campusreview.com.au
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
World of difference
Programs for study abroad
need to be customised to take
advantage of the unique benefits
that each destination can provide.
Béatrice Cabau interviewed by James Wells
U
niversities must not adopt a one-size-fits-all approach
when crafting their learning abroad programs, an
international expert has argued.
Study abroad is eagerly sought after by students, thanks to the
lure of cultural experiences, the chance to be an international
tourist, and the potential for valuable experience to add to a CV.
Associate professor Dr Béatrice Cabau warns, however,
that universities can diminish the value of international study
experiences by failing to tailor programs to each student’s
destination country.
Cabau, from Hong Kong Baptist University, recently visited
Sydney to present a public lecture on student mobility as a driver
for the internationalisation of higher education. She argues that if
universities continue to fail to customise programs, students may
end up missing out on a raft of potential benefits.
“Universities have to prepare students, to equip students and give
them the tools to spend a beneficial study abroad,” she says. “We’re
not talking about [preparing only for] immersion in an academic
environment, but also in terms of interaction with the locals.
Otherwise, students would experience exactly the same wherever
they go.”
Along with this, she says universities must reinforce the
importance of using study abroad to appeal to potential employers.
Speaking from her experience in dealing with many international
students, Cabau says students need the reinforcement because
it’s common in the final year of university for students to become
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too focused on their academic work to consider how they will
transition into the professional workforce. Here, Cabau sits down
with Campus Review to discuss the potential that international
study programs have to reinforce in students the future
employment edge they could gain as a result of their travels.
CR: You mentioned during your lecture that much of the work in
optimising the benefits of studying abroad is to do with specialising
the program for every context – that a one-size-fits-all approach
does not work. Do many universities fall into this trap?
BC: There is a general trend toward that [problem]. However, it
depends on the country. There may be strong political incentives.
In Hong Kong, for example, higher education institutions have
strong ties with China’s institutions, for obvious reasons. This is
also to do with wanting the freedom for universities to develop
strategies in certain fields with certain partners in certain disciplines,
certain countries and so on. So the nature and profile of the
internationalisation of higher education can have a lot to do with
political and economic considerations.
But universities have to distinguish themselves, because we are living
in a competitive era. This is a big pressure all the universities face.
What are some of the political and economic forces that can lead to
failings in this area?
We are talking about the importance of trade, commerce between
two countries. We also have political considerations. A country with
a more liberal economy is likely to be attracted to agreements with
[countries that have] the same economic ideology. However, we
also have this big shift of globalisation, so political considerations
might have less impact now than before.
We may also link economy and culture because a country [sells
itself with] its culture as well. Sometimes it’s difficult to strike a
strict line between the several domains – politics, economics etc