Chemistry in a Global Economy: Can Our ... - ACS Publications

Chapter 3

Chemistry in a Global Economy: Can Our Curriculum Meet the Challenge? Downloaded by CORNELL UNIV on October 15, 2016 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): August 17, 2016 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2016-1219.ch003

Joseph S. Francisco* College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska Lincoln, 1223 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0312, United States *E-mail: [email protected].

What we can do as chemical educators to better prepare tomorrow’s chemists for competition in the global marketplace? The solution to a number of global issues such as clean water, environmental degradation, and global climate change requires applying chemical knowledge across multiple disciplines from biology to physics to business. Moreover, these challenges will require skilled scientists working together with other scientists on an international basis. With the globalization of industries, there is a demand for a more internationally oriented work force with an increasing number of jobs linked to international trade. Educating today’s chemists to live in tomorrow’s world requires greater independent knowledge, skills, and global competence. While future chemists will continue to be employed in universities, research and development laboratories; chemical, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries; mineral, metal and pulp and paper industries as well as in a wide variety of manufacturing, utility, health, educational and government establishments, the way in which chemistry ‘is done’ will increasingly be characterized by virtual, telecommunicated and placed-based transnational scientific networks. This article will address what we can do as chemical educators to better prepare tomorrow’s chemists for competition in the global marketplace.

© 2016 American Chemical Society Cheng et al.; Chemistry without Borders: Careers, Research, and Entrepreneurship ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.

Downloaded by CORNELL UNIV on October 15, 2016 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): August 17, 2016 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2016-1219.ch003

The Workplace in Today’s Global Economy The chemistry enterprise is becoming increasingly globalized, with greater mobility of people, money, information and technology. Since 1995, the number of researchers in United States, European Union and China has grown significantly (1). China has experienced the largest growth in scientific researchers over this time, rising from about 500,000 researchers in 1995 to over 1.3 million by 2007. Other countries, such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have also experienced researcher growth, but at a much slower rate. Russia has actually experienced a decline in its number of researchers, falling from about 625,000 in 1995 to 500,000 in 2007. Increased globalization and automation, changing demographics and workplaces, including the personal risk and responsibility involved in these settings has changed what skills employers are demanding across the economy. The ability to perform routine cognitive tasks, such as filing and bookkeeping, no longer hold as much value, as these tasks are increasingly being performed by computers, or simply sent offshore. Today, employers see more value in an employee’s expert thinking, and complex communication skills (2). Collaboration is also becoming more important in the workplace. Many companies are now organizing themselves with self-managing teams, rather than taking a traditional hierarchical approach. In 1988, self-managing teams were used by 28% of the top 1,000 companies. In 2005, that number rose to 65%. Team building is increasingly being viewed as one of the most effective ways to tackle today’s complex tasks.

International Collaborations Chemistry, as a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and multinational science, has benefitted from international collaborations for a long time. As the chemical industry continues to become more globalized, there appears a need for more chemistry talent with international experience. Higher education departments, faculties and institutions are in a unique position to respond to these needs. Current Status One of the first steps the chemistry enterprise can take to meet these needs is increasing the international opportunities for women in academia. The National Science Foundation conducted a survey of those with doctoral degrees in science and engineering, and measured their collaboration as a function of employment sector and sex (Figure 1) (3). First, the survey found that women, regardless of employment sector, lag men within that sector in international collaboration. Secondly, those in educational institutions lag scientists and engineers employed in government and business/industry in international collaboration. Women in business and industry settings reported a level of international collaboration that revealed a wider sex gap than in any other sector. The higher level of for-profit industrial sector collaboration (27%) holds regardless of gender, place of birth, highest degree attained, and location of postsecondary education. 24 Cheng et al.; Chemistry without Borders: Careers, Research, and Entrepreneurship ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.


Figure 1. % of international collaboration of U.S. scientists and engineers by employment sector and gender in 2006. reprinted from Reference (3).

Figure 2. % of international collaboration of U.S. doctoral-degreed chemists, 2006. reprinted from Reference (3). 25 Cheng et al.; Chemistry without Borders: Careers, Research, and Entrepreneurship ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.

In a different survey, those employed in business/industry were more likely than other PhD-level scientists and engineers to collaborate internationally (4). The gap among academic women’s and men’s participation is wider than that for scientists and engineers in general. In chemistry, whereas almost half of all chemists with PhDs in business/industry collaborate internationally, chemists in academic institutions actually lag their peers in other science and engineering areas (Figure 2). Investing in greater international collaboration opportunities for women and those in academia would be a big step forward to meeting the global challenges of the future.


Benefits of International Research Collaboration Increasing international research collaboration is beneficial for a number of reasons. Collaborative research has been shown to encourage cross-fertilization across disciplines and provide access to expertise, equipment and resources, increasing both social capital and capacity. Collaborative research encourages learning tacit knowledge about a technique, as well as combining knowledge for tackling large and complex problems. Generally, collaboration has a positive relationship with productivity, quality and impact of publication – the latter of which contributes to prestige and visibility. This means better journals with more citations (5). Kristin Matthews evaluated collaboration in her case study, “International Stem Cell Collaboration: How Disparate Policies between the United States and the United Kingdom Impact Research” (6). In the study, she sought to answer the question of how increased international collaboration affects the impact of the research product, and whether scientists gain anything from international research collaborations. What she found was UK researchers engaged in more international collaboration than did their U.S. investigators. In addition, research from the UK and US international collaborations cited significantly more than those generated solely by UK or US researchers.

