Thinking Outside the Box: To Associate or Not To Associate?
By Lim Ming Kuok
There is a common perception that on average students who have an overseas university degree are better than local graduates. Is this it true? And if so, what are the differences between a local graduate and an overseas graduate? Anecdotal evidence does suggest that employers prefer to hire potential employee with a degree from abroad or someone that has studied abroad. The online job aggregator JobStreet.com, in a study of more than 100, 000 of its members, observed that overseas graduates earn on average 12 percent more than local graduates.1
Another study by UK-based The Council for Industry and Higher Education, also suggest employers prefer future employees to have international experience because they are more "culturally aware," and "able to work in multicultural teams and more able to move around the world as part of their career."2 Globally, the number of students educated abroad would reach 8 million people by 2025.3 Sub-Saharan African students would likely lead the way in percentage with 1 in 16 of their students4 already studying abroad and China in sheer numbers with 350,000 students studying abroad in 2007.5
The Malaysian Public Service Department also appears to believe that an overseas education has its merits, judging by the number of students it sends abroad every year despite the high cost incurred by the taxpayers. An average four year undergraduate program in the United States, depending on the type of degree, would cost the government about RM 400,000- RM 500,000 per student including tuition fees, the housing and living stipend, health insurance etc. The department recently announced that the living stipend would be almost doubled for students in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.6 An average four year undergraduate program in Japan would cost about RM 240,000-RM 300,000 per student excluding tuition fees for a public university. The cost for sending Malaysian students to Japan however is negligible for the Malaysian government because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan provides funds for Malaysia (along with Indonesia and Thailand) for the exchange students.7
All these examples are not including the administrative cost of overseeing the 17,000 students we have around the world. Also, we have not even touched on students who attend private universities and colleges on their own dime.
Clearly, serious money is being spent on "overseas education." It does make one wonder if generally, students with an overseas university degree are indeed better than local graduates? If it is true, what are the differences between a local graduate with an overseas graduate? Many people cite the "worldview" factor, that is, students who have studied abroad becomes more culturally and globally aware. Some other differences include the level of confidence, maturity, quality of knowledge, eloquence, and of course the ability to think outside the box or creativity. One of the ways to develop these qualities amongst our local student could actually be achieved without sending them abroad—to have a more liberal attitude concerning students' affiliation with and creation of new associations, or in order words, the freedom of association.
Based on my experience with the Japanese and United States tertiary education system, I have a sense that the freedom of association in our universities has really been stagnant over the past three to four decades. It is also one aspect of our tertiary education system that has not been properly fleshed out or has been coloured by too much "political overtones" in the discussion. How exactly does having a more accommodating attitude on freedom of association serve to foster critical thinking, confidence, creativity or the ability to think outside the box?
Well, human beings function by associations and networks. The idea of "following in your father's footstep" is actually good example of how human beings work by association. We make the first connection with the world through our family and through our family we connect to the larger network of the outside community, so on and so forth. For example, if we work in the family business, we inherit the established networks and instantly we become connected and this facilitates the work we do.
Throughout our life time, we form various clusters of connections with your friends, your work, and others. Successful people are able to tap into these connections for resources and to enrich themselves. But simply, maintaining old networks is not very creative. More impressive are the people who could make connections with between these pre-existing clusters of connections to form new networks. The ability to make connections beyond pre-existing networks requires many of the qualities mentioned earlier.
Universities in the US and Japan have a rather liberal position on the issue of freedom of association. This rather open attitude towards association has a positive effect on the development of creativity and critical thinking. Unfortunately, the environment in our local universities is not conducive for the organic creation of networks. In addition, there are legal constraints such as the University & University College Act (Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti, AUKU)8 which includes statutes that forbid students from being affiliated with associations that have not been sanctioned by the university's authority. This makes it hard for students to organize any non-sanctioned activities.
How does this matter? One of the ramifications is that it becomes a deterrent for student to create new affiliations. Legally they would have to wait for the official approval from the Vice-Chancellory, that in most cases are unlikely to happen and many would not even bother to initiate anything because of this red-tape. Simply put, the Act stifles creativity.
