Internationalisation in higher education has not stopped due to COVID- 19. It has transformed.
Internationalisation in higher education has not stopped due to COVID-19. It has transformed.
By Sevi Christoforou
On November 12th, Expertise in Labour Mobility and CareerProfessor.works co-organized a webinar on supporting students’ employability in times of uncertainty to look at how to better equip them for a job market during and after the COVID-19 crisis. The webinar brought together career and mobility experts from Europe and North America. The speakers shared the challenges they faced when international mobility was suddenly impossible due to the pandemic and what kind of actions they took to continue supporting students’ employability and preparing them for a complex, global world of work.
According to Director of Expertise in Mobility and i-graduate’s Client Services Director for continental Europe and North America, Nannette Ripmeester, recent survey results indicate that students at UK institutions were most likely to be concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on their future career (29%). But that doesn’t come as a surprise to Nannette as previous ISB data[1] from 179.500 international students from 19 countries also set forth ‘future career impact’ as one of the key factors for students in deciding where to study. ‘Institutions cannot longer disregard employability’, Nannette notes and continues by stressing the importance of preparing students for the next step after graduation, providing them with the necessary tools to navigate a complex global work environment and in the end turning them into brand ambassadors for your institution. The return of investment (ROI) on employability was already becoming more important for both students and institutions. This has not stopped since the pandemic hit, but has in fact increased.
Without international mobility opportunities to help students build employability and intercultural skills, Nannette sees technology as the only path. However, the shift to virtual learning is not an easy task. It requires a lot of work and the selection of the right digital tools is imperative to provide your students with tailored support, ‘Use an app that will make students think about cultural differences, it doesn’t have to be CareerProfessor.works, but think about a digital tool that will equip students with the intercultural knowledge they need to succeed in a global world of work’, she said.
Katie Orr, Director International at Nova Scotia Community College (Canada) describes how the college faced the challenge of running the successful regional Study & Stay program for international talent retention after COVID-19 restrictions. ‘We had to shut down all in person elements of all our college programming’, she mentions. Before the pandemic, the Study & Stay program that aims to equip students with the skills, networking possibilities and expertise to transition to the local job market after graduation, was already delivered on-line, with some in person components. Post- COVID-19, the program was taking place fully online and despite all the challenges, more than 50% of the student cohort completed all project milestones.
A very popular question from the webinar audience was with regards to the student engagement. So how did NSCC manage to engage almost 60% of their students in following and completing the Pathway to Stay program? Katie underlines the importance of flexibility. With her team, they have been looking at ways to allow students opt in or out some of the program’s components, providing students with the option to ‘choose their own adventure’ and select parts of the program that appeal most to them. However, they still keep some imperative components obligatory, such as the interaction with employers and some other 1:1 aspects of the program.
When looking into the future of possible cancelled study abroad programs, NSCC is trying out some mobility pilot programs, looking at innovative ideas for virtual learning. Katie also mentions that one of the areas they are testing as an institution are tech tools such as Careerprofesssor.works, as a way to scale up international learning, remove barriers for students and increase their engagement.
Emma Hagg, International relations director at Karolinska Institutet, a leading medical institution in Stockholm (Sweden) describes the relation between the main concepts of employability & internationalization from her institution’s point view. ‘Travelling restrictions don’t mean that internationalization has stopped’, she notes.
In Karolinska Institutet they have been working on internationalizing the curriculum in five of their study programs, aiming at delivering four specific learning outcomes such as language competence, intercultural competence, international interdisciplinary learning and global engagement. Emma argues that these are skills that you can develop in, but also outside the classroom when you are exposed to new situations, like through mobility and other international experience. Right now, however, the university turn to webinars, trying to create a clear link between the skills gained from internationalization at home to the employability skills that are deemed important in a global labour market, also helping students put those skills into words. Finally, Emma stresses the importance of sustaining relations with partners and continuing to engage not only the students, but also the university staff in virtual projects related with global employability and intercultural skills.
For Clara Angileri from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan (Italy), the main challenge for her department of Experiential learning & Work experience abroad was immediately looking at alternative ways to keep students connected to the world of work. When the scheduled international internships were cancelled, Clara and her team focused on providing students with the one obvious alternative, a virtual internship opportunity. ‘Virtual internship programs is a true picture of the new real working world’ said Clara.
Another challenge was keeping their students engaged in the ‘Virtual World’. How did they achieve that? By keeping in touch with students via regular, individual meetings and taking a holistic approach towards students, so not just talking about their internship but also about their feelings and their well-being. UCSC also turned to employability webinars to provide students with useful tips and advice to make the best of the current situation. The university also leverages CareerProfessor, as a way to provide employability information on different cultures to students in a fun and efficient way.
Clara also stresses the importance of keeping connections alive. Thankfully, she mentions, many companies were happy to share virtual internship opportunities with students. She ends by saying that virtual (international) internships are as good as the in-person experience – they are just different, but both help students to get closer to a global career.
For more information about the webinar’s content and speakers you can have a look here. To access the webinar recording you can follow this link. For trying out the ongoing CareerProfessor offer click here for Europe, North America & Australia.
[1] The ISB, or International Student Barometer, is a global benchmarked survey into the student voice, looking at decision making, arrival, studying, living, support services and recommendation of international students.