 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||
From the PresidentOrganization: International Association for Computer Information SystemsConference: 47th Annual IACIS Fall ConferenceTheme: Globalization and Information Systems Dates: October 3-6, 2007 Place: Vancouver, British Columbia How Do We Prepare Our Students To Be Successful In A Global Economy?Dr. Gregory G. Dell’OmoPresident Robert Morris University Thank you for that kind introduction. It’s a real pleasure to be invited to speak at this conference and to share my thoughts on the impact of globalization as it relates to information technology, education and career development. But before I begin my remarks, I would just like to say that along with all my colleagues here from Robert Morris University we want to once again congratulate Dr. Fred Kohun for receiving the 2007 Computer Educator of the Year Award. We know how valuable and talented Fred is and it’s very pleasing to have those outside Robert Morris also appreciate what Fred has accomplished within his discipline. Congratulations Fred. So I guess this award along with tenure really gives Fred a great deal of job security. And this, in a sense, is a perfect lead-in to my talk this morning. I think it is fair to say that globalization, which consists of the growing amalgamation of economies and cultures around the world, continues to be one of the most hotly debated topics domestically and internationally. At the center of this debate are the pros and cons of its effects on the economic livelihood of individuals and societies. For example, on a macro level, data has shown that in the United States global trade and investment over the past decade has added between $500 billion and $1 trillion in annual income—between $1,650 and $3,300 a year for every American. It has also spurred productivity growth, the foundation of rising average living standards. The increase in output per worker hour in the U.S. nonfarm business sector has doubled in the past decade, from an annual average of 1.35% to an annual average of 2.7%--much of this related to information technology. Furthermore, some would argue that the rapid economic development and poverty reduction in China, India and other countries that were less developed 20 years ago have been positive aspects of globalization. Others on the other hand, would argue that globalization has resulted in greater inequities by producing larger income disparities between rich and poor and serious environmental degradation. For instance, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, average earnings for 96.6% of workers—all but those with professional degrees or doctorates—fell between 2000 and 2005; even workers with college degrees and nonprofessional master’s degrees have seen their earnings decline. America’s top 1% of earners now receive 16% of all income, up from 8% in 1980. Wage inequality in Europe and Japan has also increased during this time period. Whatever position one takes, and it is not my purpose this morning to convince you one way or another, the bottom line is that globalization is in full swing, it is here to stay, and it does result in a significantly greater shifting of resources around the world—especially jobs. And it is this aspect of globalization that I want to discuss with you today. Tom Friedman, in his best selling book The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, lays out how globalization has evolved over the years, in large part with the continuous push from the development of information technology, and how this needs to change our approaches to education and career development. He stated that by using computers, email, fiber-optic networks, teleconferencing, and dynamic new software... It is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more other people on more different kinds of work from more different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing than at any previous time in the history of the world...Over time, according to Friedman, we have gone from Globization 1.0 (from the discovery of the New World by Columbus in 1492 until around 1800) where the focus was on countries using muscle, horse power, wind power, or later steam power to unite the world. Then we moved to Globalization 2.0 (from roughly 1800 to 2000) where the world shrank even more through the rise of multinational companies. This was first driven by falling transportation costs and then by falling telecommunication costs—due to the telegraph, telephone, the PC, satellites, fiber-optic cable, and the early introduction of the web. This was really the birth and maturation of the global economy. After 2000 we entered Globalization 3.0 which shrank the world even smaller to a tiny size and flattening the world at the same time. The focus now is on the individual who can collaborate and compete globally. This has occurred as a product of the convergence of the PC with fiber-optic cable and the rise of work flow software. It also means that an increasing amount of work can flow anywhere in the world at a relatively low cost and it can be performed by individuals all over the world who can collaborate on the same digital content regardless of the distances between them. William Brody, President of Johns Hopkins University, calls this the “IT-IT phenomenon,’ which means that cheap international travel and ubiquitous information technology combine to disassociate expertise from place. And the impact of this phenomenon is that skills and expertise are now measured on a global rather than a local level. All of this sets the stage for one of the most significant aspects of globalization—the relative ease and cost savings of shifting jobs to lower paying countries, i.e., outsourcing. While much of this was initially directed at lower skilled jobs in the manufacturing sector, because of Globalization 3.0 (particularly with the cost of communicating with the other side of the globe falling to essentially zero) outsourcing has increasingly expanded to white-collar jobs. For example:
The key is to help them become “untouchables” in a flat world. These are people whose jobs cannot be outsourced, digitized, or automated. In other words, these are jobs that are really “special or specialized” (your brain surgeon), “localized” and “anchored” (your barber, plumber, gardener, nurses), or helping to change the “old middle class jobs” (securities analysts, accountants, radiologists) to become the “new middle jobs.” While there may not be much we can do regarding the first two, short of helping our students develop highly specialized skills (if they have them) or pursuing jobs that are truly localized (which may not be part of our educational missions), we can try to focus on the helping our students develop the skills needed for the “new middle jobs.” The questions then become—what kinds of jobs will fall into this category and what types of skills will people need to make this transition so they can become untouchable, at least temporarily? Tom Friedman describes eight such skill sets and job categories:
First, we have to continue to develop students’ ability to “learn how to learn.” In an age when all jobs are constantly changing because they are exposed to digitization, automation and outsourcing, it is not only what you know but how you learn that will set you apart. The key here is not so much on what our students learn, but trying to inspire within our students the excitement and passion about learning. We know that some people are born with a love for learning and they are naturally inclined to be motivated to teach themselves, but others need to develop it and have it ignited within them by the right teacher or parent. This is not an easy task but it is critical to one’s success in a global economy. In a related fashion, the second issue is one of “passion and curiosity.” Passion and curiosity for a job, for success, for a subject area or even a hobby are critically important. We need to change our educational system that was developed in the industrial age to produce employees for specific positions within hierarchical corporate structures. We have to create new learning systems that build on students’ passion and curiosity for learning. Third, students need to learn to be good at managing and interacting with people. This has always been an important asset in the working world, but in a global economy it is critical. As mentioned previously, a large number of the new middle jobs involve personalized, high-touch interactions with other human beings—because it is precisely those personalized- high-touch interactions that can not be outsourced or automated and are always necessary at some point in the value chain. Alan Blinder stated so well when he said “Perhaps, contrary to what we have come to believe in recent years, people skills will become more valuable than computer skills. The geeks may not inherit the earth after all.” The fourth issue involves how to nurture more of your right brain as well as your left. Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, focuses on the changing skills needed to prosper in a global economy. He points out that the United States and other more developed countries have evolved from the agriculture age (18th century) where farmers were the focus, to the industrial age (19th century) with factory workers being at center stage, then to the information age (20th century) with knowledge workers getting the attention (where much of our education is still focused) and now to the conceptual age (21st century) with an emphasis on creators and empathizers whose distinctive abilities are on mastering R-Directed Thinking or Right Brain Thinking. As you may know, our brains are divided into two hemispheres. The left hemisphere is sequential, logical, analytical, and literalness (traditionally associated with lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, computer programmers, and executives). The right hemisphere takes care of context and emotional expression, and is nonlinear, intuitive and holistic (usually associated with the arts, entertainment, and design). While we use both sides and both sides are important, the left brain capabilities have powered the Information Age. And the capabilities we once thought frivolous or soft—the right brain qualities of inventiveness, creativity, empathy, joyfulness, meaning and synthesis—increasingly will determine who flourishes and who flounders in the Conceptual Age. So a person with a job that a computer or robot can do faster or some talented worker overseas can do cheaper must focus on constantly developing their right-brain skills—such as forging relationships rather than simply executing transactions, tackling novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and synthesizing the big picture rather than analyzing a single component. Pink argues that to prosper in a global economy we’ll need to supplement our well-developed high-tech abilities with aptitudes that are “high concept” and “high touch.” High concept involves the ability to create artistic and emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to come up with inventions the world didn’t know it was missing. High touch involves the capacity to empathize, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch oneself in pursuit of purpose and meaning. But how do we nurture right-brain skills? Very simply—by doing something you love to do because you will bring something intangible to it which cannot be easily repeated, automated, or outsourced. The final issue is the increasing need to broaden our educational focus to incorporate more interdisciplinary and multidimensional learning that help students to think horizontally, which will enhance the right-brain skills that Pink discusses. And related to this is the critically important need to increase the international component of higher education. Globalizing UniversitiesAs the world becomes smaller and borderless, it is more imperative than ever for the peoples of the world to learn to understand and respect one another’s cultures, languages, and beliefs. To succeed in the global environment, it is crucial for students to experience first-hand what it is like to spend time living in other countries. Not only does this help students to learn and appreciate other cultures, it also is a powerful force to helping students’ understand their own country’s culture and realizing that every place is not the same. Tolerance of