Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Education
Humanising international higher education
Excerpts from Dr Fay Patel’s opinion piece published in University World News
Difficulties for international students – in particular those students who struggle to raise funds through family and other loans to enable them to enroll in international study programmes – begins with their recruitment. They are charged a higher tuition fee rate than domestic students.
Institutions rarely differentiate between international students who can afford the high cost of international education and those who cannot afford international education, although they too aspire for the same opportunities.
Institutions continue to divide up the international student dollars into salaries for academic and non-academic employees (including senior leadership teams) and research and development programmes and infrastructure.
As noted by Alex Usher: “Fees for international students, which average about four times what domestic students pay, now equal 12% of operating revenue and 35% of all fees collected by institutions, and these proportions continue to climb.”
Many international students struggle through strife, hardship, prejudice, discrimination and against the odds to arrive on campus with the required sum of tuition funds. Several get the short end of the stick when they join the local workforce, and are underpaid.
The way forward for a more sustainable model
What will humanising international higher education mean in a COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 world? Who will be the architects of the new international higher education paradigm and why?
These are the fundamental questions to begin the dialogue of who, how and what will shape the ‘glocalisation’ of learning in international higher education in response to the problems of internationalisation that we have come to know.
Some focus areas should be:
• Respect for humanity
• Ethical frameworks that will deter institutions from exploitative models
• A ‘glocal development for sustainable social change’ agenda
• Glocalisation of learning partnerships and frameworks from the developing community perspective so that compassion, kindness and empathy will form the basis for shared co-construction of knowledge.
International student communities should lead this agenda as advocates for change.
COVID-19 has had a sobering effect on the international higher education fraternity, which is now admitting that overdependency on international student recruitment (and the resulting money) was a myopic and risky strategy.
In moving forward, glocalisation of learning encourages mutually respectful partnerships to build sustainable futures based on socially just and responsible principles.
Career
Ways to bridge the maternity gap in women’s careers and resume
Excerpts from an article published in the India Today Web Desk
Maternity could be one of the best phases of a woman’s life, but for some, it takes a toll on their career. According to an online survey, motherhood challenges (45%) and maternity (35%) are the most common reasons for women to take a break from their careers.
Moreover, since the shelf-life of technical skills is getting shorter, learning agility, adaptability and creative thinking are becoming key differentiators in the marketplace and making it more difficult for women to restart their career and explain the gap in their resume.
There are ways in which women who are planning to re-join the workforce can prepare themselves ahead of time and be better prepared for the actual interview when the right job opening comes along. Let’s take a look at these:
1. Make time to network and volunteer
Ideally, a stay-at-home mom who hopes to return to work in the future should be making time to volunteer within her field and to continue networking during her time away. Volunteer work is a great way to keep one’s skills fresh and to remain connected with others working in the same profession.
Volunteer work can be used to showcase one’s strengths as well as growth during the time away on one’s resume. The best way to include these experiences on the resume is by focusing on what all new technical skills were learned from each volunteer position.
2. Be honest about the career gap
Women need to embrace their maternity break rather than be wary of it! Many people temporarily leave the workforce for one reason or another, some for voluntary reasons like taking care of young children or going on a six-month sabbatical, or even as unsuspected layoff.
There’s no need to hide the career gap, in fact, be honest about the reasons behind it. A career break is a perfect time to re-calibrate and power up. The real trick is how one positions the break. Put a positive spin on the time off. When one shows that the time away from work was positive, potential employers are more likely to see it that way too and will be more than willing to accept it.
3. Reskill
The best part about breaks is the ample time for reskilling. Whether it is to enhance one’s own brand when meeting potential employers, or even give oneself a boost of confidence before job interviews, reskilling options can emerge as the weapon of choice for women who want to upgrade their skills before going back to work.
New mothers can take online classes or learn a new skill during the break. With the world going digital, possessing technical skills such as coding, knowing various digital marketing tools, etc., can help one stand out from the crowd.
Online platforms like ours provide a great way to not only upskill their tech skills but also helps in getting placed with high paying jobs. Moreover, the study now pays later scheme helps overcome the financial burdens and gives a fair chance to learn.
The transition from employee to mother to working mother can be a remarkable shift. However, using the break as an advantage can definitely make the return to the workforce easier.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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