Developing Intercultural Sensitivity through Directed Global Education Programming

In view of the impact globalization has on engineering, many colleges and universities have made global experiences part of their undergraduate programs.When developing a global engineering program, educators should start by assessing where students are on the spectrum of intercultural sensitivity when they enter and thereby determine how the program can best succeed in increasing their sensitivity.If engineers have not been exposed to worldviews that differ from their own, they will assume that everyone holds to similar views.Thus, the first step in attaining intercultural sensitivity is to understand the dimensions of culture.From a different angle, educators should also present students with the stages of intercultural sensitivity, which range from experiences of ethnocentralism to ethnorelativism.Directed programming that brings students into discussions about these points prior to and following global experiences adds significant value to those experiences and can easily be implemented alongside overseas opportunities.