Our discussions on Internationalization and Globalization reminded me of my
purpose for pursuing my degree in higher education in the first place. I spent
five years at my undergraduate institution. It was a small, private Liberal
Arts university situated in a city touted as the All-American city despite its
high crime rates and poor reputation. Nonetheless, I feel that I received a
great education. The issue was that this city had one of the larger populations
of Cambodians in the state and a large Southeast Asian population overall but I
was one of maybe ten total Cambodian students. I could not help but notice the
lack of representation of Southeast Asians in the school. I could not figure
out why there were so few Cambodians when there were so many in the community.
On the other hand, interestingly, there was a large Hawaiian student
population. I would not know until later that the school does recruit many
students from Hawaii as well as all over the nation and world. There were also
many other Asian populations on campus and thankfully, the diversity initiatives
on campus were amazing. There was no lack of variety in student organizations
for almost every ethnic group, except my own.
It was after I had graduated when I was approached to be on the Southeast Asian Recruitment Committee with the Assistant Provost of the school that I realized that the university was doing very little to recruit, engage, or support its surrounding community. It was quite literally the Ivory Tower in which groups just a few miles away felt it was unattainable because relationships were not being developed and fostered. The focus was more on recruiting from outside.
The reason I bring this up is that I believe a higher education institution has an inherent responsibility
to serve its surrounding community. I sometimes question why the focus is so much on globalization and having a cosmopolitan view when the local community is just as important as their needs are still underserved.
The way I connect it to our discussions about internationalization and globalization is that there is such an intense focus on how to build a university and curriculum that develops globally competent students and communities that those who are within the direct vicinity (and thus have the potential to directly benefit from the school) are not being engaged. Focusing on recruiting students from outside the local area prevents the local community from benefiting from having their students educated. The focus on expanding (especially within the context of the curriculum) creates breadth but not depth.
You can try to create globally competent individuals but what about ones who are locally competent?
Interesting post. As I was reading your blog, I also wondered, why the universities and community colleges does not first and foremost, serve their surrounding communities. For the EDEA 663 class, one of my critique articles was by Frankie Laanan and S. Starobin (2004) about defining Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AAPISIs). And this study focused on community colleges, because that's the focus of our class. Anyways, the results from the study was, 23 community colleges have 25% or more AAPI FTE enrollment. And the top 7 were all of the community colleges here in Hawaiʻi. I somewhat found that interesting. However, in my critique of the article, I also thought about the percentage of AAPI surrounding the community college and/or university. I also thought that, it would of been more interesting to see where the 4-year campuses stood and how it will affect the ranks of community colleges.
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely an interesting article. Oh, what I forgot to mention was that, there was a House Resolution 333 by Congresswoman Wu of Oregon setting 4 criteria to be classified as an AAPISI.
Kamakana, thanks for your thoughts! How interesting about the community college enrollment. That was definitely the case in my community. Most of the Southeast Asian students were attending the local community college but the graduation rates were super low there too. What was going on that there were students that obviously wanted to go to college but weren't going to the University? Seriously, the community college and the university was less than a mile apart on the same street! I understand that selectivity plays a factor but I don't think it accounts for the sole reason for the low representation in the university. I mean, the fact that I found out in the Southeast Asian Recruitment committee that the university admitted they weren't recruiting from the community was super disheartening.
DeleteI wonder if there is some way to create a balance between serving and supporting the community and providing opportunities that allow for internationalization of the campus. My undergraduate school seems to have been the opposite of yours, as my campus seemed to be very connected to the community. I think it might have to do with the fact that the community itself was small and many of the students who went to the school were from the community. As a result, many community members had some connection to the school via a family member or as alumni themselves. Clearly, this isn't the case if your school doesn't even have many community members as students. I think, for my school, the fact that it was founded over 100 years ago and the town kind of grew up around it allows for a better connection. In the end, I think that if a school is going to be created within a community, it needs to serve that community in some way and i find it interesting that yours did not. A community is impacted on numerous levels by the presence of a college or university and so the school should offer something in return.
ReplyDeleteAllison, my university could have benefited from your school's strategies on how to accomplish this. Even my friend who is from the community and went through the community college and then transferred to the university stated that she initially thought the school was an unattainable dream, quite literally the Ivory Tower.
DeleteI think the school itself is wonderful in fostering multiculturalism but it does not 'fit' into the community at all and hasn't been successful (if they've even tried) to be as inclusive as I feel they could be if they tried harder and believed in the community.
Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful post. I am reminded how fortunate we are in Hawai’i. As Native Hawaiians, we as a group, receive considerable attention and resources, especially in the education realms. I feel like we do not have to “fight” to be heard with the same energy as other historically oppressed ethnic groups. From what we have read in other classes, I can especially appreciate this privilege when reading about other groups including Cambodian-American students.
ReplyDeleteIn a sense, I would say that although Native Hawaiians are not completing degrees at the same rates as other groups on campus, there are entire departments, programs, staff, and scholarships, dedicated to recruiting and supporting Native Hawaiians in higher education. There are those who would say that we (Native Hawaiians) are entitled and more deserving since we are the indigenous people to these islands and have suffered and endured the negative effects of colonialism and westernization. I would hesitate to say that alone justifies silences the needs, concerns, and voice of other ethnic minority groups. I believe the higher education community in Hawai’i and beyond should also strengthen support for Samoan and Micronesian students in Hawai’i. How can I help these high school students find a place in a college classroom; find a counselor who understands their unique needs; or find scholarship money earmarked for their academic success?
I partially agree with Vaxary that American universities should not focus too much on recruiting students from outside while paying less attention to the recruitment of local students. However, literature has showed that recruiting students from outside of the US becomes an interest and trend for American universities in the effort to solve the financial constrainst. Imagine that the tuition for international students are almost three times as much as that of residents to see how much universities get less if they focus on the recruitment of their residents only.
ReplyDeleteOne question for you, Varaxy, do you have any ideas why there were very few Cambodian students recruited while there were a lot in the community? What re they doing after high school graduation?
Hi Chi, thanks for your comments. The trend that universities are recruiting from International student pools is justified financially but is it really serving International students needs if the school just sees them as bringing in money? Do universities really have the student in mind in this case? I am definitely not against International recruitment and believe students should be able to access education anywhere that fits their needs and desires. I'm just concerned that universities are not doing enough to serve local needs. If they can't serve local needs effectively, I don't see that as a good sign that they can serve global needs effectively either. There needs to be a balance of both.
ReplyDeleteMany Cambodian students barely finish high school and go to work, some go to the community college and get stuck, some attend universities away from home. Many continue to live below the poverty level. Understandably, there was probably a low pool to begin with but I think that issue can be alleviated if the school paid more attention to building community with the communities in the city. There are varying reasons for this that are specific to Southeast Asian communities and other underserved groups. Nationally, we have low rates of degree attainment as well.