Business Schools Post-Covid: Why We Need a ‘Global’ Vision

The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic has been worrying time for business schools, as we rely heavily on internationalisation for many of our core activities.
Our aim is to create ‘World Citizens’, ready for international management. But achieving this is extremely challenging if students and faculty cannot travel and immerse themselves in foreign cultures, learn new insights and benefit from broader experiences.

In addition, international recruitment has become an increasingly important financial pillar for many business schools and the rapid decline in students may have dire consequences for some institutions.

Yet there is hope – for the most part, internationalisation weathered the initial storm. We have welcomed international students to our campus – some here physically and some virtually. We have pursued international collaborative partnerships, engaged with global business stakeholders and found ways to ensure our global impact has endured.

But as we look to a world post-Covid, there is a need to rethink the paradigm of internationalisation and define and lead a new vision for the future. As we emerge from the pandemic, now is the time to consider the long-term consequences and what have we learned

Firstly, the pandemic brought fundamental change and challenges not just for internationalisation but higher education more broadly. Our ability to rapidly innovate and embrace digitalisation was a crucial part of that transformation that enabled teaching to continue online and the show to go on.

Importantly, we also learned how technology can enhance our working environments and became skilled in new teaching and learning methods to create rich learning environments and engage in international research collaborations.

This transformation will continue to impact – and enrich – international mobility, professional development, international recruitment efforts, teaching and learning, and our global impact. We know that whatever “unknown unknowns” come in the next phase of the pandemic, we can be highly flexible and agile to meet the challenge.

Secondly, the pandemic accelerated our thinking around the net-zero global agenda. Business Schools have an essential role to play in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: for example, with the need to limit air travel, we are investigating models of virtual mobility and building broader and deeper strategic partnerships.

These have the benefit of contributing to climate and sustainability goals and also strengthening the international and inter-cultural skills of students and staff.

More broadly, there has been a rapid transformation in the business world of global collaboration and the practice of communication has fundamentally shifted to virtual engagement. Business schools must continue to reflect these changes in how we teach and train our students to have the necessary resilience and range of talents to be successful.

Thirdly and most importantly, business schools must reaffirm their commitment to the underpinning ideals of education of which internationalisation is a core component. Equality, diversity and inclusion must be at the centre of our efforts as we impart to students the knowledge and abilities to engage critically and constructively with global issues

The pandemic has emphasised the interconnectedness of our world and that what is beneficial for the common good requires an equal and inclusive focus: a global approach for all. Semantically, there is an important difference between the terms “international” and “global”. The former means something overseas, or something “other” than ourselves. Global on the other hand indicates an entirety, a whole entity.

This means that our approach must be rooted in a stronger sense of responsibility to the society of which we are part. Now is the opportunity to define a new approach to internationalisation that recognises our place in the world and a responsibility to impact others for the common good.

NUI Galway has been on a journey of defining our common Shared Values and more recently, creating a vision of ourselves as ‘A Global University’. We have an ambition of playing our part in the world and welcoming the world in, rooted in our distinct and vibrant region – Global Galway. https://www.nuigalway.ie/global-galway-project/

We have embraced these principles at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics and looking forward to a post pandemic world, have created a vision of how we can be a globally engaged and responsible business school. Energised by our regional edge on the west coast of Ireland, we are excited to continue making a transformative global impact through our teaching and research and leading a new vision of internationalisation.