November 21, 2002

International Affairs Center:
A message from the executive director

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Dear Colleagues:  Globalization is having a profound effect on U.S. higher education. A Rand Corporation study by T.K. Bibson and S.A. Law, “Global Preparedness in Human Resources: College and Corporate Prospectives,” defines globalization as “a model for thinking about economic and cultural activity, involving a shift in international understanding.” 

The study, based on a sample of executives and senior faculty and administrators found that leaders across the corporate and higher education arenas believe globalization will require a change from an ethnocentric to a pancentric view of  the world. This view holds that the world does not revolve around powerful states but that the global environment is characterized by complex interdependence among many players: NGO’s, governments, corporations, citizens and community groups. Leaders interviewed stressed that success in this environment requires an ability to function in diverse cultural environments. Whether in the economic domain (where successful corporations increasingly are required to turn to global strategies in an effort to overcome the cultural gap between producers and consumers) or in the political, cultural and environmental arenas, there is a growing sense that it is important to find cooperative solutions to many of the world problems that effect the security and quality of life of all peoples.

Globalization is affecting the state of Indiana. A recent study by the Indiana Department of Commerce for the Governor’s office (1999) notes that since 1989 Indiana exports have grown by 148 percent, making the state the seventh ranked in terms of export growth among states (U.S. exports grew by 95 percent during that time). Significantly, the report suggests that this growth is due to a significant extent of the connections between Japanese companies in Indiana and their parent operations in Japan. This is seen in the fact that transportation exports to Japan increased 219 percent in 1998 compared to 7 percent for all other exports.

Indiana’s export profile shows a trend toward significant diversification in Asia, Europe and Latin America: Mexico, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom. It is worthwhile noting that education as an export commodity is a major growth industry in Indiana. Indiana has more than 10,000 international students contributing more than $250 million in revenues to the state’s economy. This makes education one of the top five exports industries in the state. 

A recent report prepared by the Indiana Education Information Center, Great Expectations: A Report on Employer Expectations in Indiana suggests that in general, Indiana employers are increasingly aware that globalization is affecting their need for an educated workforce. The report notes “For a significant proportion of management jobs, students must have course work in economics and geography. For management positions in high-tech companies, international studies is also important.” Employers increasingly acknowledge there is a growing awareness that globalization is changing the requirements of the educated workforce. Central to this awareness is the belief that higher education has a responsibility to prepare educated citizens who then have increased cross-cultural competence needed to succeed in a global economy.

A challenge to higher education, then, is to educate citizens who have “cross-cultural competence.” The Rand Corporation study found that leaders interviewed define “cross-cultural competence” as “bringing globalism to bear on the performance of substantive work along with the cognitive social and personal qualities required to carry it out successfully.”

In other words, in addition to the traditional expectations that entry-level professionals will have acquired, the needed technical and content mastery of their majors (along with the science, math and other skills that are part of the general education of students), employers are increasingly seeing the need for cross-cultural competencies that would allow individuals to function effectively in an increasingly multi-cultural world including the diversity that is so evident in U.S. society.

In meeting this challenge, Indiana State University benefits from having a large number of faculty with international experience in their teaching and research. The availability of international studies, international business concentration, Latin American/Latino studies minor and study abroad opportunities create options for programs wishing to expand their global dimension and for students to develop a cross-cultural perspective. In addition the large number of international students and scholars from 80 different countries at ISU, a rich visiting scholar program which brings to ISU scholars from China, Russia, The Ukraine and other nations, international speakers, a significant number of international student organizations, and multi-cultural programming all are valuable resources incorporated into the educational experience at ISU.

Sincerely,
Gaston A. Fernandez
Executive Director,
International Affairs Center 

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Contact:
Gaston Fernandez, executive director, ISU International Affairs Center,
(812) 237-4391 or ascfern@isugw.indstate.edu

ISU Public Affairs:
(812) 237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu