Humanitarian projects can benefit students and universities

‘Internationalisation’ is a contentious term. Arguments abound about whether it is another form of post-colonial exploitation or a genuine reciprocated exchange among equal partners.

Universities are active participants in internationalising processes, extending their international influence through student recruitment and exchanges alongside considerations of curriculum materials, community development and many other activities to enhance cross-cultural competence and ‘international’ perspectives.

Our findings from a three-year study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK suggest that university participation in international humanitarian work can augment the student experience and provide other benefits.

Universities, as the holders of cultural capital, can formulate sustainable development initiatives that endorse one principle identified in the 1997 Dearing Report on higher education in the UK, “to play a major role in shaping a democratic, civilised, inclusive society”.

This raises questions about what international humanitarian role could and should be played by universities in wealthy and economically developed countries, and how this relates to university mission statements and the student experience within that.

The research

Our research looked at two initiatives that responded to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: ‘Initiative A’, which arose within a British university and has included construction of schools and community buildings, voluntary work in villages, and partnerships with universities and civil society organisations in South Asia; and ‘Initiative B’, launched by a civil society organisation that supports, networks and builds capacity in social work in higher education institutions internationally.

Those in Initiative B worked with local universities and other organisations, initially to support victim-survivors of the tsunami and later to develop capacity in social work education and practice. These players varied over time, including universities from Canada and Eastern Europe, although a core group remained constant.

The two initiatives were selected for study because they share the explicit goal of long-term, empowering and egalitarian partnerships with local communities and institutions, moving beyond paternalistic conceptions of ‘aid’ and notions of internationalisation limited to student recruitment.

The findings

Our research found benefits of these initiatives for village communities in South Asia, university partners and civil society organisations.

That both are ongoing and have changed course in response to local people’s wishes suggests that local residents value sustained endeavours with overseas partners that engage with them as equals, despite higher levels of power and resources available to external actors.

These structural inequalities created tensions and contradictions that highlighted the work needed to undermine power inequalities in difficult geopolitical contexts.

The imbalances were powerfully felt by many students we interviewed, and led some to reflect upon their learning experiences and contemplate their own position within wider international power relations. Particularly relevant in this regard were comparisons about living standards, racialised positions and expectations about gender.

The transferability of graduate skills is embedded in recent internationalisation strategies.

Students in both initiatives commented on the contributions these exchanges made to their future employment choices in areas as diverse as teaching, social work, medicine, military, international development and diplomatic careers. Others reported that humanitarian work stimulated longer-term involvement outside their country of origin, beyond paid employment.

In several cases continuing informal links prompted further formal initiatives. For example, several students participating in Initiative A established a small NGO with local partners; another student sponsored the wages of a dance teacher she had made friends with. Students in Initiative B continued to support local students working with a homeless community after their placements ended.

Many students claimed that participation in these initiatives gave them greater confidence and skills to work in unfamiliar environments and across cultural differences. This response indicates a flexible ‘international outlook’ and transferable skills for future employment.

Both initiatives included understanding and becoming aware of cultural differences as an explicit learning objective. Students commented that this was a motivation for participation and a valued outcome. Some claimed that they had previously held false assumptions or lacked important knowledge about others different from them.

Thus, humanitarian initiatives can contribute to reflexive learning, where international experiences heighten students’ knowledge and understanding about the external world and themselves as encounters with difference problematise ways of doing things in their ‘home’ culture.

A key challenge facing universities is how to equip ‘stay at home’ students with skills and competences to participate in an increasingly internationalised workforce. The impact of experiences of those going abroad was extended to other members of their respective universities.

In Initiative A formal activities spread the word, including an extensive website carrying photographs and edited ‘diary’ entries from exchange students, articles in university publications, email updates, presentations, themed dinners and ‘report-backs’ at the beginning of lectures.

In both initiatives, continued student engagement proved important in institutionalising their international experiences in recruiting new cohorts of students and preparing them for going abroad. Involving an entire department through exchanges of academic staff and students, joint activities outside the university and cooperation in curriculum development embeds internationalisation more widely.

Our findings suggest that careful, sensitive engagement by universities in sustained humanitarian work overseas, involving local partners as equals, can deepen the student experience.

Such work can have wider beneficial impacts encompassing curriculum development, research capacity, cultural sensitivity, considerations about universities’ cultural and material position in the world and roles of universities in society, joint accreditation and longer-term engagement with partner countries.

* Dr Tom Vickers and Professor Lena Dominelli are based at the school of applied science at Durham University in the UK. Vickers is a research associate and Dominelli is professor of applied social sciences.