Preparing for global leadership in STEM fields: Working in an international setting

Maria Nandadevi Cortes-Rodriguez; Renetta G. Tull; Miguel Alfonso Nino

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Conference: 2014 ASEE International Forum
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 14, 2014
Start Date: June 14, 2014
End Date: June 14, 2014
Conference Session: Track 2 - Session 1
Tagged Topic: Faculty Development
Page Count: 10
Page Numbers: 20.31.1 - 20.31.10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--17194
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/17194
Download Count: 437

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Miguel Alfonso Nino Virginia Polytechnic and State University orcid.org/0000-0002-4169-506X

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Miguel A. Nino is a training, development, and e-learning professional. He earned his BA in International Business from Lindenwood University, his MA in Instructional Systems Development from University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and he is currently completing his PhD in Instructional Design & Technology with a certificate in Learning Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His research interests focus on informal and collaborative learning, professional development, STEM education, intercultural training, e-portfolios best practices, and training evaluation and measurement. He has had the opportunity to present at regional, national, and international conferences his works and collaborations in these areas.
In the field of e-learning and development, he has collaborated with organizations such as Johns Hopkins, Special Olympics, and the Graduate School at UMBC. Currently, he is one of the members of the Learning Transformation Research Group at Virginia Tech. In addition, Mr. Nino is a certified public translator, conference interpreter, and copywriter. In 2011, he founded Surplus Solutions, offering a wide variety of solutions to businesses, including technical translations and training facilitation. Contact information: mnino@vt.edu.

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Abstract

Preparing for global leadership in STEM fields: Working in an international setting In our globalized world, we need professionals who can adapt to the interaction ofcultures and countries. Students interested in pursuing careers in organizations that have a globalor international focus need to be culturally competent. Cultural competence (the ability tointeract effectively with people from other cultures and socio-economic backgrounds) can beachieved through interactions with colleagues and people from other cultures, and throughexperiences abroad. Our university’s Graduate Student Development unit has added workshopson international career opportunities and preparation for working in other countries through ourgraduate student professional development workshop series. The Graduate School, the Office ofPostdoctoral Affairs, and our state’s National Science Foundation’s Alliance for GraduateEducation and the Professoriate (AGEP) co-sponsor these activities for graduate students andpostdoctoral scholars. AGEP is dedicated to increasing the number and diversity of PhDgraduates in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), with a focuson developing a new generation of professors. Our goal for 2014 is to provide students withmore international experiences and to open doors for them to have careers outside of the US. To expose students to international leadership settings, we started with three FocusAreas: 1) Local U.S.-based workshops that discuss globalization; 2) Involving students ininternational conferences; and 3) Providing opportunities for graduate students to have short-term international experiences in laboratories in other parts of the world, and exposure to long-term international careers. To date, Focus Area 1 has included seminars with speakers fromProfessors Beyond Borders (a program that grew out of the International Institute of Education),faculty with projects in other countries, the Peaceworkers Fellows Program (part of the PeaceCorps), the Fulbright program, and advanced graduate students from countries other than theU.S. These seminars, combined with specific workshops on cultural competence, have promotedmentoring and interaction with people from different international institutions. In Focus Area 2,we have involved graduate students in projects in Central and South America through the Latinand Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI) and the World EngineeringEducation Forum (WEEF). Through these organizations, and through connections with theStudent Platform for Engineering Education Development (World SPEED) and their GlobalDevelopment Forum, our students have actively participated in meetings in Panama, Mexico,and Colombia. We are currently planning participation for the 2014 LACCEI conference inEcuador. To facilitate Focus Area 3, our AGEP has been working with STEM faculty to sharecosts to send graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to conferences and to have short-termresearch experiences. Our underrepresented STEM minority and women graduate studentspostdocs are taking advantage of these opportunities. To date, we have funded opportunitiesranging from 1 week to 3 months in Paris, the Czech Republic, and Mexico. In 2014, we willpartner with a College of Engineering in Mexico to facilitate visiting professorships, and willcontinue to partner with the U.S. Department of State and other organizations to expose studentsto global opportunities.

Citation
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Cortes-Rodriguez, M. N., & Tull, R. G., & Nino, M. A. (2014, June), Preparing for global leadership in STEM fields: Working in an international setting Paper presented at 2014 ASEE International Forum, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--17194

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -  Preparing for global leadership in STEM fields: Working in an international                                    setting        In our globalized world, we need professionals who can adapt to the interaction ofcultures and countries. Students interested in pursuing careers in organizations that have a globalor international focus need to be culturally competent. Cultural competence (the ability tointeract effectively with people from other cultures and socio-economic backgrounds) can beachieved through interactions with colleagues and people from other cultures, and throughexperiences abroad. Our university’s Graduate Student Development unit has added workshopson international career opportunities and preparation for working in other countries through ourgraduate student professional development workshop series. The Graduate School, the Office ofPostdoctoral Affairs, and our state’s National Science Foundation’s Alliance for GraduateEducation and the Professoriate (AGEP) co-sponsor these activities for graduate students andpostdoctoral scholars. AGEP is dedicated to increasing the number and diversity of PhDgraduates in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), with a focuson developing a new generation of professors. Our goal for 2014 is to provide students withmore international experiences and to open doors for them to have careers outside of the US.        To expose students to international leadership settings, we started with three FocusAreas: 1) Local U.S.-based workshops that discuss globalization; 2) Involving students ininternational conferences; and 3) Providing opportunities for graduate students to have short-term international experiences in laboratories in other parts of the world, and exposure to long-term international careers. To date, Focus Area 1 has included seminars with speakers fromProfessors Beyond Borders (a program that grew out of the International Institute of Education),faculty with projects in other countries, the Peaceworkers Fellows Program (part of the PeaceCorps), the Fulbright program, and advanced graduate students from countries other than theU.S. These seminars, combined with specific workshops on cultural competence, have promotedmentoring and interaction with people from different international institutions. In Focus Area 2,we have involved graduate students in projects in Central and South America through the Latinand Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI) and the World EngineeringEducation Forum (WEEF). Through these organizations, and through connections with theStudent Platform for Engineering Education Development (World SPEED) and their GlobalDevelopment Forum, our students have actively participated in meetings in Panama, Mexico,and Colombia. We are currently planning participation for the 2014 LACCEI conference inEcuador. To facilitate Focus Area 3, our AGEP has been working with STEM faculty to sharecosts to send graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to conferences and to have short-termresearch experiences. Our underrepresented STEM minority and women graduate studentspostdocs are taking advantage of these opportunities. To date, we have funded opportunitiesranging from 1 week to 3 months in Paris, the Czech Republic, and Mexico. In 2014, we willpartner with a College of Engineering in Mexico to facilitate visiting professorships, and willcontinue to partner with the U.S. Department of State and other organizations to expose studentsto global opportunities.
AU  - Maria Nandadevi Cortes-Rodriguez
AU  - Renetta G. Tull
AU  - Miguel Alfonso Nino
CY  - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA  - 2014/06/14
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Preparing for global leadership in STEM fields: Working in an international setting
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/17194
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--17194
ER  -