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Diversity and inclusion in North America
“Partnering with marginalised communities around us to confront harm in our past is something we all have to practise,” says course co-ordinator David Wick, Associate Professor, Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
"What was striking was that, from the first in-person meetings, everyone was willing to make personal connections to the content, share their own learning and vulnerabilities, and very curious as to how they can learn from one another to create better learning environments.”
Diversity Abroad, based in US, is the largest organisation focused on diversity, equity and inclusion in international education. ENZ works with Diversity Abroad on a range of initiatives, such as the annual Global Inclusion Conference, as well as partnering to deliver the specially designed course.
Attended by 18 people from NZ universities and ENZ, the three-month certificate course was fully online. Workshops, group discussion, videos, articles and assignments kept the participants highly engaged, and feedback on the course was very positive.
Dr. Anna Foster, Study Abroad and Exchange Manager at the University of Canterbury, says the programme provided a comprehensive exploration of Access, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (AIDE) in relation to student mobility.
“The programme was really valuable in gaining a deeper understanding of AIDE as it relates to Education Abroad, particularly due to the focus on considering every aspect of the student mobility journey in an end-to-end approach from the perspective of diverse cohorts,” Anna says.
“This has certainly influenced our team approach on an ongoing basis - it has shaped many of the continuing conversations we have around our outreach and processes, and has also helped us consider how we can further partner with both external and internal partners to better support our students.
“I think all of the group also found the programme to be impactful from a self-reflection perspective, prompting some really useful reflection on the backgrounds, biases and perspectives that shape each of us and how we can use this awareness as leaders and in our work with students.”
Anna also appreciated the practical focus of the course, and says her team is now considering some of the barriers to outbound mobility for diverse and under-represented cohorts, and working on strategies to address these.
Sarah Sung, Study Abroad Manager at the University of Auckland, also found the programme very beneficial.
“The programme has given me opportunities to delve into every single aspect of our team’s work through AIDE lenses as well as reflect on our past initiatives relating to diversity and inclusion. I learned that to make diversity work, AIDE should not be seen as a stand-alone project or matter but be embedded in our everyday life and all work,” Sarah says.
Sarah says AIDE conversations will be part of regular team meetings, as well as being integrated into team members’ KPIs and performance reviews, and she is working on a plan to increase participation from under-represented students.
“This includes extensive work in identifying opportunities to collaborate with partners for diversity and inclusion goals, reviewing our scholarship, communications and co-curricular programming for diverse students and developing a system for data collection.”
Lewis Gibson, ENZ’s Field Director North America, also took part in the course and says feedback from the cohort participants demonstrates the need for further AIDE learning in the New Zealand international education sector.
“Hearing from colleagues about the personal and professional measures they are actively putting in place to support under-served inbound and outbound students, as a direct result of this programme, is inspirational,” he said.
For more information about the International Education Diversity & Inclusion Certificate, contact Lewis Gibson at Lewis.Gibson@enz.govt.nz
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Around the world in five
INDIA
MoU inked to boost NZ-India partnerships
An MoU between the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and all eight New Zealand universities has been signed to facilitate the setting up of a New Zealand Centre at the IIT that will be a focal point of academic activity for both countries.
GLOBAL
Agile universities that partner will succeed, say edtech investors
The emergence of a new breed of digital skills schools – coding academies and technology bootcamps promising high employment rates after graduation in a matter of months – are not the threat to universities that some might argue, according to a panel of veteran edtech investors.
NEW ZEALAND
Report shows NZ universities' agent usage
The eight universities in New Zealand had an average agent recruitment ratio of 44.5 per cent in 2018, according to the latest benchmarking report on inbound and outbound mobility in the sector.
CANADA
Canada: new study permits issued up 13% on 2018 figures
Canada welcomed more than 400,000 new international students at all study levels in 2019, with Indian student enrolments accounting for the majority of the increase in new study permits issued.
GLOBAL
Making the link between housing and student wellbeing
According to QS’s 2019 International Student Survey, 60% of prospective international students were influenced by housing choices when deciding where to study abroad. And as QS notes, international students too often are unable to find suitable accommodation.
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New Zealand and China share cultural connection through conservation
In many ways New Zealand’s management of protected lands is world-leading, but there is still much to learn from others. Collaboration is key to improving outcomes and shaping policy in the years ahead. Dr Mick Abbott, professor of Landscape Architecture at Lincoln University, has been collaborating with researchers in China since 2014, with support from Education New Zealand’s Tripartite Fund. The fund assists New Zealand universities to join in research partnerships as the “Third Brother” with two Chinese Universities - one “emerging” and the other “established”.
Dr Abbott has been working with Tsinghua University in Beijing and Kunming University of Science and Technology in Yunnan province on research projects, field trips, workshops, student courses, and the production of bilingual learning materials.
“While we achieve very good conservation outcomes in New Zealand, it is essential that we look beyond our borders for further research and understanding” - Dr Mick Abbott, WildAtlas project lead and Tripartite Fund recipient
Need to look beyond our borders
“Conservation underpins our value proposition to the world,” he says.
“While we achieve very good conservation outcomes in New Zealand, it is essential that we look beyond our borders for further research and understanding.”
While China looks to New Zealand for leadership on how to effectively protect pristine environments from the impacts of recreation and tourism, New Zealand stands to learn a lot from how China celebrates its cultural connections with nature, Dr Abbott says.
“Protected lands in China are associated with cultural value. In Chinese thinking ecological civilisation underpins wider civilisation. They take a holistic view and there are elements in common with Mātauranga Māori (Māori wisdom and world view).
Cross-cultural thinking important
Mātauranga Māori can enhance the cultural connection between Maori and Chinese and creates valuable synergies, he says. “Cross-cultural thinking is so important.”
Key to the success of the long-term relationship was an exhibition Lincoln University curated in Beijing in 2017, showcasing New Zealand’s protected areas and a range of eye-catching exhibits, alongside Lincoln’s research and that of Tsinghua University on the future direction of protected area management.
The exhibition attracted 50,000 visitors and kicked off the WildAtlas project which Dr Abbott has spent the past four years developing. WildAtlas is a collection of virtual tours that bring to life the stories of New Zealand’s National Parks and protected areas, both past and present.
Available in both English and Chinese, WildAtlas is principally used as an educational tool aimed at university students, but Dr Abbott would like to extend its reach to Year 12 and 13 students. “Land issues are really important in this country, and we must understand there are other ways to view the land. We need to broaden the horizons of our students.”
Conservation experiences a key attraction
Looking to the future, Dr Abbott says that New Zealand conservation managers will benefit from a better understanding of the type of National Park experiences that are attractive to Chinese visitors.
“Pre-Covid, China was New Zealand’s second largest inbound tourism market and largest long-haul market. Our conservation areas and national parks are a key attraction.”
He is using the latest round of Tripartite funding to create a corresponding Virtual Field Tour of the Protected Areas of Yunnan Province, home to Kunming University of Science and Technology.
Dr Abbott is hugely positive about the relationship which has been built with Tsinghua and Kunming universities through the Tripartite Fund and believes the collaboration will lead to business and investment opportunities in the future.
“We must foster goodwill and understanding first, share our values, and advocate for them.
Editor’s note: New Zealand’s involvement in the Tripartite Fund dates back to 2005, when the New Zealand and Chinese Ministries of Education agreed to formally support and promote tripartite relationships between New Zealand and China, in which a New Zealand university is joined as the ‘third brother’ to an existing ‘two brothers’ arrangement.
For more information on the NZ-China Tripartite Fund or to learn more about Professor Abbott’s research, please contact the ENZ team at china@enz.govt.nz
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