Internationalising Professional Skill Development

Abstract

Internationalisation of education, and more specifically tertiary education, all over the world has contributed to a significant overhaul in student composition. Parallel to this runs the need for graduates to leave university with a range of professional skills. In response to this, universities actively encourage the development of such skills in their programs by integrating the teaching and assessing of professional skills into academic programs. This paper reports on the efficacy of a professional skills program and its support structures as used in the Bachelor of Commerce degree program of a university. The paper outlines how the skills were taught and assessed in the International Management 375 unit and presents data on the changes in students' perceptions of their skill levels. The interpretation of the data is further differentiated on the base of gender, language and country of origin. BACKGROUNDThe internationalisation of education has contributed to cultural diversity on university campuses throughout the world. At the same time business, industry, professional bodies and students increasingly demand the inclusion of transferable professional skills in academic programs. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of professional skill development in a language and culturally diverse environment. The paper focuses on the development of presenting, written communication and teamwork skills and differentiates on the basis of gender, language and nationality. The paper measures the efficacy of the professional skill development program and its support structures for the various student groups based on a questionnaire. The questionnaire was the primary instrument in the pre-then-post analysis of perceived skill levels of students. The questionnaire collected data on skill levels before support for skill development was given and skill levels after the support and allows a critical analysis of skill improvement by the various student groups.