Foreign students: benefits in the classroom

Leanda Lee - PhD. Assistant Professor, School of Management, Leadership and Government. Coordinator MBA Program and Coordinator Career Centre, USJ

Over the last few months there have been a number of university Career Days and event-type public Career Fairs in Macau. The interest that organisations have shown in attending is indicative of the demand for new graduates in the workplace. Industry is not only seeking as many graduates as the tertiary institutions can deliver (approximately 3,500 per year over all tertiary programs) but is also looking for quality candidates. The former reluctance of the government to remove restrictions on positions in local universities to foreign students was partly to ensure that positions were protected for our local students much in the way that our labour force is protected against incursions from foreign labour. So on the surface it appears a little paradoxical that the Tertiary Education Services Office has indicated that more spaces will be made available to high quality foreign students.
It augurs well, however, for the quality of education in Macau that our student base be more diversified. Macau has the money to invest in the best possible education for its population. Protectionism in education with little competition for places does not improve the quality of the local workforce to the level required of modern multi-national organisations. It might be more comfortable for local students in the short term but does not offer them the competitive environment, cohort role-models and learning opportunities that extend them and prepare them for managerial roles in large organisations and the SMEs that require great adaptability. The move to encourage foreign students to our shores is a proactive one and leads to a number of positive outcomes.
University is often the first opportunity for students to experience diversity and is thus a valuable social training ground as well as an intellectual one. In Macau, we encourage our students to gain overseas experience through government offerings of scholarships to study abroad (15 doctoral scholarships and 45 masters scholarships were offered in 2010) and through group study trips to broaden vision and understanding. Given that students who travel overseas to study return with invaluable experience, enhanced motivation and developed critical thinking skills, they often have an advantage over our local graduates. The added benefit of these scholarships beyond expanding opportunities for local students is that they further enhance and maintain diversity and quality at local universities by freeing up places for overseas students to study here.
The introduction of more foreign students to Macau’s tertiary institutions gives our local students exposure to different ways of life, different interpretations of meaning, different motivators and drivers, and learning opportunities. A homogenous and protected student body will consign the level of excellence to that capped within the local population. Local students would compete (or not, as the case may be) with other locals in the learning environment rather than with the best internationally. Without the added competition that quality foreign students would bring, mediocrity is ensured. Quality is not simply a matter of talent or intellect but of effort, values and aspirations – foreign students bring to Macau their own motivations and drivers the likes of which may not exist in our fairly comfortable and safe community, whether they be grounded in economic necessity or the intrinsic love of learning. Offering our own students contact with differing sets of needs and motivators has potential to increase their appreciation for the value of learning. Hopefully the competition for air-time and grades in the classroom will create a dynamism that increases the value, relevance and engagement of all learners. Once this type of engagement occurs we shall see an improvement in the quality of the skills and attitudes in our graduates which organisations are seeking.