ambiguity, open-mindedness, acceptance of other cultures, and cross-cultural communication (including foreign language proficiency) are all important factors in leaders. Study abroad is also important for helping students develop self-management skills, build self-confidence, self-awareness, creativity and sensitivity.In all my years of higher education, some of which I was fortunate enough to be in charge of international education and programs as part of my academic affairs role, I can truly say that study abroad has the most transformative impact on an undergraduate student’s educational experience. I have also had the opportunity to develop and oversee a number of joint graduate programs with various Chinese universities. As a country that is dramatically changing and exploding on numerous fronts, it was fascinating to observe the many cultural perspectives and nuances that make the learning of the students from both countries extremely dynamic. These programs clearly went beyond the content by incorporating the many contextual issues that one wouldn’t observe if not experiencing firsthand the different countries, by students and faculty alike. Unfortunately, we have a long way to go to increase the involvement of U.S. students in global education. U.S. students lack sufficient knowledge about world regions, languages and cultures, and are in danger of being handicapped in the global economy. Further, with a few notable exceptions, the nation's public schools are doing a woeful job of teaching students about the world outside America's borders. Surveys conducted by the Asia Society and the National Geographic Society show a huge gap in most students' knowledge about the growing importance of Asia and other world regions to the nation's economic prosperity and national security. On a somewhat funny, yet highly serious note, the National Geographic Society conducted a study in 2002 and found that 87% of Americans between the age of 18 and 24 could not find Iraq and Iran on a map, and 83% could not find Afghanistan. However, 34% knew that the island used on the then last season’s “Survivor” show was located in the South Pacific but only 71% were able to locate the Pacific Ocean on the map. Most appalling was the fact that 11% could not even find the U.S. on the map. In addition, recent reports from the Southern Growth Policies Board, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and Harvard's curriculum review committee conclude that most K-12 school students will not be effective employees of globally oriented work organizations. "The status quo is tantamount to a kind of educational isolationism," said Dr. Michael Levine, Executive Director of Education at the Asia Society. "Understanding foreign languages and cultures are essential to managing risk, producing products attractive to the rest of the world and the skill to market them effectively. In an interconnected world where security, competitiveness and democratic leadership depend on purposeful engagement, our nation must take urgent action to ensure that our international knowledge and language expertise is second to none," said Levine. In a report released by NAFSA, the National Association of International Educators, a task force of national leaders in international education warns that Americans' lack of knowledge of the world represents a “national liability" in the war on terrorism. Securing America’s Future: Global Education for a Global Age sets out concrete recommendations to federal and state governments, on how higher educational institutions, and the private sector should address the problem, focusing specifically on the need to dramatically increase the participation of U.S. college students in study abroad opportunities. As we welcome foreign students into the U.S., our institutions of higher education should continue to encourage American students to study abroad and acquire international skills. By June 2002, U.S universities were surprised and pleased to see a substantial growth in student interest in study abroad, an unintended but most welcome outcome of September 11 and its aftermath. This increasingly international perspective had been predicted in an online survey conducted by the Institute of International Education in October 2001, in which 97% of the 600 international education professionals responding said that international education exchange, including study abroad, was regarded as more important or equally as important on their campuses in the aftermath of September 11. Survey respondents also noted that most U.S. students were going ahead with their study abroad plans and that very few international students had dropped out of their U.S. study programs to return home in the wake of the terrorist attacks. A follow-up survey was conducted in October 2002, with 45% of the respondents reporting an increase in study abroad participation for fall 2002, compared well to the previous year. American students have begun to study abroad in record numbers, reaching 205,983 students -- an increase of 8% over the 2005 report, in realization that international education is an essential part of preparing for a successful career in a globally interdependent world. This latest surge (which is in contrast to less than 1% of college students studying abroad in 1998) is partly due to a growing interest in destinations in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. In support of this trend a Congressional Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program was developed with a goal of sending 1 million American students abroad within 10 years. There has been an increase of 10% per year for the past 10 years; an increase of about 15% a year is needed to reach one million students by 2017. Allan E. Goodman, President and CEO of the Institute of International Education, notes that students are increasingly studying in countries such as China and India that will provide useful language and cultural skills for their future careers. "International study should be a part of every student's education," he said. "American colleges are providing more opportunities for students to have an international experience and are beginning to address some of the barriers to participation in study