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INTERNATIONAL STUDY OPENS DOORS
BY SARAH MARQUER
Spending even a short time abroad on an exchange program can make a significant, positive difference when it comes to preparing a student for his or her professional career in their home country. There is wide agreement that more Egyptians should take advantage of the exchange programs available to them and that businesses and government should work to create additional opportunities for exchange opportunities.
According to an article by Allan Goodman, president and CEO of the Institute of International Education (IIE), titled “The Case for International Education,” published August 7 on the website www.America.gov, an exchange program abroad “prepares you for the constant transformation that will be required in a 21st-century career” and “will put you at an economic advantage as you acquire the kind of intercultural communication skills that today’s employers value.”
Elizabeth Khalifa, regional director of the IIE MENA office in Cairo, is a huge proponent of exchange programs abroad. “If you look at world leaders... you’ll find the vast majority have had some kind of international exchange,” says Khalifa. “We’re pretty convinced that [exchange] experiences contribute toward their ability to innovate, to think, to create.” In line with the findings of the report and Goodman’s article, she believes that exchange programs abroad – whether short- or long-term, degree or non-degree – have valuable, transferrable benefits in one’s professional career.
Moreover, Khalifa believes that for Egyptians to compete successfully, they have to understand how to deal with people across borders, be familiar with commercial transaction procedures in different countries and speak different languages. An exchange program abroad is an excellent way to gain such insight and skills, she says.
Gasser Gad El Kareem is one case in point. Gad El Kareem received his master’s degree in public health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of London in 2004, thanks to his participation in the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP). The program has operated in Egypt since 2002 and provides opportunities for postgraduate study abroad. Gad El Kareem believes that his experience in London was life-changing and skill-enhancing on both a personal and professional level. Studying abroad allowed him to receive a public health education that was unavailable to him in Egypt. “Public health is neglected in Egypt; it is not well developed,” says Gad El Kareem. “There isn’t even an Arabic translation for the term ‘public health.’”
The education system and style of teaching and learning in Britain is very different from Egypt, Gad El Kareem says. In Britain, he was forced to develop problem-solving and research skills rather than rely on memorization, a trademark of Egyptian universities, he says. As a result, Gad El Kareem says, he improved his English, writing and negotiation skills. “They [employers in Egypt] want to hire someone who has these skills,” says Gad El Kareem, who works as a health program officer at the International Organization for Migration.
David Godsted, the country director of AMIDEAST in Egypt, an organization that manages the IFP and several other exchange programs, believes that experience abroad helps individuals become more independent, flexible and adaptable. “All of these things are traits that any manager is going to be looking for when hiring,” says Godsted, pointing out that AMIDEAST employs several Egyptians who have studied or worked abroad.
While pursuing a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering at the American University in Cairo, Mohsen Ali spent a year at the University of California, San Diego, one of the top 10 schools in the US for mechanical engineering. “Being able to compete with students from all around the globe was definitely an enhancement to my academic experience,” says Ali. Since graduating in 2007, Ali has worked as a mechanical engineer for PICO Energy and is currently based in Texas. “The management at that time was seeking employees that could fit comfortably in different cultures and environments,” he notes.
Khalifa personifies the benefits of diverse international experience. A US citizen who studied in Lebanon and France as a young adult, Khalifa was able to quickly advance her early career in banking when she entered the industry. “I worked with Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. From the very moment I started there, they put me on the Middle East because I had already had exposure to Lebanon, had visited Egypt and spoke... some Arabic and French,” she says. “Opportunities were being opened [to me] because of the languages, because of the cultural understanding... and that helped [my] career significantly.” Young people who engage in an exchange program today “can turn down options; they’ve got no problem finding employment and at salaries that shock me, actually,” she says.
While the benefits of exchange programs can be substantial, many Egyptians face a variety of obstacles to participation. Khalifa, Godsted, Gad El Kareem and Ali agree that cost is usually the biggest hurdle. Khalifa says the cost of studying abroad can vary greatly, depending on the type of institution and whether the study is degree or non-degree. Costs per semester generally range from $11,000 to $25,000.
Students at some Egyptian universities, such as Cairo or Ain Shams, who participate in study abroad, face another hurdle: there is a strong chance their overseas education will not be recognized by their home schools. “There could be a credit transfer issue,” says Khalifa, who suggests that this deters many students from studying abroad.
Another major concern is the potential for “brain drain,” when a country’s brightest, most talented and dynamic individuals remain abroad. While Godsted and Khalifa recognize the concern, they differ on its implications for Egypt. “A lot of the [IIE] students come back feeling like they’ve had such an opportunity that they want to give back,” says Khalifa. She says many Egyptians prefer to return to their country eventually, but that remaining abroad isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “They may never come back, but maybe they will become a faculty member at a US university that starts an exchange program with an Egyptian university. Or maybe they will get involved... in a company that decides to open up some kind of bridge of cooperation with Egypt.” In any case, she adds, the real issue is the conditions at home: “They will come back... if there’s an environment in Egypt that draws them back.”
Although the fellowship program that gave him the grant to study in London required that he return to Egypt, Gad El Kareem says he never considered working abroad. “I wanted to be here; there’s a lot to do here,” he says. Godsted believes it is vital for exchange programs to require their participants to return to their home countries. “There’s no doubt that the person... who studies abroad is going to personally benefit from that experience. Their family will benefit from that experience. Their earning power will increase,” says Godsted. “If someone comes back and becomes a manager, a director or an entrepreneur and starts a business, now you’re talking about dozens if not hundreds of people who benefit from that person’s actions.” He maintains that individuals who have the chance to study and work abroad have a responsibility to return and disseminate their knowledge and skills. “The whole country can benefit from that,” he says.
To mitigate the cost of study abroad, Godsted recommends pursuing a less expensive exchange experience closer to home. “You can think a bit more locally and still get exposed,” says Godsted, who suggests investigating opportunities in the Gulf region and Lebanon.
Additionally, he notes, the private sector can help lessen the financial burden. “Companies are now starting to consider their own scholarship opportunities and there are providers like AMIDEAST that can help them to do their outreach and to connect them to resources,” he says. He cites the Onsi Sawiris Scholarship Program, sponsored by Orascom Construction Industries, as an excellent example of a business facilitating academic exchange programs to the US. “Orascom recognizes this will benefit Egypt in many different ways: the projects these individuals will manage and the companies that they will benefit,” says Godsted.
Godsted advises Egyptians not to overlook less well-known, high-caliber academic institutions that might be easier to get into and more affordable. “Colleges and universities you wouldn’t expect to be interested in exchange programs are offering discounted tuition [or] are offering in-state tuition to students who are coming from abroad,” he says. In the US, for example, the following schools offer discounted rates to incoming students from abroad: Boise State University; California State University, Los Angeles; Michigan Technological University; Ohio State University; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; University of Missouri, Kansas City; University of Toledo; and others.
Studying abroad is an investment that can pay dividends for individuals, business and countries. “The more cultures you are exposed to, the more new ways of doing things you are exposed to, the more reflective you can be about picking the best of those cultures and applying them in the workplace,” says Godsted. A globally savvy workforce can only be an asset for Egypt, says Khalfa: “I think it’s very much at the heart of a successful economy’s growth in this era.
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