
23- Ensuring institutional strategic commitment to
internationalisation - For the right reasons e.g.
- ? profile higher than quality as a motivator
according to IAU(2005) - ? Student Staff Development is a key emerging
rationale
24- Reviewing curriculum/LTA strategies for managed,
cross cultural interaction - Managing tutors attitudes/ developing their
skills - Managing students attitudes/ fears/ disinterest
- Challenge view (among international students
overseas employers?) that employment opportunity
is better than employability development
25- Understanding employer needs
- Challenging employer attitudes/ misconceptions
26Sample Good Practice addressing these challenges
- Governmental/Strategic/Institutional Level
- Understanding (culturally led) student and
employer needs - e.g. Manchester researching Chinese home
graduate recruitment market - e.g. Huddersfield Career Opportunity
Partnerships Scheme recognising particular
difficulties of Chinese finding UK work
experience (Northern Consortium Chinese
employers) - e.g. PMI 2 overseas LMI information / work
with local employers
27Sample Good Practice addressing these challenges
- Practical Level
- Equipping students with cultural competence
- e.g. Intercultural Communication Units/modules
(Bmth Sland) - Providing Opportunities for interaction
- Initiatives to overcome linguistic and cultural
barriers _at_ Bmth, Sland, (also see HEA website
internationalisation case studies) - Providing flexible means of gaining work
experience - e.g. International volunteering e.g. _at_
Northumbria, Sunderland
28Sample Good Practice (practitioner level 2, 3,
4)
- Curricular
- Intercultural competence modules (e.g. Sland)
- Global Perspectives (Bmth)
- Extracurricular
- e.g. SLANG
- e.g. ECC
- Volunteering
PDP
It is in interests of all students to bring
extra-curricular into mainstream Many
international students volunteer in the community
this benefits them and the community but
doesnt make the local students
globally employable!
29Finally, we need to work in partnership..
- Across institution - as advocated in Going
Global AGCAS ITG publication) - with employers
- with other institutions
- regionally, nationally, internationally
- to ensure the research/ good practice/
institutional strategy is filtered down to the
practical level and that the delivery staff
receive appropriate support and training to be
able to help students/develop material etc
30References
- Brown.G, and Termnouth,P. (2006) International
Competitiveness, Businesses Working with UK
Universities (Summary and Recommendations).
Council for Industry and Higher Education
www.cihe-uk.com/docs/PUBS/0605ICSummary.pdf - DfES (2004) Putting the world into world class
education - De Vita, G., 2003 Internationlisation through
authentic experiences of intercultural
interaction. Teachingnews 2003/4 (online). - Knight, J. (2006) Internationalisation of HE New
Directions, New Challenges. 2005 IAU Global
Survey Report - Leask, B. (1999) Bridging the gap
internationalising university curricula.