Employer Engagement Adviser, CILT, UK
There is an interconnectivity between language learning in education, enterprise and the economy. In this poster, key pieces of research will highlight the importance of international awareness and communication skills for UK business and the economy, focusing on how education and business can work together to develop young peoples’ international communication and awareness skills. More than one third of UK based employers recruit people for their languages skills, but they are increasingly forced to recruit overseas to meet their needs. CILT’s Business Language Champions programme helps SMEs and multinational companies work in schools to develop these vital skills in young people. Through this programme, over 150 businesses from across different sectors have been inspired to work in schools to encourage young people to understand the importance of languages and cultural awareness for their future careers. This poster will present a range of case studies from the different companies working with CILT to explain how and why UK-based SMEs and multinationals are supporting education to develop global citizens. This poster will offer practical advice on how others can get involved and how the Business Language Champions model can be applied to develop global partnerships. Please note, this poster presentation will take place on Friday 26 March 2010 with posters from the Global partnerships theme.
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Director, College of Estate Management, UK
The Framework for Lifelong Learning (FLL) by the College of Estate Management (CEM) is a major new product that assists CEM in maintaining its status as the leading international body providing supported e-learning, education and training to people in the property and construction professions and industries, for the benefit of the public. FLL innovation provides a quality assurance framework within which CEM are able to deliver flexible bite-sized learning to individuals or organisations anywhere in the world. FLL received approval from an external validation panel in August 2008. While it recognises that not everyone can afford (financially or in time) to undertake full academic programmes that may take between two and four years to complete, CEM are committed to making learning available to such individuals and organisations. FLL allows parts of longer academic courses to be studied and assessed in isolation and with attached credits eventually leading to a Certificate or Diploma in Lifelong Learning. It also allows for specific courses to be developed to meet the needs of particular groups at a reasonable cost as the QA provisions are already in place through the framework. This poster will discuss FLL and the importance of innovation in education.
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International Internship Placement Co-ordinator, Foundation for International Education, UK
This poster will present a case study of international students pre-graduation successfully engaging with companies through internships abroad. The Foundation for International Education (FIE) is a non-profit international education provider facilitating study and intern abroad opportunities to US undergraduates. Approximately 450 international internships are arranged by FIE in London each year. The vast majority of companies taking on interns are small to medium sized, making it possible over the years to examine this relationship of mutual gain and education, and to better understand the benefits to both companies and students. Recent research by FIE’s Director of Experiential Education has succeeded in giving a voice to small companies engaged in FIE international exchange and has discovered ways in which a small company can benefit from international student interns. It sheds light on what small companies perceive as the benefits for international students. Research data is accompanied by critical thought and questionnaire feedback from former student interns regarding their experiences, particularly how they feel they contributed to and benefitted as an international intern within a small company in London. This poster will aim to provoke thought and discussion into how the international student is able to successfully contribute to a wide range of industries and organisations.
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Head of International Strategy and Partnerships, Imperial College London, UK
Senior Lecturer in Transferable Skills, Imperial College London, UK
Within universities today, there is an increasing emphasis upon internationalisation, with initiatives addressing curriculum, pedagogy and student experience. A key aim is to create ‘globally competent’ graduates at all levels. In parallel with these international developments, UK universities’ PhD programmes now pay much more attention to the development of the transferable skills of individual researchers. Given the increasingly global nature of research, especially in science and technology, it seems that more should be done to develop the global competences required by researchers. This poster will consider this issue in the context of a training programme for doctoral students in global skills at Imperial College London. In particular, it will present first results from a project funded by the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education (PMI2) between Imperial College London and Tsinghua University in Beijing on employability and entrepreneurship of doctoral students in the UK and China. The partners are developing a joint summer school, which aims to increase the ‘global skills’ of doctoral students to enhance their employability and understanding of entrepreneurship in a global context. While discussing this activity, the presenters will welcome other ideas and possible solutions from the audience at Going Global 4.
