Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Blog 3: University Ranking Shows Boom in Global Student Mobility


Blog 3: University Ranking Shows Boom in Global Student Mobility

A rise in international students attending universities around the globe has caught the attention of those assembling the annual QS World Universities Ranking, a table containing the top 100 universities of the year based on a number of factors such as opinions of perspective employers, academics, and an international student and faculty count.  John O Leary, an academic advisor for Quacquarelli Symonds, stated that 2012s latest rankings have shown almost a 10 percent rise in international student numbers.  QS believes that the most successful universities compete to attract the worlds best students and faculty.  As this is said, a rising number of ranking systems has become available to prospective students and upon this rise, controversy has presented itself.  Many are asking, how objective and scientific are these rankings?  With the current number of international students reaching 3.4 million, QS has expressed that their ranking system is produced annually to help international students make informed choices on picking a university that can be deemed their own.
 As a student of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, I have, on numerous accounts, been informed of the international program offered here. This program seems to be amazing in the fact that students are allowed to spend a semester abroad for the equivalent cost of one semester at UNCG. So as it seems, we Spartans are contributing to the ongoing rise associated with the QS university ranking system and therefore could possibly benefit from this resource when selecting where to study abroad. From a personal perspective, there is much benefit associated with world travel if a student, or anyone at that matter, takes on the new environment with an open mind and a will to learn. Understanding cultures other than ones own has become a significant factor in what seems to be all fields.  Business, academics, science, mathematics, social work, and human resources, along with many others, are examples of fields that have come to involve, depending on the situation at hand, work in diverse environmental settings.  Knowledge of multiple cultures can enable one to effectively communicate to a copious assortment of people without confusion during an exchange of words and/or non-verbal connections as well.
In conclusion, globalization of education when used to ones advantage, has ability to increase the amount of knowledge one will learn in a foreign country by "killing 2 birds with one stone." A student is learning a culture through submersion and can adopt communicate skills used when conversing with those representing the particular culture, as well as learning course material through lectures, textbooks, and assignments taught and given by possible foreign instructors. For those looking to advance in any given career dealing with diversity, studying abroad may be the best way to gain the necessary skills to do so.

            



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