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Internationalizing curricula

Internationalizing curricula. Needs and wishes of alumni and employers with regard to international competencies. Internationalization has become of great importance for universities acrossthe globe. The labour market is becoming international, with internationalopportunities and international competition. Emerging markets such as India, China and Russia are gaining economic power. Global challenges demand world-wide solutions. Production and marketing networks span the globe and various forms of migration have resulted in a large cultural diversity within nations. As a result, societies and labour markets are changing as well. In order to deal with these societal changes adequately and to succeed in today’s labour market, graduates need to be equipped with international competencies. In a survey among 500 chief executives, ICM Research (on behalf of Think Global and The British Council, 2011) showed that employers strongly value staff members who are able to work in an international and multicultural environment. Similar results were found in Diamond et al. (2011), in which ‘multicultural teamwork’ was considered most important. The Hague University of Applied Sciences seeks to prepare its students adequately for the world of tomorrow. The University’s development plans (e.g. HogeschoolOntwikkelingsPlan, HOP 7, 2009-2013 and HOP 8, 2014-2017) indicate that its vision is to train students to be globally-minded professionals with an international and multicultural perspective, who are world-citizens, interested in global issues and able to deal with diversity in a constructive manner. They are to be professionals, who possess the competencies to function well in an international and intercultural environment. Internationalization is therefore high on the agenda of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS) which is illustrated by the fact that, as of 2014, new students in all academies have to fill 12.5% (30 ECTS) of their four-year Bachelor program with international activities. These activities can range from an internship or semester abroad (student mobility) to participating in full programs of study or minors in which English is the medium of instruction, or an internationally themed minor (Internationalization at Home, IaH). And this is only the beginning. Internationalization is a means, not an end. All THUAS courses are looking into ways in which they can internationalize their curriculum. And in doing so, they need to be innovative (Leask, 2009) and keep in mind the specific needs and wishes of alumni and their employers with regard to international competences. The THUAS research group International Cooperation supports these internationalization policy objectives by investigating various aspects, such as: • The acquisition and development of international competencies among students. • The extent to which lecturers possess international competencies and what their needs and wishes are for further development. • The international competencies THUAS graduates have acquired as part of their degree and how THUAS has stimulated this development. • The international competencies that employers and alumni consider important. Although international competencies and employability have received growing attention in internationalization research, existing studies have mainly focused on: • The effects of study abroad on the development of international competence (cf. Hoven & Walenkamp, 2013). • The effects of an experience abroad (study, internship, voluntary work) on employability. • A more general analysis of the skills employers look for in prospective employees.

De automatisering de-automatiseren

Bijdrage aan de Spui25-bijeenkomst De roman en het geschreven woord in tijden van technologisering, ter gelegenheid van de verschijning van Maxim Februari’s laatste boek De onbetrouwbare verteller. (Meer van dit in mijn nieuwe boek Frictie: Ethiek in tijden van dataïsme, dat in mei 2020 verschijnt bij De Bezige Bij.)--Talk held at the Spui25 event The Novel and the Written Word in Technological Times, celebrating the publication of Maxim Februari’s latest book De onbetrouwbare verteller (The Unreliable Narrator). More on this topic in my upcoming book on Friction: Ethics in Times of Dataism (in Dutch), May 2020, De Bezige Bij.

Het Amsterdamse Experiment rondom de Bijstand

Het Amsterdams Experiment rondom de BijstandIn 2017 voldeed de gemeente Amsterdam niet aan alle voorwaarden van het Ministerie van VWS om aan te sluiten bij het landelijke experiment rondom de bijstand ihkv de Participatiewet. Amsterdam besloot haar eigen experiment op te zetten. Amsterdam telt circa 40.000 bijstandsgerechtigden. Ondanks de aantrekkende arbeidsmarkt wordt deze groep niet kleiner. Amsterdam wil onderzoeken of ze haar huidige beleid kan aanpassen in de hoop dat meer bijstandsgerechtigden –duurzaam- de stap naar (deeltijd) werk durven en kunnen zetten. Het Amsterdam Experiment rond de bijstand is in 2018 gestart en wordt onderzocht door de HvA ism de UvA. De algemene onderzoeksvraag is onder welke condities mensen in de bijstand optimaal kunnen participeren. Doel is inzicht krijgen in de effecten van beleid in termen van financiële (betaald werk) en maatschappelijke (onbetaald werk, welbevinden) participatie. Gedurende vier jaar worden 750 deelnemers geïnterviewd, zodat kan worden gekeken of hun situatie verandert. Afgelopen jaar zijn deelnemers geïnterviewd voor een nulmeting. Op basis van deze nulmeting hebben we een indruk van (a) de mate van het financieel en maatschappelijk participeren van de deelnemers bij aanvang van het experiment en (b) hun opvattingen en attitudes ten aanzien van de bijstand en de instituties waar zij mee te maken hebben.Dit artikel behandelt eerst de start en opzet van het experiment. Vervolgens schetsen we met de nulmeting een aantal kenmerken van de groep bijstandsgerechtigden. Om grip te krijgen op de diversiteit van de onderzoeksgroep maken we gebruik van een clustering van ‘typen’ bijstandsgerechtigden.

The physical competence test of the Dutch National Police

In this study, we investigated the effects of wearing a police uniform and gear on officers’ performance during the Physical Competence Test (PCT) of the Dutch National Police. In a counterbalanced within-subjects design, twenty-seven police officers performed the PCT twice, once wearing sportswear and once wearing a police uniform. The results showed clear indications that wearing a police uniform influenced the performance on the PCT. Participants were on average 14 seconds slower in a police uniform than in sportswear. Furthermore, performing the test in uniform was accompanied by higher RPE-scores and total physiological load. It seems that wearing a police uniform during the test diminishes the discrepancy between physical fitness needed to pass the simulated police tasks in the PCT and the job-specific physical fitness that is required during daily police work. This suggests that wearing a police uniform during the test will increase the representativeness of the testing environment for the work field.