Building Linkages Between Education Abroad & Career Service Offices

Building Linkages Between Education Abroad & Career Service Offices NAFSA, Kansas City: June 2, 2010

Presenters
Dr. Cheryl Matherly
Associate Dean for Global Education
University of Tulsa Center for Global Education
Mr. Martin Tillman
Associate Director, Career Services
Johns Hopkins University
School of Advanced International Studies

Objectives
Demonstrate importance of purposeful career planning at time students decide to study abroad
Understand benefits of linking advising process of education abroad [EA] & career service offices
Review best campus models for building linkages between EA & career service offices

Importance of Purposeful Planning
“… education abroad does not inherently endow a career advantage. It’s only perceived as advantageous when the student is able to articulate how she has used that experience to gain the knowledge, skills, and abilities required by the employer…”
Sheila Curran, IE, Nov-Dec 2007

The Disconnect
Students do not see linkage between their EA experience & their career goals
Students do not know what skills & competencies are viewed as value-added by employers
Students are unable to articulate intercultural competencies gained while abroad

The Challenge
When students are deciding : build opportunities for students to see connections between EA & career goals
When students are abroad : build opportunities to describe & analyze impacts of new intercultural competencies
When students return to campus : build opportunities to re-frame and articulate what they learned

Research Findings: Academic, Providers & Employers
Is there empirical evidence of causal link between EA & impact on career direction?
Survey of 6,000 students – between 2006-2009- from 22 campuses and provider programs-Univ. of Minnesota & Forum on Education Abroad
Finding: “…shift in educational & career choices; non-pecuniary job choice; refined language & cultural abilities; development of cultural empathy”

50-Year IES Alumni Survey
Survey of 17,000 program participants from 500 campuses between 1950-1999
“ Given that study abroad affected career choices of nearly 2/3 of respondents and half of respondents developed careers with global aspects, longitudinal data…clearly indicate effect of study abroad decisions on future career development.”
Absence of control group allows only for high correlation –not causation- in findings

Employer Perspectives
Literature reflects consensus that –
Business leaders actively engaged in the global economy place high value on attributes among their employees most often found among those who have studied or worked abroad.

Imperative to Link EA & Career Advising
Students who study abroad show gains in skill sets & competencies valued by employers such as cross-cultural sensitivity, language acquisition and cultural awareness
Study abroad impacts career development and career direction years after graduation
Study abroad creates strong foundation for future employment in international context

Why is collaboration a challenge?
University reporting structure (provost v. student affairs)
Lack of an international plan
Career counselors don’t consider this an expertise
Resources stretched
Ambiguity as to who “owns” international internships or work programs
Not part of core career services
Difficult job market is changing CS priorities

Krumbolz: Planned Happenstance
Career counselors are challenged to recognize unplanned, serendipitous events as both inevitable and desirable. Clients are encouraged to take intentional action to generate and discover new opportunities for learning.
Planned happenstance stresses career responsiveness.
(Adapted from “Planned Happenstance: Constructing Unexpected Career Opportunities,” Mitchell, Levin and Krumboltz, Journal of Counseling and Development , Spring 1999.)

Brown: Wisdom Development
self-knowledge
deep understanding of others
sagacity
life knowledge
life skills
willingness to learn
Brown, S. & Greene, J. (2006) “Wisdom development scale: Translationg the conceptual to the concrete.” Journal of College Student Development, 47(1).

Career Development Centers
Through the CSPD (Center for Student Professional Development), students and alumni can explore post-graduate planning resources that help them not only understand their own interests and values, but also translate that self-knowledge into sound judgments about their suitability for different industries, fields and graduate or professional school options. They learn to articulate this new knowledge (and the value of their Rice education) in CSPD programs devoted to professional communication, and to leverage and research alumni- and employer-related resources available to identify specific institutions, organizations and companies of interest. (Rice University)

Wake Forest University wants students to think differently about how they answer, focusing on what kind of work is meaningful to them rather than what pays the most or what others want. To do that, the Winston-Salem, N.C., university is re-imagining its career-development program to help its 4,600 undergraduates figure out who they are and what they want out of life long before they get to commencement. From their first days on campus, students will explore their personal interests and how those might translate into a job.
This pairing of students' values and their professional paths is a departure from the traditional career-services office, which typically helps students with the mechanics of a job search and introduces them to recruiters. (Some institutions have taken a broader approach to career development in recent years, though not to the extent of Wake Forest.) The plan is part of the university's broader strategic priority to focus on vocational and character development, and the university will put about $5-million behind it.
Chronicle of Higher Education, May 16, 2010

Best practices
Texas A&M University
University of Michigan
University of Texas
University of Tulsa
University of San Diego

Best practices I
Returnee workshops to articulate connection between career development and EA
Include information on internship/job searching in study abroad handbook
Co-sponsored workshops on international careers
Co-sponsored internship/job fairs
Web advising tools

Best Practices II
Shared reporting lines for international areas/functions
Dedicated staff for development of professional/internship programs
INGRADA: International Network for Graduate Recruitment and Development Associations
WIVA: Work, Internship, Volunteer Programs Abroad

Selected Publications
Education Abroad and its Value in the Job Market: A Bibliography , David Comp, NAFSA Resource Library, 2004, http://www.nafsa.org/resourcelibrary/default.aspx?id=8796
Educational Experiences Abroad: Preparation for a Globalized Workplace , Cheryl Matherly & William Nolting, National Association of Colleges and Employers, Journal, March 2007
Impact of Education Abroad on Career Development , Martin Tillman, NAFSA Resource Library, 2004 http://www.nafsa.org/resourcelibrary/Default.aspx?id=8335
Skills Acquired from your International Experience , University of Arkansas, Career Development Center, website, 2010

Building Linkages Between Education Abroad & Career Service Offices

by mjtillman on Jan 05, 2011

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