Building Career Skills

More and more jobs require collaboration with international colleagues or clients. And so many of the issues that affect our daily lives are impacted by events or trends in other countries. Yet the vast majority of young people are hardly getting the exposure they need to understand and navigate a tumultuous world. Many new graduates in the United States and the Middle East and North Africa do not possess skills required by the labor market, resulting in high rates of youth unemployment – at 11.5% in the United States and 30.6% in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Stevens Initiative aims to improve young people’s career and global competence skills, which includes collaboration, communication, foreign language proficiency, awareness of diverse perspectives, and civic and global engagement. Global competence skills are critical to enhancing student career readiness and preparing them for civic life. Studies show that these skills help students better understand local and global issues, recognize different perspectives, communicate ideas effectively to international audiences, and act on their ideas. The Initiative advocates for virtual exchange as a means to help young people build these skills.

How Virtual Exchange helps

Virtual exchange uses technology, curricula, and facilitation to give young people around the world the opportunity to learn and work together. Virtual exchange programs already connect thousands of young people across the United States and around the world, in primary and secondary education as well as in higher education. Educators and other facilitators use a wide variety of tech tools and address many subjects through their programs. Virtual exchange is cost-effective, scalable, and uniquely capable of reaching populations that are not otherwise reached by in-person exchange programs. The Stevens Initiative combines best practices in cross-cultural education and interactive technology to enable deep, meaningful educational interactions.