Skip to main content
Feature

Toward Global Competence

PARKER WILSON

The photos in this article are the winners from the Kennedy Center’s annual student photo contest.

Going abroad is about much more than experiencing the joy—and difficulty—of travel, filling your Instagram feed with adventuring, or even doing your GE or major coursework in a different country. It is about gaining deep international understanding and know-how—something that is becoming more and more crucial as the world develops and connects. At BYU, a key part of students’ experience abroad is developing global competence, and the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies is at the forefront, leading campus toward this important aim.

GLOBALLY COMPETENT STUDENTS ARE LIFELONG LEARNERS. THEY ARE ABLE TO ADAPT AND CONTRIBUTE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING TO A WORLD THAT IS CONSTANTLY, RAPIDLY EVOLVING.

GLOBAL COMPETENCE IS A CRUCIAL SHIFT IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION IN A CHANGING WORLD. STUDENTS EVERYWHERE DESERVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY AND CONTRIBUTE AS GLOBAL CITIZENS.
ANTHONY JACKSON, VICE PRESIDENT FOR EDUCATION, ASIA SOCIETY

“Global Competence,” Center for Global Education, asiasociety.org/education/global-competence

TRULY GLOBAL LEADERS ACT AS BRIDGE BUILDERS, CONNECTORS OF RESOURCES AND TALENT ACROSS CULTURAL AND POLITICAL BOUNDARIES—RELENTLESSLY DEDICATED TO FINDING NEW WAYS OF CREATING VALUE. THEY DON’T JUST THINK AND ACT GLOBAL, THEY ARE GLOBAL.
ÁNGEL CABRERA

“What Being Global Really Means,” International Business, Harvard Business Review, 19 April 2012, hbr.org/2012/04/what-being-global-really-means

Jake Peters

In truth, the world is not nearly as connected as [some] writers would have us believe. Despite talk of a new, wired world where information, ideas, money, and people can move around the planet faster than ever before, just a fraction of what we consider globalization actually exists. The portrait that emerges from a hard look at the way companies, people, and states interact is a world that’s only beginning to realize the potential of true global integration. . . . Globalization’s future is more fragile than you know.
Pankaj Ghemawat

“Sovereignty, Borders, and Real Life,” in Global Politics in a Changing World: A Reader, ed. Richard W. Mansbach and Edward Rhodes (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2009), 21.

A USEFUL WAY OF THINKING ABOUT WHERE CULTURE COMES FROM IS THE FOLLOWING: CULTURE IS THE WAY IN WHICH A GROUP OF PEOPLE SOLVES PROBLEMS. . . . A PROBLEM THAT IS REGULARLY SOLVED DISAPPEARS FROM CONSCIOUSNESS AND BECOMES A BASIC ASSUMPTION, AN UNDERLYING PREMISE. . . .

A FISH DISCOVERS ITS NEED FOR WATER ONLY WHEN IT IS NO LONGER IN IT. OUR OWN CULTURE IS LIKE WATER TO A FISH. IT SUSTAINS US. WE LIVE AND BREATHE THROUGH IT.
ALFONS TROMPENAARS

Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Business (Burr Ridge, Illinois: Irwin Professional, 1994) 6, 21.

Kyle Riches

While basic skill development and workforce preparation skills are important in the American education system, a paradigm shift must take place recognizing that in order to be truly globally competitive, we must be globally competent.
Justin W. Van Fleet and Rebecca Winthrop

“To be Globally Competitive, We Must be Globally Competent,” Up Front, Brookings Institution, 29 September 2010, brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2010/09/29/to-be-globally-competitive-we-must-be-globally-competent

Cassidy Harris

THE CRUX OF INTERCULTURAL ADAPTATION IS THE ABILITY TO HAVE AN ALTERNATIVE CULTURAL EXPERIENCE. INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE RECEIVED LARGELY MONOCULTURAL SOCIALIZATION NORMALLY HAVE ACCESS ONLY TO THEIR OWN CULTURAL WORLDVIEW, SO THEY ARE UNABLE TO EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEIR OWN PERCEPTION AND THAT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE CULTURALLY DIFFERENT. THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERCULTURAL SENSITIVITY DESCRIBES HOW WE GAIN THE ABILITY TO CREATE AN ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENCE THAT MORE OR LESS MATCHES THAT OF PEOPLE IN ANOTHER CULTURE. PEOPLE WHO CAN DO THIS HAVE AN INTERCULTURAL WORLDVIEW.
MILTON J. BENNETT

“Becoming Interculturally Competent,” in Toward Multiculturalism: A Reader in Multicultural Education,
ed. J. S. Wurzel (Newton, Massachusetts: Intercultural Resource Corporation, 2004); emphasis in original.

