Weaving a Web: Linking Education Abroad with Career Exploration

Andrew Law, Ph.D.Director, Off-Campus Study, Denison University

Eleanor LucasPublic Health Studies Major, Johns Hopkins University

Mieka Smart, MHSPublic Health Studies Program, Johns Hopkins University

Director, Uganda: Childhood Health & Safety

Malene TorpExecutive Director, Danish Institute for Study Abroad

Weaving a Web:Linking education abroad with career exploration

CIEE 2014

“Stories are wondrous things. And they are dangerous .... For once a story is told, it cannot be called back. Once told, it is loose in the world .... So you have to be careful with the stories you tell. And you have to watch out for the stories you are told.”

Thomas King, author, scholar & broadcaster

Higher education is not, per se, about mastery. This is because neither liberal nor professional education is a magical elixir that, once ingested, guarantees a student success in navigating social and cultural difference, in engaging professional roles and responsibilities, or in living a morally and ethically informed life.

“Change happens; transformation is intentional”

The recent book How College Works, a longitudinal study of Hamilton College, makes the simple but crucial points that “personal relationships are the prerequisite for learning,” and that “personal cennections are often the central mechanism and daily motiviators of the student experience.” In short, learning is a relational activity, dependent on teaching, advising, and mentoring.

Listening to Learnand

Learning to Listen

“The Duke”

“Mumbles”

Weaving the Web – at DIS

• Pedagogical Philosophy

– Experiential learning

– Problem-based learning

– Interdisciplinary approach

– Teamwork

• Faculty – teach what they do

• Career resources

• Alumni research

Combining Theory, Practice, & Reflection

Student Video – Faculty Teach What They Do

• Workshop 1: Resume building, work culture, job sites

• DIS CareerGate: GraduateLandpartnership

• International Career Night

• Workshop 2: Resume building, interviewing, and applying for graduate school

Making Study Abroad a Career Advantage

Recognize: What did you do?

The Basics - Outside the Comfort Zone: Lived with a homestay,, Adapted to a new academic style, Engaged with a new culture

In the Classroom: Learned about European and Danish ways of thinking and acting in a professional context, group projects

Outside the Classroom: Presented at Carlsberg to their Head of Marketing, Pitched a start-up idea on study tour, Met key players in Danish industry

Yes, you lived in Denmark with a Danish Family

Yes, you heard key speakers from multinationals

Yes, you presented at Carlsberg

…but

Reflect: What Did You Learn? Be Specific!

3 interviewers and 1 candidate (then roles are swapped)

• Help students to articulate the study abroad experience

• Students see the interview methods and techniques of their peers

• Gets students to think from the employer’s perspective

• Feedback round focuses on strengths and weaknesses

Workshop Example

DIS Alumni Survey95% or more of the students “strongly agreed/agreed:”

More than 9 of 10 DIS alums “agreed/strongly agreed” with an additional two items:

“There is a certain tenet of the Danish mentality that had a profound impact on my mindset.(...) I think what living in Denmark did for me was allow me to accept the many outcomes of life, knowing that even if they don't seem like a power move up a career ladder, they are all valuable and have much to offer”.

DIS Alumni 2013.

DIS Alumni Survey – 12 month after study abroad (2013)

”Preparing business students for the global workplace through study abroad”

Journal of International Education in Business, vol. 6 No. 2, 2013

Samantha Brandauer

Gettysburg College (now @ Dickinson College)

Susanne Hovmand

Danish Institute for Study Abroad

References

Career Exploration—A Priority in Study Abroad?

Mieka Smart, MHS

Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

Public Health Studies Program

Director, Uganda: Childhood Health and Society

Eleanor Lucas

Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

Public Health Studies Major

© 2014, Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.

So, you want to study abroad?

• Answers come in various forms

• Sometimes loaded with GPA, mental health, financial issues

• Can be a perfect opportunity/springboard for otherwise dreaded conversations about career exploration.


What do you want to get out of it?

• I want to learn {insert language}.

• I want to get out of the “Hopkins bubble”.

• I want to figure out whether I really have a future in global health.


What are your competing priorities?

• Double major versus study abroad

• Go away for summer versus during semester

• Study an extracurricular interest versus completing major requirements

• Study somewhere completely foreign versus pursuing deeper exploration of established interest


Problems• Study abroad is increasingly becoming the standard.

Students who are financially disadvantaged are left out of the picture.

• Pre-requisites for post-bac goals leave little time for study abroad.

• The sometimes paralyzing “Paradox of Choice”.

• Students see study abroad as either social/cultural, sometimes career-building; rarely do they see both.


QUESTIONS:

What are the perceived career benefits of study abroad for your students?

What are the biggest obstacles to students gaining valuable career-building skills while abroad?


BenefitsEleanor LucasSeniorPublic Health Majorc/o Dec 2014Working in Drug Safety/Effectiveness at JHSPH


Faculty outside of academiaProfessor worked for a pharmaceutical company discussed advertising and patient engagementAble to ask “what education did you need to get where you are?”

Met the woman who works to negotiate what doctors in Denmark are paid.

New fields were introduced

Municipality research thru case studiesHealth systems research thru site visits


Where do I want to work?LocationColleaguesAtmosphereSubject/content area


Exposure to various agencies and

people from different cultures.● Interface with professionals; came face to face with

potential future professions.● Learning aspects of several career possibilities.● Homestay with family in rural Uganda & 4 months in

Denmark● Cultural immersion--helps to make decisions about what

aspect of Public Health is best & location for future career.


Recalling course material and

seeing it in the real worldGlobal PH Since WW II

Learned about welfare states. I saw one in Denmark.

Study abroad corroborated what I was taught and filled in the gaps about why it could work there but not in the US.

Exposure to several models/systems:US UgandaDenmarkLatviaFinland


QUESTION:

On which do you and your

students focus?Building career-targeted credentials?

OR

Gaining social/cultural experience?

BOTH?


Vison/StorytellingMemories

JobInternshipCourseworkIndependent StudyFellowships/Scholarships

Afterwards


Outcomes: Critical Thinking


Outcomes: Sustained Service/

Engagement


Outcomes: Touchstones for related

future endeavors

As education abroad professionals, have we prioritized consideration of broad-based skill development as a key outcome for education abroad? Should career development be an important priority for every student going abroad? What are effective ways to help study abroad students integrate their thinking about their educational and career development trajectories?

Weaving a Web:Linking education abroad with career exploration

CIEE 2014

Weaving a Web: Linking Education Abroad with Career Exploration

Education

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