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The Rationale
For any student
planning an engineering career today, chances are
extremely high that he or she will have to work
internationally. Companies, large and small, are now
exposed to intense competition on a worldwide basis,
and must be active in the world marketplace if they
wish to keep pace. It is unthinkable, for example,
that companies like Ford or Microsoft would not be
global, and it is even typical for smaller companies
to have a presence in multiple countries.
The phenomenon of globalization has had an overwhelming impact
on the way business is conducted in recent years, and
has all but eliminated the possibility of running a
business within one cultural or national context.
Mercedes-Benz has always been the stereotypical
symbol for the prestige of products "Made in
Germany." Today, however, the Mercedes is not
necessarily manufactured in Germany, nor can one
identify its corporate structure with one brand of
automobile or even necessarily with automobiles.
DaimlerChrysler AG, as the company is now known,
makes cars, trucks, and other products in North
America, South America, Europe, and Asia, and sells
them under many different names. The historic
Mercedes-Benz, therefore, is no longer a German
company in the traditional sense, but rather a part
of a global company, designing, manufacturing,
selling, and competing in the world marketplace.
With standards, goods, services, and markets
operational on a global scale, engineering education,
just like engineering products, must meet worldwide
requirements, one of which is the ability to work
with fellow engineers across many national and
cultural borders. In the 1970's, a machine tool
manufacturer in New England might have seen Michigan
as its primary market and four or five other firms in
the United States as its competitors, thereby not
giving any thought to language or cultural issues.
That same company today, however, would be likely to
survive only in a global context, face to face with
competitors from many different nations. Whether
working for a giant like DaimlerChrysler or the
small, local manufacturer of machines or parts for
companies such as DaimlerChrysler, one must know the
competition worldwide; one must be able to seek out
markets for one's goods throughout the world; and one
must be able to coordinate that work with peers and
partners who view the world through differing
cultural lenses.
Americans tend to argue that the whole world speaks
English and that U. S. engineers need not concern
themselves with the study of language or culture.
Though English has indeed become the lingua franca of
the global business world, Americans who speak one
language and know little of other cultures now find
themselves at a distinct disadvantage over and
against other nationals, most of whom are expected to
be trilingual. It is naïve to think that Europeans,
Asians, or South Americans will attack an engineering
issue in the same way as an American, or, if there
are differences, that it should be up to the
non-North American to grasp and come to terms with
them.
As shown in a recent
study by the Rand Corporation, cross-cultural communication
skills are in high demand in the global workplace
even though these skills continue to be largely
ignored by American higher education. While
engineering students in the European Union, for
example, are being told to learn English and at least
one other European or Asian language, U.S.
engineering educators are only beginning to talk
about the issue, and have done little to change
curricula or even inform their students of the needs
for the global workplace. The danger, therefore,
looms that young American engineers will not meet the
basic qualifications for positions in global firms,
and that companies will look increasingly to
engineers from abroad to fill their leadership
positions.
We at the University of Rhode Island are experiencing
an enormous demand from the private sector for
engineers with cross-cultural and bilingual skills.
Though already working with over twenty companies, we have been visited in the
last year by at least a half dozen firms in search of
German-speaking engineers. Our recent pool of 12
graduates from our International Engineering Program
found excellent positions immediately. Indeed,
several of the students found themselves with
multiple offers from companies urgently in need of
their international engineering skills.
- Return
to Table of Contents
- International Engineering Education: A
Resource Book
- Return to the IEP Website
File last updated: Tuesday, December 16, 2003
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