Understanding how they interrelate (the local/global) and
being able to adapt well to diverse situations and percep-
tions (multi-cultural), is to have a ‘global perspective’ in the
workplace.
Examples of professional skills sought by global
employers
Price Waterhouse Coopers
PwC run a professional development programme,
Ulysses, with strong emphasis on global reasoning and
positive world change.35 Their work increasingly includes
international development, CSR and sustainability.
“PwC's young people will have to take on some very
complex global challenges in the years to come, and they
will need more than just business skills and an MBA-
they will also have to be socially aware; possess wide
intercultural
communication skills; be thoughtful; committed to
accountability; and, above all, compassionate.”
Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO)36
VSO seeks the following qualities in those it employs
overseas:
■ self-assurance
■ flexibility and adaptability
■ a flair for solving problems
■ ability to work in a team
■ sensitivity to the needs of others
■ a desire to learn and help others learn
■ a positive and realistic commitment to volunteering
What do global skills look like? Differing
interpretations of global skills
The case for embedding global skills and the global dimen-
sion across engineering education is made and accepted very
widely. However, as the authors’ dialogue with academics
and stakeholders demonstrated, there is a wide range of
interpretations as to what global skills actually look like. This
section discusses some of these differing interpretations.
There is a range of initiatives within higher education which
are relevant to the global skills debate such as:
■ Education for sustainable development (ESD) agenda.
■ Widening access to higher education.
■ Developing ‘corporate social responsibility’ skills.
■ Teaching of ethics and human rights.
■ Developing entrepreneurial skills and social enterprise.
■ Developing students as global citizens.
■ Developing professional skills.
■ Promoting multi-disciplinary learning.
■ Promoting science, technology, engineering and maths
(STEM).
■ Promoting vocational learning, internships and work
experience placements.
■ Promoting closer university-business linkages especially in
science and innovation.
■ Internationalisation of higher education and attracting
foreign students to UK universities.
■ Developing the capacity of higher education institutions
in developing countries.
Underlying the range of issues and approaches raised in this
publication is the need for greater recognition of the inter-
connectedness of these perspectives. It is not suggested here
that there is one way of seeing global skills or global perspec-
tives, more a recognition of different approaches and noting
how they could potentially come closer together. Recogni-
tion of the need to bring these agendas closer together has
recently been recognised within the curriculum for schools in
England and Wales.
A review of recent policy studies shows a high degree of
alignment between different skills frameworks that address
the global dimension. For example: the transferable skills
and competencies identified as being relevant for sustainable
development are very similar to the professional skills
demanded generically by business and the CSR Academy’s
skills framework. The question is how to get these different
initiatives and drivers for global skills to tie together whilst
ensuring that critical thinking skills and recognition of mul-
tiple perspectives is not lost within the debate. This means
the inclusion of ‘soft’ professional skills that are generically
needed by employers such as communication, presentation
and interpersonal skills, critical and analytical skills, creativity,
innovation and adaptability.
Concepts related to the global dimension
|
Sustainability |
Cross-cultural capability |
|
Development education |
Diversity |
|
Global ethics |
Inclusivity |
|
Human rights |
Gender/Race/Ethnicity/ |
|
International relations |
Nationality/Disability |
|
Political analysis |
Business responsibility |
|
Justice and equality |
Citizenship |
Skills Frameworks relevant to the
global dimension
■ Global Citizenship secondary school map, National
Assembly of Wales,37
■ Development Education Association’s framework,38
■ Learning and skills for sustainable development,
(HEPS and Forum for the Future: 2004),39
■ ICE Joint Board of Moderators framework on
Sustainabilityand Design,40
■ The DFES framework, Putting the World in to World
Class Education41 and
■ The CSR academy’s Making CSR Happen: the
contribution of people management.42
The Global Engineer Page 11