Empowering Global Citizens

understandings are becoming more and more important for gainful employ—
ment whether one is working for a corporation or pursuing entrepreneurial

endeavors.

Even for people whose ambition is to live life and to work in their own
hometown, the local is becoming increasingly global. An article in the
New York Times describes “glocal students,” or students who pursue a
global career by taking advantage of local opportunities, such as increas—
ingly diverse local institutions of higher education (Saalfield 85 Appel,
2012).

Tony Wagner, a proponent of twenty'first—century education, makes the
case for global competency as follows: “the skillfulness of individuals work—
ing with networks of people across boundaries and from different cultures
has become an essential prerequisite for a growing number of multinational
corporations” (Wagner, 2008).

Recognizing the importance of global competencies in the twenty—first
century, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development
is planning to add to the regular assessments of student knowledge and
skills—which cover literacy, mathematics, and science—the assessment of
global competency (OECD, 2016; Reimers, 2013b).

In the United States, more international students than ever are enrolled in
American colleges and universities. Approximately 3.7 percent of all college
students in the United States are international students. While this percent—
age seems small, it represents more than seven hundred thousand people,
and if the current trends continue, this number will double within the next
five years (HE, 2012). However, despite the fact that the local is becoming
more global, there is still a strong need for students to have opportunities to
learn and to practice how to be citizens in the new global climate. A study of
454 international students enrolled at ten public universities found that 38
percent of the foreign students had “no strong friendships with US students”
(Marklein, 2012). That statistic points toward a deficiency in the theory

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