abroad, in order to prepare their students to be global citizens." Globalization, which has transformed world trade, communications and economic relations in the latter part of the 20th Century, is having a similarly profound effect on education itself at the start of the 21st. International education has become an integral part of academic curriculum at the tertiary level. Innovative forms of transnational education - Internet-based distance learning, branch campuses, joint programs, educational "franchising" -- have greatly expanded opportunities for students to study and learn outside their country of origin. In addition, there is now increasing global competition for the "best and brightest" students, as more and more countries recognize the economic potential of higher education as a service export sector. For the first time in history, large segments of the world's student population truly have access to a "global marketplace" of higher education. Therefore, NAFSA calls on leaders in government, education, and business to commit themselves to the following tasks: President and Congress: Articulate the need for study abroad as an urgent national priority, provide a legislative framework, and make resources available to address barriers and increase participation.If we are going to be serious about educating our students for the 21st century and dealing with the types of issues that Tom Friedman and Daniel Pink discuss, then we have to do a great deal more in globalizing our universities. International students who come to the U.S. have historically seen this experience as a competitive advantage activity—a way to significantly enhance their skills and marketability—as such, we must do the same job of helping American students develop similar feelings so a greater number will go abroad. At Robert Morris University we just re-wrote our mission statement, developed a new five-year strategic plan and initiated for the first time a set of university-wide core values. As part of each of these we incorporated a focus on international education. In our mission statement we made it clear that our purpose is to prepare students for leadership in a rapidly changing world. As part of the core values, we identified one of the six to be Global Perspective. This is defined as: An increasingly diverse and multinational work environment demands graduates who are able to understand and relate to cultural differences as well as to excel within an increasingly complex world. Study abroad and cross-cultural educational experiences will be an integral part of an RMU education.And within the strategic plan itself, we have identified specific goals related to international education. As part of our focus on engaged, active learning by all our students, we are building in requirement options for a greater number of our students to participate in study abroad. We are on the right track because in one year, our study abroad numbers increased by 55% and approximately 7% of our undergraduate seniors are graduating with at least 1 international educational experience. This is just the beginning for us—and the sky is the limit. We are still working on a specific goal in this area, but I would like to someday have every student who graduates from RMU with an undergraduate degree have one or more of these experiences. And since a very large percentage of our undergraduate students engage in community service activities (last year 2013 students involved in 115 projects out of 3400 traditional full-time undergraduates) and work-based experiences (internships, co-ops, practicums, etc.with 71% of our seniors involved in these), we would like to combine many of these with international experiences. For example, our School of Nursing conducts a very successful program in Nicaragua. Twice a year groups of nursing students go to Nicaragua (which is now the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere) and spend up to 2 weeks providing medical care to the poorest families in the barrios in Managua. Not only is this a powerful learning experience in community-based nursing but it is also has a dramatic impact on the students’ understanding of a very different culture (medical, political, economic, and social systems), it allows them to learn how to deal with the neediest of needy, they can learn and practice their Spanish speaking skills, and the students begin to develop ways to be creative in providing medical care in a society with little or no resources. Last November when the nursing students went we also sent a group of undergraduate media arts students from our Center for Documentary Studies to film a documentary about the program and the experiences of the students and those who they treat. It was a powerful documentary that allowed us to capture for others to see the tremendous impact of this program. The nursing students are required to keep a detailed log of their experiences in Nicaragua. When they return they are to present their logs by providing a public reading. Hearing the students describe what and how they learned is amazing, but the most dramatic aspect of each and everyone is how this experience changed the students on a very personal level. You can see them mature before your eyes. They develop each of the skills that Tom Friedman discusses, especially the need to develop a passion and curiosity for learning in an ever changing world. And to put it into Daniel Pink’s terminology, these students learn to become “high concept” and “high touch” nurses for the 21st century. At Robert Morris University we are taking this focus on globalizing higher education very serious. From the Board of Trustees on down we have made this a strategic initiative that is of paramount importance. It is our belief as we and all other U.S. universities give greater emphasis to international education we will provide every student the needed skills to remain competitive in this global economy. Thank you. < Back to President’s Speeches and Articles |
 
Where will Robert Morris University be today... tomorrow... years from now? Connect to RMU views, straight from RMU President Dell'Omo's desk. Subscribe to the president's newsletter today and recieve it right in your inbox.  Subscribe Now |