Following National Trend, India and China Are Popular Study Sites for DePaul Students; Opportunities Extend to Adult Students

DePaul University students in Management Professor Rajesh Tyagi’s class didn’t just read textbooks about India’s booming economy and the impact of global outsourcing – they traveled more than 7,000 miles in November to Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore to see it first hand.

The 17 MBA and undergraduate business students spent 12 days in India touring international corporations, including Motorola, IBM and JP Morgan, as well as Indian firms that are going global. They spent two hours talking to the man called the “Bill Gates of India,” – N.R. Narayana Murthy, CEO of Infosys Technologies – and stayed in his corporation’s hostel. With students from a prestigious Indian university they co-sponsored a panel discussion on the impact of outsourcing, featuring prominent business leaders. The Chicago students also networked with executives from up-and-coming, mid-sized Indian companies, American Women’s Club members and expatriates working in India.

Such enriching study abroad experiences in far-off places are becoming more common at DePaul and other universities across the nation. The Institute of International Education’s most recent “Open Doors” survey of study abroad trends (http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/) found that U.S. study abroad increased by 9.6 percent in 2004-2005. “Study abroad in non-traditional destinations is expanding rapidly, especially to countries where American students see potential career opportunities,” the report found. “Of particular note are large increases in the number of Americans studying in China and India, two countries of growing economic importance to the United States.”

India’s burgeoning economy was a big draw for DePaul students who signed up for Tyagi’s seminar, the professor said. “We live in an interconnected global market place, so it’s important for students to learn about places like India, China, Brazil and Russia. Major companies are moving into these large developing markets, which represent most of consumers in the world. About 64 percent of India’s population is between 15 and 64, an immense target population for firms. Students who have study abroad experiences in these countries are better prepared for careers at corporations with products and services in these markets.” Tyagi noted that two students who participated in the trip were subsequently interviewed in Chicago for jobs at the companies they visited in India.

Stephanie Guthrie, one of three MBA students who spent a year helping Tyagi plan the seminar before participating in it, believes the experience has set her apart from other graduates entering the workplace. “European countries are established in the business world, but India is just beginning to make a name for itself. The progress it has made in the global market is remarkable.” she said. “The trip gave me a better understanding of Indian business by seeing it through their eyes.”

Traveling with a diverse DePaul group also was a benefit, Guthrie said. Five of the students and Tyagi are of Indian origin and they offered valuable guidance about the country’s business practices, languages, food and dress, she explained. “They helped the group cross boundaries.”

A decade ago, DePaul’s study abroad program focused on Europe, with students expanding their cross-cultural skills and knowledge by traveling to Belgium, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Spain. This year’s roster of study abroad trips lists many of these same destinations but, in addition to India, it includes China, the Caribbean, El Salvador, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Thailand and Vietnam.

“There has been a national movement among study abroad programs over the last 10 years to diversify the student body that participates as well as the regions to which we send them,” said Joe Kinsella, director of study abroad for DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“After the attacks on Sept. 11, there also has been an awakening in the United States that we need to learn more about countries and people beyond Western Europe,” Kinsella added.

In addition to a wider global reach, DePaul offers a variety of study abroad formats tailored to student needs. They range from intensive, 12-day seminars – such as Tyagi’s course in India that was sponsored by DePaul’s Driehaus Center for International Business – to an entire year of educational immersion through the Study Abroad Program’s academic partnerships around the world.

Undergraduate students are not the only ones who benefit from the breadth of study abroad opportunities offered by DePaul. The university’s School for New Learning, an innovative college tailored to the needs of adult learners, has sponsored study abroad since 1993. Student participants are primarily working professionals with an average age of 36. The school offers them enlightening educational experiences that require missing no more than 10 to 15 days of work.

SNL will sponsor its fourth China study abroad seminar from June 27 to July 17. A dozen students and faculty members will explore cultures in and around Kunming in China’s Yunnan Province.

“Our study abroad programs emphasize societies in transition, so instead of Western capitals, we go to Asia or Central and Eastern Europe,” said faculty member Susan McGury, who will co-teach the China study abroad seminar with David Shallenberger, a School for International Training lecturer. “These seminars provide adult students with opportunities to learn about alternative, nontraditional cultures and ways of life that may not exist much longer.”

The itinerary includes visits to ethnic minority villages to learn about religion, art, history and culture, a major cultural festival in Ulan-Bator, Mongolia, and a train ride on the Trans Siberian Railway across the Great Wall into Beijing. “It’s an opportunity to study and experience ethnic culture outside of the usual places tourists visit and capture a moment that is passing because of China’s rapid development,” McGury said.