Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/124472
Creating Cultural Ambassadors by Nakiye Boyacigiller n e i l b r e nnan A t Sabanci School of Management in Istanbul, Turkey, we aim to educate leaders for the global economy, so it's crucial to have a multicultural student body. Currently 16 percent of our students come from other parts of the world, and I'd like to see that number eventually rise to 25 percent. Toward that end we've developed a recruiting strategy that includes making visits to high schools in target countries, participating in student fairs, working with agencies, hosting an interactive website, and offering generous scholrships. We also rely on word of mouth from international students who have enjoyed their time at our university—and in our country, which is currently a "hot" spot on the international stage. Turkey has the 17th largest economy in the world and the sixth largest in the European Union. With a population of 74 million and an average age of 29, Turkey is bustling with youth and dynamism. Its location makes it a bridge between Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and North Africa, which contributes to its unique and fascinating culture. And even students who have traveled to Paris, London, and Rome find Istanbul to be unfamiliar and out of the ordinary. At Sabanci SOM, we currently have 55 international students in our undergraduate and graduate programs. Most are from Germany, Pakistan, France, Oman, and the U.S., and they're almost evenly divided between full-time and exchange students. We find it somewhat easier to integrate our full-time students into the school culture because we have a longer period of time to do it. Since Turks value deep long-term At Sabanci University, Turkish and international students work together on cross-cultural teams to complete a fourmonth project required for graduation. friendships, it's harder to break in short-term visitors. The biggest obstacle that both full-time and exchange students face when they arrive is the language barrier. While all of our classes are delivered in English, as soon as the students step off campus, they find that many people in Turkey do not speak English. To help them overcome this challenge, we have a buddy program that matches international students with local classmates. These local students help visitors navigate daily life and give them useful information about cultural and academic aspects of the Sabanci University community. In addition, we offer basic Turkish language courses to help international students develop grammar and speaking skills. Of course, every semester when students first arrive, we start off with an orientation program that covers Turkish culture and key elements of cross-cultural communication and effectiveness. If they feel they need more support, students may take advantage of the Center for Individual and Academic Development and the counselors there. In addition to facing language and cultural barriers, some students find themselves unprepared for Sabanci's academic rigor, so they have a tough time in their initial weeks. Others find it challenging to work with multicultural teams on the group projects that we emphasize, particularly at the graduate level. For instance, in our MBA courses, we discuss crosscultural issues and the theoretical underpinnings of effective teams in the core organizational behavior class, and we require students to complete a four-month group project before graduation. I admit that it's around team projects that we see the most conflict. But we are a small school with an open door policy, so students who are struggling with the concepts can get a great deal of support from faculty members. We find that a student's ability to work with diverse individuals can turn a so-so project into a great one, which means that team projects are usually where we see the most learning as well. Despite these challenges and occasional setbacks, I have high hopes for all international students who enroll at Sabanci. I hope they feel they've made good investments in themselves by coming to our school. I hope they will learn about themselves, their own cultures, and the best ways to communicate t effecively with individuals from other cultures. I hope they will leave Turkey having made many friends with their fellow international students, as well as their Turkish classmates. Finally, I hope they will become ambassadors for both Sabanci and Turkey. I hope we will have won friends for life. Nakiye Boyacigiller is dean of the School of Management at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey. BizEd May/June 2013 29