Providing our students with a rich, diverse, and global education is critical in today’s global economy. Often responsible, ethical behavior begins with cultural awareness. Individuals can relate to others when they can see the world through their eyes.
At the George Mason University School of Management, our vision statement reads:
“We foster a culture of excellence—developing leaders who embrace responsibility and diversity in an increasingly interconnected world.”
We have 85 countries represented by our students and faculty and 63 native languages other than English are spoken. Almost half of our students are women, and 46% of our students are minorities.
Our required global residency programs for graduate students bring to life what textbooks and case studies only talk about. Students no longer just analyze a generic company in a generic location. Our graduate students travel abroad in small groups, experience the global company and its people firsthand, and gain a unique vantage point into the global business world. We make the world our classroom.
In addition to the global residency, our diverse campus community opens our students’ eyes. Our campus environment teaches students to embrace other cultures, to respect others’ viewpoints, and to learn to work within the boundaries of those cultures, both here in the United States and around the globe.
Jimmy Carter once said, “We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”
The School of Management itself is a wonderful reflection of the global workplace. And we are constantly establishing or strengthening our partnerships with academic institutions in countries around the world, including: China, Columbia, Egypt, Germany, South Korea, Peru, Russia, Switzerland, and Turkey. This year, we began discussion or continued discussions on relationships with 74 institutions in 28 countries. These relationships bring us the opportunity to collaborate on research, faculty and student exchanges, and executive education programs, which is vital in today’s global economy.
Together we are a mosaic of knowledge and experiences that form a picture of respect for the cultures of the world.
March 27, 2013 at 9:14 am
Wow, 85 countries being represented through your students is pretty impressive. I love that Jimmy Carter quote, I really dislike the term “melting pot”.