Although I’m now two months shy of receiving my master’s degree here at AU, today marked my first ever interaction with the passionate and innovative people of the Intercultural Management Institute. The sessions I attended throughout the day shared a commonality beyond their intercultural theme; the presenters challenged and transformed many popular ideas by introducing new approaches in this arena.
The earliest session, Transformational Diversity, delved into how to transform “diversity” (a state of mind) into “inclusion” (an action) in the corporate workplace. This presentation went beyond the older notion of diversity as employing a few token minorities to develop a systematic approach for integration and synergy. It reminded me that the root of diversity is indeed the individual and not necessarily membership in a defined group.
Next, several AU staff members promoted the idea of assessment in higher education as an ongoing process, challenging participants to push beyond once-a-year or programmatic reviews. Later, their colleagues highlighted areas where what was once considered non-traditional in study abroad has now become mainstream, and also how the students involved should be managed differently according to their cultural background and intercultural experiences. Both sessions spoke directly to my personal and professional goals working with international exchange programs in higher education.
Ultimately, most insightful for me was the HR 2.0 session on Millennials in the workplace, of which I am one. It gave me a new perspective on how academics and other generations view Generation Y that I believe will help me to be more proactive about my work style in any collaborative intercultural arena. This presentation was highly interactive and drew from the strengths of multiple generations in the audience, reinforcing the need to dig deeper to discover the many layers of diversity in an otherwise rather homogeneous looking group.
I look forward to learning and sharing more tomorrow!
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