Business School launches groundbreaking China projects
The China programs, designed by the School's Work-Integrated Learning Hub, are also aimed at improving the students' intercultural skills early in their university career.
The first is a pilot program that will take 16 students to China's financial powerhouse, Shanghai, and provide visits to local non-government organisations, corporations, factories and start-up projects as well as several educational institutions.
"We feel that a short-term visit is ideal for exposing first year students to the value of developing non-technical skills and to provide opportunities that will help them to make decisions about their future careers," said the Director of Work-Integrated Learning, Associate Professor Rachael Hains-Wesson.
"Providing a study tour that introduces students to the world of work in an international context such as China helps them to develop employability skills such as cultural competency and a capacity for effective teamwork," Dr Hains-Wesson said.
China's technological and innovation drive is astounding, and this can also help students take on a 'global' mindset that goes beyond the border of Australia and the recent politics being presented by the media.
The two-week program is being supported by the Federal Government's New Colombo Plan.
While one group of students is heading for Shanghai, another group of University of Sydney undergraduates, including Business School students, will be travelling to the nearby city of Suzhou for an accelerated course in Entrepreneurship and Intercultural Competence.
The Sydney students will be joined by counterparts from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Amsterdam and the Nanyang Technological University for the INCiTE 2019 pilot Summer School.
INCiTE was conceived by the University of Edinburgh and developed jointly between these four partner institutions.
"For our students, the opportunity to learn in multicultural, transnational, and interdisciplinary teams is fantastic," said Work-Integrated Learning lecturer Dr Steven Hitchcock. "China is one of the world's fastest growing economies and one of Australia's key economic partners."
"We are hoping that the students will develop entrepreneurial skills, well-developed occupational and business awareness and cultural competencies that can be applied in local, national and global settings," Dr Hitchcock said.
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