Facts & Figures, by Willem van Hoorn
Percentage wise Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is a very international employer. Of their roughly 3100 employees on payroll, around 1100 are international, so more than 1 in 3. On top of that they harbour around 500 international colleagues not on payroll.
Having so many bright, mostly young international colleagues on campus is a great enrichment for the university. But it also comes with some challenges. In this presentation, Willem van Hoorn, policy advisor internationalisation at TU/e, would like to share with you what the university did and is still doing to meet these challenges, and what that has brought them.
Best practices, by Vincent Merk
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is a leading university of engineering and technology in Europe and it is engaged in a large internationalisation process internally and externally as one of the major player in the Brainport ecosystem. One of the main challenges TU/e is facing is to create the right context for its talented international students to thrive during their academic studies and later stay in the region and join the local industrial small and big world players. Concretely, it is about creating a true sense of community to make them feel at home and integrate into the TU/e community and beyond. This process features 3 phases: Creating the appropriate physical environment and infrastructures on campus, mastering the internal education and communication processes (including CareerCenter support), developing a real sense of community and mutual trust at the level of values and behaviours. Vincent Merk, Senior Lecturer and Community Advisor at TU/e will talk about how TU/e is using this as a new competitive edge in educating international talent for industry and research.
Workshop 1) Spending time abroad, does it matter for intercultural competence development? by Ursula Brinkmann
Students who have studied abroad greatly benefit when applying for a job after graduation: A recent study shows that employers prefer candidates who have spent time abroad during their study. But how much does Time Spent Abroad really contribute to an applicant’s intercultural competences, i.e., their ability to communicate and cooperate effectively across cultural boundaries? Research shows that time spent abroad contributes little to intercultural competences: Some students may benefit, while others may return home even less competent than prior to departure. But if time abroad does not automatically help building the intercultural muscle, what does? Ursula Brinkmann, author of the Intercultural Readiness Check(© Intercultural Business Improvement b.v.) , invites you during this workshop to explore your current assumptions about what contributes to intercultural competence development, and to benchmark your conclusions against the IRC database with input from 40,000 respondents from all over the world.
Workshop 2) Talent in the new era, by Joep Vesters
During this interactive presentation Joep Vesters, founder of Joep Vesters Talentmanagement, elaborates on talent management, and the importance of it not only for the individual, but also for education and the business sector. His recently published book on talent management is full of insightful interviews, practical advice for the individual and guidelines for companies to improve talent development and management. During the workshop he will provide you with some of these insights, delving deeper into what this new type of talent management entails, what it means for the individual, educational institutions, and organisations, and how to deal with in an intercultural setting.
Workshop 3) The role of the Hub & Hub tour, by Joost van Dijck
The Hub is a unique environment where internationals can feel at home. This community of young professionals creates a living room environment for expats to enjoy a wide range of activities such as Dutch and Spanish classes, but also game nights, yoga sessions and pub crawls. Joost van Dijck, founder of The Hub Eindhoven will take you through the building, a former Ford garage, and tell you all the inside stories that make The Hub unique both in its concept and location.
Workshop 4) Training and guiding multicultural student groups, by Nicole Kienhuis
This workshop focuses on sharing and exchanging best practices in training and guiding multi-cultural student groups at Dutch institutions of higher education. In her capacity of independent intercultural trainer and coach, Nicole Kienhuis will share some of the best practices she has come across in training multi-cultural student groups, teachers and non-teaching staff at various institutions in the Netherlands. These practices entail both in-class and out-of-class methods that are aimed at (further) developing students’ and staffs’ intercultural competences and at creating culturally inclusive education. A considerable part of the workshop will also be dedicated to creatively exchanging and generating new ideas from the participants’ experiences and knowledge.