By Emerson Csorba and Eric Termuende
As co-founders of Gen Y Inc. and former Vice-Presidents in our respective Students’ Unions, we have benefited tremendously from the experiences spent building companies and working across Canada with universities, government and other educational stakeholders. Moreover, the lessons learned in academic settings, whether this is knowledge developed in philosophy seminars or strategy and operations management summits, has provided us with the tools required to succeed in entrepreneurship. However, this picture would not be complete without discussion about study abroad, particularly with regards to China – something that Canadian universities and colleges have often neglected.
In October 2012, the Federal government published the Canadian internationalization strategy, which states that “internationalization of Canada’s education and research institutions through international partnerships and exchange of talent is… of substantial importance to supporting Canada’s science and technology (S & T) and innovation agendas.” Among the aims in the strategy are to attract 450,000 international students and researchers to Canada by 2022, which will provide Canada with economic benefits such as the creation of 86,500 new jobs. Taken as a whole, the strategy focuses primarily on attracting international students to Canada, and then leveraging Canadian advantages such as multiculturalism and multilingualism in order to encourage these emerging leaders to stay.
These goals are laudable – Canadian companies, universities and cities will thrive if they succeed in attracting exceptional talent. Cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Montreal are all conducive to international business. However, the strategy reflects a larger issue that Canadians must confront in order to become a truly competitive and innovative nation at the global level: far too few Canadians study abroad. It is rare, for instance, to see Canadian universities send more than 20% of their undergraduate students abroad, to key destinations such as China. In a world where multilingualism and cultural literacy are important skills in the workforce, Canada would benefit tremendously by actively sending its top talent abroad to cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, where long-term networks can be developed that will translate into positive long-term Sino-Canadian relations.
As Directors with Gen Y Inc., we spent many hours between September and November 2014 consulting Chinese hub members of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers network (a 4500-person and 400-city worldwide network comprised of exceptional leaders in the 20-30 age range), gathering their perspectives on developing stronger relationships between emerging Canadian and Chinese leaders. The results were overwhelming positive, with China’s young leaders encouraging Canadians to learn about their country and develop competence in languages such as Mandarin. Many of the individuals consulted were business leaders, and they were eager to share background on their enterprises with us. Similarly, when presenting to international audiences at places such as the University of Cambridge, we have seen first-hand just how welcoming China is of Canadian talent.
Canadian universities and companies would be wise to develop a cohesive vision around study and internships abroad in China. Industry, for instance, could include its most talented young staff on business trips in China, as an investment in those individuals’ long-term career prospects. Professional development seminars could include presentations from Chinese history scholars and Chinese business leaders, in order to develop cross-cultural collaboration and show employees just how global the world is. And just as importantly, government and universities should set ambitious targets for the number of undergraduate students who study in China.
In the long-term, these students and employees will become global citizens, and ambassadors in Sino-Canadian relations. And in a world that increasingly demands collaboration across borders, in multiple languages and cultures, investing in these experiences is a step in the right direction.