Dear friends:
This issue of the eDividend is highlighting some of the great outreach that the Carson College of Business engages in globally. However, that cultural and intellectual exchange is a two-way street. When international students and scholars come to Pullman, they bring a wealth of knowledge and international contacts with them. More than 70 percent of our current PhD students are international. And that percentage is unlikely to dip anytime soon, as more than 78 percent of PhD applications for next year are coming from overseas.
While studying abroad can be a great experience for our undergraduate students, they also get exposed right here in Pullman to teaching assistants and instructors from many different countries and cultures. It’s important for students who grew up in this state to hear different accents and to get exposed to people and ideas that may be missing in their respective hometowns. The business world is global, and college graduates should be prepared to fully engage. From my experience, Carson Cougs enjoy hearing about the different ways that business is practiced in other countries.
I’m pleased we are highlighting Cathy Jun, one of our PhD candidates who brings a wealth of multicultural insight to her teaching and research efforts. Though born in New York, she spent a significant part of her early life in South Korea, which helped developed her global perspective.
Our international PhD student connections have opened numerous doors over the years for our Carson faculty. Several students have facilitated access to foreign companies, consumers, and data to use in research studies. (For example, at least three of my own publications have incorporated overseas data obtained via current or former PhD students.) Some of our international PhD graduates who have returned home to work as university professors have hosted our faculty as speakers, visiting professors, and even as external deans. They also recruit future international students for us to send back to Pullman. And among those who join universities in the US, several have very strong connections with scholars from their countries, which has led to numerous coauthoring opportunities for them and for other WSU students and faculty. Communications are so seamless today that nobody thinks twice about having lengthy Zoom meetings with scholars from halfway around the world. Combining virtual meetings with instantaneous emails and unlimited cloud storage for file transfer allows research teams to be as productive as if their offices were right next door.
Our international PhD students and scholars fill a vital shortage of qualified US instructors at WSU and almost every other university in the country. And along the way, they provide diversity, experiences, perspectives, and international connections that enrich us all.
Chuck Munson,
PhD Program Director