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Senior Tutor, Durham University, UK
Students don’t just spend time in their departments; they spend time with their friends, in their residences and at social activities. Can these informal interactions with students of different nationalities outside of the classrooms help develop students’ global awareness by providing opportunities to learn about other cultures? This poster will discuss an ethnographic case study of the views of postgraduate students of different nationalities residing in university accommodation in the north of England about their living experience, their interaction with other students and what impact they believe this has had on their understanding of other cultures. The study includes how students approach socialising with students from other countries and other languages, what difficulties they may find in developing friendships, what type of activities facilitate contact with students from other cultures and how overseas students go about ‘getting involved’ in campus life. Due to the relatively small number of UK students going overseas to study, the presence of international students on campus can serve to add an ‘international’ aspect to the experience of UK students; consequently UK students have been included in the study. This poster will present analysis of the study, and suggestions for improving international students’ integration and enhancing students’ opportunities to become more inter-culturally aware and to develop as global citizens.
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BBC Radio Broadcaster, Trainer, Effective Communications, UK
This poster will outline the contents and objectives of a workshop focusing on enhancing intra and inter-cultural face-to-face communication. The development of intra and inter-cultural competencies is a central component of the internationalisation process. It is defined as effective communication between the students and staff of many nations. As a staff member or student at most UK universities, we find ourselves talking and listening to people who may or may not share the same dialect or first language. Added to this, our specific cultural orientation inevitably determines the style in which we communicate face-to-face. Underlying our communication styles are the many different assumptions, beliefs and prejudices that prevail both within and between cultures and nations. The overall objective of this workshop is to examine barriers and explore solutions to enhance learning in an intra and inter-cultural environment. By the end of the workshop, the participant can expect to recognise their own cultural bias and the bias of others; share experiences, resources and ideas - learn from and with each other – about working in a diverse environment; enhance awareness of the skills necessary to communicate effectively; and practice skills in a supportive environment. This poster will discuss the workshop and the importance of intra and inter-cultural communication.
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Director, Centre for Global Perspectives, Bournemouth University, UK
Bournemouth University has undertaken an approach to internationalisation based on developing global perspectives and global citizenship. International education, which embraces developing citizenship, offers benefits not only for governments and businesses, it can also serve graduates in the context of globalisation. It is suggested that such an approach has the potential to align with the changing needs of employers, who are increasingly seeking graduates with a broader world view and who have the ability to see the global in the local. This poster will highlight the benefits of this approach for UK and international students, emphasising the importance of developing curriculum and offering opportunities to engage with international mobility to enhance learners ‘world-view’. This is particularly important for UK students if they are to continue to be successful in the global economy, but is equally important for all students if they are to understand the impact of the global on the local. This poster will share experiences and conclude by discussing challenges of this approach.
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Policy and Strategy Adviser, City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development, UK
As working age populations in developed countries decline, immigration policies increasingly focus on attracting the ‘brightest and best’ from overseas to fill crucial skills gaps. This has led to accusations that the developed world has encouraged a damaging ‘brain drain’ that has hindered development in developing countries. One proposed solution is that developed countries create ‘centres of advanced training’ in key locations in the developing world. These centres would allow citizens of developing countries to be trained to the standards required for them to seek skilled employment overseas, at the cost of the countries where they are likely to be employed. Theoretically, this could increase the international supply of skills without overloading developing country budgets, and, since not all graduates would actually emigrate, the centres could also boost skill levels in the countries where they are located. This poster will outline a review of existing research in this area and present its findings. The presenter will welcome discussion around whether such an initiative could be designed, whether such centres could train people with the domestic labour market in mind as well, how such a system could be developed without compromising developing countries’ autonomy and control over their own educational systems, and what other measures would need to accompany the initiative to ensure the centres contribute to sustainable development.
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Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management, Leeds Business School, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
Since 2004, the UK has become one of the most popular countries for Chinese students to study. After graduation, some Chinese graduates transfer from international student to highly skilled professional in the British labour market. We know that Chinese students encounter various cultural challenges due to language barriers and other culture differences upon arrival in the UK, however little is known about their acculturation experience and, in particular, their work experience. This poster will discuss research investigating Chinese knowledge workers’ acculturation and career development in Leeds, UK. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2009. All interviewees were Chinese professionals who are in their full-time employment in Leeds with occupations including solicitor, engineer, accountants and academics. Significant findings include the impact of high family expectation to their choice of professions perceived as high social status and the tendency to study degrees leading to employability in certain professions such as accounting. This poster will discuss the research and the rest of its findings.
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