Hello Everyone, My name is Adia Johnson and I am in my last semester in the MS-Ed HEA program. I went to Daemen College for my undergraduate degree where I majored in Psychology and minored in Theatre. I currently work for an investment company. I am interested in working in Student Life working with student groups and organizations.
I was really excited about enrolling for this course for my last semester here at Baruch. Throughout my undergraduate college experience, study abroad was appealing but I didn’t have the resources to travel out of the country for a semester. I always knew students that were fortunate enough to partake in the opportunity would return with an open mind and an advantage. The reading for this week happened to be a good introduction for internationalization and presented a broad overview of its history, purpose, and growth/setbacks. The adoption of Internationalization, unsurprisingly, occurred after war. Typically after wars or conflict, people attempt to find a peaceful attempt at co-existing to avoid future confrontation. The United Nations is an organization that strives to stimulate peace and mutual understanding, and serve as a beacon for global security and development.
Although keeping open communication is beneficial, Albatch and De Wit (2015) suggest recent and future global conflicts revolving around religion and nationalism can hinder the advances of internationalization within higher education. However, I do not believe the advancements will falter. Students with international experience develop soft-skills that employers desire, such as openness to new challenges, adaptability, problem-solving, and the ability to communicate in another language. Based on the readings, an increasing number of students are expected to study abroad. In turn, colleges and universities are making solid decisions to incorporate internationalization into their strategic plans and are restructuring their infrastructure to include necessary tools to successfully accommodate foreign students. In keeping with the University of Oxford (2015), Russian universities require foreign students to complete Russian language and literature before enrolling in a degree program. Students are also given the opportunity to win a scholarship and would be expected to stay and work for an organization for 3 years after graduation. This plan seems really rewarding for students since the main purpose for obtaining a degree is to get a job and the scholarship guarantees free tuition and a future job.
It was mentioned that higher education institutions in The U.S.A. lack the internationalization in their strategic plans. I suppose this is part of the reason why there has been a decline in the number of international students applying to American colleges and universities. However there is another factor that may explain why there has been a decrease: lack of incentives. Other countries are offering international students more resources during their education and employment within their chosen career paths, USA simply cannot compete with that. Sure, we can offer students the same scholarship plan, but we are not economically stable enough to provide those resources. Our unemployment rate, for postsecondary degree holders, is still fairly high and if we cannot provide our current citizens with jobs, how can we offer jobs to an influx of international students. Redden (2015) touched on using tenured faculty to aid in reaching internalization goals. In my student services course, I learned that faculty need to demonstrate a level of competency in teaching, research, and service. It would be fairly easy to incorporate the international -focused criteria within the service spectrum. I understand that some institutions do not have the financial means of supporting faculty to travel internationally and make this requirement part of the tenure path. However, if an institution decides it wants to have international students studying at their school, they need put it into their strategic plan and provide incentives to both faculty and students.
References
Albatch, P. & De Wit, H. (2015, Summer). Internationalization and global tensions: Lessons from history.
International Higher Education; Number 81
University of Oxford (2015)
Redden, E. (2015, November 10). Internationalization and Tenure. Inside Higher Ed
Retrieved from: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/11/10/should-universities-include-internationally-focused-criteria-tenure-and-promotion
You touch on many interesting points. I definitely agree other countries offering incentives give them an upper hand over the US. The US is not even able to provide any type of stability to its own students with the constant economic fluctuations occurring within the nation. However, I do not feel that it would be the institutions incentive to incorporate a higher need of international students into their strategic plan. It would most likely come from the government, as mentioned by the readings the initial step for internationalization came from the government and not much from the schools.
I also agree on a lack of incentives for international students in the US, specifically the process of transferring from student to the H1B work visa. There are only 65,000 H1B visas each year available for those with a Bachelor’s degree. An additional 20,000 are available to those with a Master’s degree. There is a lottery system in place to select which applications will be reviewed. In addition, there is the challenge of finding an employer who is willing to sponsor a recent graduate for the H1B visa, and pay the related application and legal fees.
Still, the US is a desirable place to study and try to start a career. Most students I work with have majors related to the fashion industry, a field with an established presence here in NYC that may not exist in many students home countries. I empathisise with students in the challenges they face to pursue their goals, but am also aware of the issues we face with domestic unemployment. What is the correct balance between US and international workers?
The above comment is from Allison Olly. Forgot to sign!
Hello Adia,
I’m so glad you brought up the point of incentives to international students in different countries! Just this morning i read an article in Inside Higher Ed about efforts of the UK to attract more international students and how it seems to be backfiring on them.
The article talks about UK offering subsidized or even free tuition to international student, while UK citizens/taxpayers paying for it. Although it seems as a great idea/way to attract international students (I am sure any of us wouldn’t mind to go study abroad if it was free), it seems to be unfair to the citizens of the UK.
Here in the US, our own Citizens can’t afford going to college/university and end up with thousands if not hundreds of thousands in debt when they graduate, we would never be able to offer anything like this to international students. If fact, here in the US, it is quite the opposite. We charge international students even more than domestic students, and that seems to be a major motivation for the institutions to hunt for international students.
Natallia
If you are interested, below is the link to the article:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/02/04/english-universities-increase-their-recruiting-european-union-students?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=430fd40416-DNU20160204&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-430fd40416-198583137
I can’t say I 100% like what Russia is doing with their incentives, many times when people leave their countries to pursue opportunities aboard is so that they can return home at some point and make a better life for themselves and their families, yes it is only 3 years that are mandatory but I can personally say I’m not sure if I personally would do it, but overall it is a great incentive.
International education is great for everyone involved (when you take out finances if the student can afford it). It leads to promotion for both the host country and the visitor, and it shows a sense of peace and comradery, and in our times of war, is really beneficial, America should invest more in this, seeing how the country is viewed as a bully by other nations, after improving the current state that students are in within its own borders of course.
Hi Adia,
You bring up a great point about incentives to study in the US, including the inability to find a job upon degree completion. I had never even thought of it from that perspective, we have domestic students who cannot find jobs in their field or any job at all to support themselves enough to pay back their student loans. We have an entire generation of people who are educated but in large amounts of student loan debt and under-employed. I see other classmates have also commented on this topic.
International students also have strict restrictions on working while they are in the United States. I believe they can only work for the institution they attend or through a CPT (curricular practical training)/academic internship. Post graduation, J-1 and F-1 students get a year to work on OPT (optical practical training) and thats it. After that, if they have not secured sponsorship they will must leave. I wonder what the major motivation behind students wanting to study in the US? Is it just to experience living here for a short time, or are they actually interested in securing a job and building their life here?