Global Graduates

Globalization is interpreted here as a complex of processes shaped and driven by human agents; ‘their value systems and the means they employ to achieve their goals’ are the ‘primary creators’ of the world (Group of Lisbon, 1995, p. 14, cited in Strijbos, 2002, p. 230). Among these people are our students and graduates. How the world impacts upon them and how they go on to impact upon the world are related matters. How they experience their university will influence both – for good or for ill. Living with, working with, shaping futures with diverse others locally and globally is fundamental to the well-being of our students and to the well-being of the global and local communities to which they will contribute. Enabling our students to participate positively is the key driver for the internationalization and equalization of the student learning experience. This chapter explores how daily encounters with increasingly complex human diversity are framing the multicultural and globalizing world for our students and our graduates. Enabling students to respond positively to this is not a small matter. It requires more than skills acquisition. It is about shifting their identities: developing a ‘new paradigm’ (Fantini, 2003, p. 15) for how they view themselves in the world, and moving beyond established ethnic or national identifications of self and others.