Blog # 6: Experts advocate for global education

“The End of Internationalization of Higher Education: Myth or Reality?”  Discussion panel included four experts in higher educated who debated on how American students and universities can better prepare themselves to integrate with education internationally. These four experts have background in the study of international higher education. These four individuals at this panel discussion brought their perspective on how internationalization has impacted academia, and where there are holes in the system that need to be addressed. Hans de Wit categorized internationalization in two aspects which are mobility and curriculum. He believes that international education is the student’s physical and scholarly experience of worldly affairs, but the use of internationalization as a “numbers game” for an institution’s domestic reputation poses concerns. He also states that universities are starting to care less about academic opportunities offered by global markets and more about how they utilize them to increase revenue. The executive director and CEO of World Education Services, Mariam Assefa states that “there is a demand for U.S. higher education”. He also explained how higher education is being bought and sold as commodity which is making the United States academic talent shortcoming. She believes that internationalization can help universities financial gaps and therefore increase talent within the students. Tacila Bezzera is a graduate student in educational psychology who traveled from Brazil to UA. and she stated that some of her professors were unable to adapt to her because she was an international student with an undergraduate degree from a different country. She talks about how she felt discriminated because she was an international student when she was seeking help from her English professor on a writing assignment and later had to drop the class because the professor didn’t seem to want to help her with the assignment.  Jenny Lee an associate professor at the UA’s center for the Study of Higher Education stated a good point that “a lot of emphasis is put on educating international students and not enough on educating the faculty”. Lee also explains how there is more discrimination of international students that occur at national universities as well.

This is a social global problem because it is a worldwide issue that needs to be addressed more. With these experts creating this discussion panel to advocate for global education is a step closer to bettering education for international students. Jenny Lee makes a good point in this article in stating that professors need to be educated on how to deal with these certain situations, so that the international students don’t feel discriminated. I agree that professors need to be educated more as well because International education is becoming broader across the world.  

 http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/index.php/article/2012/02/experts_advocate_for_global_education