Dear friends:
I’m a native U.S. citizen. When I attend professional conferences held in the United States and attended primarily by faculty from U.S. universities, more often than not I am a “minority” in the room. Without exaggeration—if there was not a hefty level of international participation, business education in the United States would crumble.
For whatever reasons, U.S. citizens are not pursuing PhD’s in business at anywhere near the rate needed to fill business faculty positions at U.S. colleges and universities. As a stark example, this year the Carson College advertised for a new faculty position in my field of operations management. We received approximately 130 applications, and exactly 3 of those were from native U.S. citizens.
While PhD programs train students from all around the world, the majority are coming from Asia, especially China and India. These scholars produce a tremendous amount of quality research, and they teach thousands of U.S. citizens from coast-to-coast.
In line with most of the rest of the country, fewer than 25 percent of current students in the Carson College PhD program are from the United States. We currently welcome scholars from four continents. The diversity of experiences and cultures benefits everyone. As difficult as a PhD program is to begin with, these international scholars should be commended for navigating those waters while studying in another culture—many times using a language that is not their own.
WSU offers support services as well as several international student organizations to try to help the foreign students assimilate and share time with other students in the same position. Some of our international students return home after their studies have completed, but most find faculty positions in the United States. Most eventually obtain permanent residency status, and many become U.S. citizens. As fully integrated members of society, they mold future generations of college students. They introduce diversity, culture, and a global perspective to everyone in the college community. It all starts with a dream and an application to study in a little town in America surrounded by wheat fields.
We can’t wait for next year’s class of new international scholars to arrive!
Chuck Munson,
PhD Program Director