Importance of a Global Dimension in Higher Education Because the production of knowledge in all fields is a worldwide phenomenon, making interaction and collaboration with investigators in other countries is not only valuable, but increasingly essential. An increasing number of issues and problems are global in scope and cannot be fully understood or addressed by conducting researching on or in one country alone. To be an effective member of this global community, students need to be aware of and appreciate the world’s social and cultural diversity. Graduates should be able to situate, understand and think critically about global challenges and important international problems. They should also be able to work in settings that are linguistically, culturally, economically and politically diverse. To prepare students for the future, educators need to collaborate with leaders and recruiters of the global chemical enterprise to determine the essential skills students will need in the future. This may mean developing new curriculum and 26 Cheng et al.; Chemistry without Borders: Careers, Research, and Entrepreneurship ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.

teaching methods to encourage deeper, more significant conceptual understanding of chemistry. Educators should encourage collaborations and exchanges of U.S. students with companies, universities and government agencies abroad. Teacher training should also be emphasized at the graduate level.


Observations from Purdue University At Purdue University, it was observed that students’ experiences growing up influenced their desire to go abroad. Educating students and improving their cultural awareness at an early age could increase the number of students studying abroad. Undergraduate counselors can help by encouraging students to study abroad. The curriculum at universities should provide and expand opportunities for all students to be exposed to and engage in international experiences and learning opportunities. Students should leave college with a reasonable level of knowledge, insight and experience pertaining to the broader world community. This can be achieved by developing a broad array of internationally-themed freshmen seminars. These seminars would not only impart knowledge about a particular topic or world region, but also to develop students’ appreciation for international studies more broadly, including the value of education abroad. Giving students this experience early in their academic careers will encourage them to take advantage of the many opportunities for international learning offered by their college. Equally important, it will enable them to better understand the international significance of their disciplinary studies and to resist an inappropriate distinction between knowledge of other countries and regions and disciplinary specialization. Knowledge of a second language is also very beneficial. Despite the widespread and growing use of English throughout the world, the prospects for success and advancement in many professions are greatly enhanced by the knowledge of a language other than English. Knowledge of one or more foreign languages broadens a person’s outlook, perspective, and horizon enhancing his or her prospects for a successful and satisfying life in a society that is increasingly diverse and in a world that is increasingly interdependent. Colleges should discourage the view that the widespread use of English around the world means that knowledge of a foreign language has become less important. Colleges should develop curricular and co-curricular programs that help students to appreciate the importance of learning a language other than English and that stimulate interest. Colleges should offer students varied and multiple opportunities to use a foreign language in their coursework and research, including through a language across the curriculum (LAC). Higher Education Institutions should increase the number of students having an education abroad experience. This means developing activities that increase student interest in having abroad experiences and identifying and removing factors that discourage students from going overseas. Colleges should expand and diversify the range, location and type of education abroad opportunities offered to their students. 27 Cheng et al.; Chemistry without Borders: Careers, Research, and Entrepreneurship ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.

Colleges and universities should also develop international partnerships guided by principles of reciprocity and mutually-added value; of maintaining academic quality and scientific and ethical integrity. These partnerships should be expanded with respect to location, type of partnering institutions, type of collaborative activities and the innovative use of new technologies.


Observations from Big Ten Universities One great example of expanding collaboration and international opportunities is the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), a consortium of the Big Ten universities plus the University of Chicago. Through CIC, the research institutions involved have advanced their academic missions, generated opportunities for students and faculty, and served the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources and collaborating on innovative programs. For example, Ohio State plans to expand its global reach by developing an international experience for undergraduate, graduate and professional students, promote scholarship on major global issues, increase the percentage of international faculty and students, create international dual degree programs, develop an international physical presence, and promote collaboration with Ohio’s international business ventures. The University of Minnesota’s Global Programs and Strategy Alliance is leading discussions on University-wide policies, goals, and international agenda. It is also internationalizing its curriculum and campus, and providing funding international activities and recognition for international awards. Michigan State University promotes the international research work of its graduate students at a Graduate Academic Conference each year. MSU also publishes an annual magazine reporting on the research, teaching and outreach efforts of the faculty and staff around the globe. MSU works with The Office of International Research Collaboration (OIRC) to assist faculty in developing trans-disciplinary research proposals for external funding that focus on college and university international/global research priorities.

References 1.

2.

3.

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Main Science and Technology Indicators; 2015; http://www.oecd.org/sti/msti.htm (accessed on 11/5/15). Levy, F.; Mumane, R. J. The new division of labor: How computers are creating the next job market; Russell Sage Foundation: Princeton, NJ, 2012; p 50. Frehill, L. M.; Zipple, K. Survey of Doctorate Recipients, 2006: Findings on International Collaborations of Academic Scientists and Engineers; http:/ /nuweb.neu.edu/zippel/nsf-workshop/docs/SDR_Oct22_2010.pdf (accessed on 11/5/15). 28 Cheng et al.; Chemistry without Borders: Careers, Research, and Entrepreneurship ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.

4.

5.


6.

Falkenheim, J.; Kannankutty, N. International Collaborations of Scientists and Engineers in the United States; NSF report (August 2012); http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf12323/ (accessed on 11/5/15). Smith, M. J.; Weinberger, C.; Bruna, E. M.; Allesina, S. The Scientific Impact of Nations: Journal Placement and Citation Performance. PLoS One 2014, 9 (10), e109195 DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0109195. Luo, J.; Flynn, J. M.; Solnick, R. E.; Ecklund, E. H.; Matthews, K. R. W. International Stem Cell Collaboration: How Disparate Policies Between the United States and the United Kingdom Impact Research. PLoS One 2011, 6 (3), e17684 DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0017684.

29 Cheng et al.; Chemistry without Borders: Careers, Research, and Entrepreneurship ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016.

Chemistry in a Global Economy: Can Our ... - ACS Publications

Recommend Documents