STEM in Study Abroad Syracuse University in Florence a case study #STEMAbroad #SUFlorence #CIEEBerlin

SASHA PERUGINI, PHD

DIRECTOR, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY FLORENCE

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Growing demand for employments in the STEM field The acronym STEM is fairly specific in nature— referring to science, technology, engineering and math—however, there is no standard definition for what constitutes a STEM job. Science, technology, engineering and math positions consistently make the lists of STEM occupations, but there is less consensus about whether to include other positions such as educators, managers, technicians, health-care professionals or social scientists. In this report, we define STEM jobs to include professional and technical support occupations in the fields of computer science and mathematics, engineering, and life and physical sciences. Three management occupations are also included because of their clear ties to STEM.1 Because of data limitations, education jobs are not included.2 Further, we elected not to include social scientists.3

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Yet, even though the number is increasing, it’s still a little portion of the entire population

Job market “Multi-Teams”: different language, religion, race, nationality, gender, culture “Soft” multi/inter-cultural skills Growing complexity Fast paced changes

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: PREFERRED FIELD OF STUDIES

Field of Study 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

(STEM) 16.6 16.8 17 16.2 16.3 16.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 18.9 19.8 21.1 22.5

Engineering 2.7 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.9 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.9 3.5 3.9 4.1

Math or Computer Science 2 2.2 2.4 1.7 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.8 1.7 1.9

Social Sciences 20.3 21.9 21.3 22.6 22.6 21.7 21.4 21.5 20.7 22.3 22.9 22.4 22.1

Business & Management 18.1 17.6 17.7 17.5 17.5 17.7 19.1 20.2 19.5 20.8 20.5 20.5 20.4

Humanities 14.5 13.8 13.3 13.3 13.3 14.2 13.2 13.3 12.3 12.1 11.3 10.8 10.4

Fine or Applied Arts 8.5 8.5 9 7.6 7.6 7.5 7.7 8.4 7.3 8.3 8.2 7.8 7.8

Foreign Languages 8.2 8.5 7.9 7.5 7.5 7.8 7.2 6.2 6.1 5.8 5.6 5.3 4.9

Study Abroad and location: Language Subjects tied to location Personal heritage Electives

Syracuse University Florence Founded in 1959

90 courses/semester

660 students/year, undergraduate (including freshmen) & graduate 6 buildings

90+ staff and faculty

90 field trips/semester

Spring 2014 • CIE 274 Sustainability in Civil and Environmental Systems • ECS 222 Dynamics • ECS 325 Mechanics of Solids • MAE 251 Thermodynamics • MAT 485 Differential Equations and Matrix Algebra Spring 14 Spring 15

12+1 19

Challenges: HC perspective fewer options (electives/courses that count toward the major) difficult to accommodate all majors (SU has 10 ECS major tracks) academic requirements abroad (mandatory language, homestays) local professional culture and different pedagogy specialized needs (recitations, labs) strict requirements, rigid curriculum, sequential courses pressure to have all students graduate in 4 years costs and financial restrictions timing (summer students miss recruiters at career fairs) direct placement options discouraging language barrier

Challenges: SA perspective

less pedagogical freedom and specific needs (copyright)

contractual uncertainty for professors typical challenges for SA students Travelling Limited library/academic resources Smaller group of peers Anxiety loaded Language barrier “Being thrown into a different system of teaching that I wasn’t prepared for” “Creating new friend groups and getting to know everybody” “Balancing work and having fun”

Benefits response to increase of companies with branches in many parts of the world

improvement of soft skills and cross-cultural competency

professionally more desirable candidates for future positions (not just in STEM)

development of personal networks

increased self-confidence

options for internships

small classes

if offering is embedded, no missed opportunities for students

more focus for students to improve time management and financial planning

response to competition between US and non-US

Students: “The independence and sense of self that I gained from traveling alone and seeing so many new places, cultures and worlds”

What helped

- Building the study abroad experience into the curriculum - Team work between HC and SA - Monitoring - Mentoring system with HC colleagues for SA instructors - Customized field trips and site visits

#Takeaway #STEMAbroad Mentoring system

Team work (multicultural)

Predicted increase of STEM demand in study abroad

Though # of STEM students abroad is growing, it is still a small proportion

Study Abroad as an option to respond to US job market internal competition

Destination abroad does not need to be directly tied to field of study

Study abroad experience to be built into the curriculum

Study abroad responds to growing complexity in the job market

Questions & Discussion