A SOLID UNDERSTANDING OF GLOBALIZATION IS KEY TO AN ENGINEER’S SUCCESS IN TODAY’S GLOBAL SOCIETY. GLOBALIZATION INVOLVES THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE WORLD ECONOMY HAS BECOME TIGHTLY LINKED WITH MUCH OF THE CHANGE TRIGGERED BY TECHNOLOGY; TO UNDERSTAND OTHER CULTURES, ESPECIALLY THE SOCIETAL ELEMENTS OF THESE CULTURES; TO WORK EFFECTIVELY IN MULTINATIONAL TEAMS; TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY—BOTH ORALLY AND IN WRITING—IN THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LANGUAGE OF ENGLISH; TO RECOGNIZE AND UNDERSTAND ISSUES OF SUSTAINABILITY; TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPARENCY WHILE WORKING WITH LOCAL POPULATIONS; AND TO UNDERSTAND PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AROUND THE WORLD AND IN THE COUNTRY IN WHICH ONE IS WORKING. IT WILL BE THESE FUNDAMENTAL CAPACITIES THAT WILL ENABLE 21ST-CENTURY ENGINEERS TO DEVELOP INTO PROFESSIONALS CAPABLE OF WORKING SUCCESSFULLY BOTH DOMESTICALLY AND GLOBALLY.
PATRICIA D. GALLOWAY

The 21st-Century Engineer: A Proposal for Engineering Education Reform (Reston, Virginia: American Society of Civil Engineers, 2008), 3.

Bayley Goldsberry

Leaders who possess a global mindset are able to interpret and decode situations from multiple, even competing, points of view. They have an insatiable interest to learn about other cultures. They care to understand other people’s perspectives and suspend their judgment to do so. They are knowledgeable about economic and political issues around the world and can grasp the inherent complexity of international affairs from multiple national perspectives. Finally, they nurture relationships with associates and friends around the world and have a unique ability to transcend cultural barriers and cultivate trust.
Ángel Cabrera

“What Being Global Really Means,” International Business, Harvard Business Review, 19 April 2012, hbr.org/2012/04/what-being-global-really-means

ENGLISH IS AN IMPORTANT LANGUAGE . . . ,
AND TO THAT EXTENT, IT IS EASY FOR AMERICANS TO TRAVEL AND MAINTAIN A CERTAIN LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT WITH PEOPLE IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. THAT, IN SOME SENSE, IS A LIMITATION . . . BECAUSE THERE IS A SENSE THAT SOMEHOW THE REST OF THE WORLD ALL SPEAKS ENGLISH ANYWAY. . . . ONE CAN GET THE IMPRESSION THAT ENGLISH MIGHT EVEN BE ENOUGH. . . .

. . . IF THE GOAL OF THE OVERSEAS ENGAGEMENT FOR AMERICANS IS BUILDING TRUST, IS REACHING AGREEMENT, IS ESTABLISHING RAPPORT WITH PEOPLE, IS UNDERSTANDING NOT ONLY HOW WE SEE THE WORLD BUT HOW THEY VIEW THE WORLD—WHAT THEIR ASPIRATIONS ARE—THEN IT IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE GET OUT OF OUR OWN SKINS AND THAT WE SOMEHOW LOOK AT THE WORLD IN OTHER WAYS. THAT IS THE CRITICALITY OF LEARNING OTHER PEOPLE’S LANGUAGE.
DAN E. DAVIDSON

“Insight: Dan Davidson,” interview, YouTube, 12 November 2013, 1:11–3:08, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HI_Gp0LyFc