VC’S CORNER
campusreview.com.au
We need
‘cross-cultural
agility’
Globalisation and collaboration have
become tremendously valuable for
everyone involved in higher education.
By Justin Beilby
A
s those in education know from discussions with business
leaders and industry groups, international experience
is increasingly significant when pairing the right global
graduates with the right global jobs. In filling such roles, having a
broader lens on the world and embodying cross-cultural agility
is often just as highly valued as traditional attributes such as
numeracy, communication and organisational skills.
The world has never been a more connected place. Over the
last 30 years, some of the greatest barriers to progress have come
tumbling down: abolished trade tariffs; an expanded European
Union; the collapse of the Berlin Wall; and the rise of China.
Barriers, both physical and figurative, have given way to freer trade,
freer movement of people and greater prosperity for many. And
just as countries, companies and whole societies have benefited
from the growing interconnectedness of our world, so too can
tomorrow’s global graduates.
In recognising the benefits globalisation has brought to
businesses and people the world over, universities should also
take steps to bolster the internationality of courses to ensure their
students are ready for our increasingly connected world and given
the best possible employment opportunities after graduation.
A recent study demonstrates the immense value in international
assignments. It found that 18 per cent of professionals assigned to
an international post were being put forward on developmental
18
grounds. Moreover, the study found a 13 per cent increase in the
performance of expats on assignment overseas, demonstrating
increased value to the employer and fulfilment for the employee.
Perhaps most interesting of all the findings in the report, though,
is that 24 per cent of all board- or executive-level employees have
international expertise, indicating that international experience
correlates with gaining top-level positions.
Universities and other higher education providers of today and
tomorrow should emulate the multinational companies in which
their graduates will work. It doesn’t make sense, then, to adhere to
rigid structures of the past. Rather, the focus should be on getting
the fundamentals for tomorrow’s global and collaborative world
right: academic staff with international experience; collaboration
between institutions and between students living in multiple
countries; close connections to domestic and international
industry; and flexible study modes to facilitate cross border
interactions and international study experiences.
It makes good sense that students, in partnership with their
education providers, are learning from the organisations where
they will ultimately be working. By looking at how businesses
operate in international environments, for example, university vicechancellors can tailor courses to mirror the realities of working in
these settings. This directly responds to what employers have been
discussing with university leaders for quite some time. They want
graduates who not only have interpersonal, communication and
organisational skills to deploy immediately, they also hold in very
high regard a deep understanding of operating in a foreign country.
Putting an exact value on the cross-cultural understanding garnered
through international study or work experience is impossible;
suffice to say, though, it is very high. Consider this: a major reason
international firms entering foreign countries fail is because they lack