Why Study Abroad?
The growing centrality of international affairs to American life can hardly be overstated. Advances in communication and transportation technology over the past half-century have made the world increasingly interconnected. This new era of global exchange has created a marketplace of ideas in which citizens of the world from distinct social, cultural, religious, and linguistic backgrounds cooperate and compete on a daily basis. As the Texas legislature recently recognized, “the Lone Star State’s future is inextricably tied to that of the entire world.” Today, it is a truism that successful businesses, universities, and governments depend on a global perspective.
Our Provost, Dr. Sheldon Ekland-Olson, has placed an increased emphasis on international education here at UT-Austin so that we might, in his words, “better engage the world in which we live.” And the Texas legislature has formally identified international education as “an essential component of modern education.” In HR 143, the legislature specifically proclaimed “international education is critical to promoting a broadened worldview and thereby preparing Texans for life and work in the global economy.”
Scholars and lawmakers are far from alone in placing increased emphasis on internationalization. Mr. John Arcairo, a senior vice president of a major consulting and management firm, recently told Kiplinger’s Business Forecasts that increased interest in international education is welcome because “really qualified workers who are comfortable working across cultures are always in short supply.”
Business executives who can cope in a global economy are but one example of the kinds of professionals with special, internationally oriented skills that the nation will need in the coming decades. Similar preparation will be demanded of those going into other professions such as journalism, law, primary and secondary school teaching, public health, government, diplomacy, and the like.
International education is now commonly regarded as a professional necessity, and many educators believe that students who leave college without having had a significant “globalizing” experience will increasingly be considered less than fully educated. In the 21st Century, the proverbially well-rounded education requires living and learning through direct experience in a culture beyond one’s own. Today, the value of international education is no longer up for debate.
- faculty & staff
- parents
- non UT students
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"International education is an essential component of modern education, and is critical to promoting a broadened worldview and thereby preparing Texans for life and work in the global economy."