The time one spends in university could some of the most transformative years in a person's life. Many people tend to look back at their university years as the time when their worldview and perspective on issue widens and deepens. It is also one of the most fertile periods of creativity because of the change of environment, the new people you meet and the classes you take. Yet, it is often stifled by needless and honestly futile regulations that basically are designed to keep these young adults under constant "adult supervision." So despite the rhetoric of instilling critical thinking and creativity in students, the reality is that much of what happens in the university is a top-down affair which very little input and initiatives from the students. Limitation on association is detrimental to fostering this aspect of creativity and critical thinking.
There are many examples of student-organized events designed, promoted, and executed purely by students. For example, the dance-a-thon which raises millions for children with cancer called THON in my current university or the "Vegas-themed" fund-raiser, "Up `Til Dawn," that raises money for a children's hospital. And since the topic of Barack Obama's victory in the recent US Election seemed to have caught on even amongst our parliamentarians, I would like to point out that a major part of Barack Obama's historic campaign has been the student initiated volunteer groups that are part of the "Get Out The Vote" movement. The campaign succeeded in no small part due to the efforts by student groups.
We may also want to think about the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Web 2.0 is the term for the next generation of web-based applications that includes blogging, video-sharing sites, and social-networking sites such as Facebook and Friendster. The concept of networking has taken a new layer of meaning with the proliferation of these user-generated web-tools. This online association is just as potent as real world associations and they have been able to produce some significant real world results. We should be asking how to creatively incorporate these new tools into the education system.
Lastly, in case this argument becomes purely political, I must stress that the freedom of association doesn't always have to be about serious issues all the time. Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes. I remember that in my university in Japan, they have all sorts of clubs which included a certain "gyuu-don club." Gyuu-don is a Japanese dish where a bowl of rice is topped with stewed beef. Basically, the gyuu-don club met regularly to discuss ways to improve the cooking method of the popular Japanese dish. It was certainly one of the more whimsical associations I have encountered.
The point of the story is that ideas should flow naturally and organically, from the young minds, rather from stodgy university administers. Who knows what could come out of an idiosyncratic gathering like the gyuu-don club, maybe something wonderful, perhaps a new best selling recipe or maybe nothing at all. If the formation of networks is based on some pre-defined regulations, we will never grow beyond those pre-defined parameters.
Let them suffer through the agony of organizing events into wee hours, let them enjoy the sweet taste of success as well as the stale bitterness of complete failure in their trial and errors. Is that not part and parcel of a student's life? And is that not the responsibility of educators to allow that to happen? If part of a comprehensive education is to develop the skills to think outside the box or to think critically, students need to be encouraged create networks and maybe change may someday truly arrive in Malaysia.
References:
1Graduates of overseas universities fair better than local grads in salary scale. Available from http://my.jobstreet.com/aboutus/preleases83.htm
2Global Horizons and Role of Employers. Available from http://www.cihe-uk.com/docs/PRESS/0810GlobalHorPress.pdf
3Florida, Richard L. The Flight of the Creative Class: The New Global Competition for Talent. New York: HarperBusiness, 2005.
4UNESCO Global Education Digest 2007. Available from http://www.uis.unesco.org/template/pdf/ged/2007/EN_web2.pdf
5Chinese students to dominate world market. Available from http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20071101150549773
6Elaun sara hidup siswa naik hingga 84 peratus. Available from http://www1.bharian.com.my/Misc/Bajet/Hari/Berita2008/20070908101652/Article3
7Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan
8Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti 1971
Lim Ming Kuok is a product of Malaysian, Japanese, and American education. A final year PhD. Candidate at the Pennsylvania State University (U.S) in the field of Mass Communication, he is deeply interested in the relationship between media, society, and democracy. Currently, he is researching on the connection between blogging and democracy, using Malaysia as a case study. He recently concluded a series of interviews with prominent bloggers, academicians, and media practitioners in the country on the same topic.
His previous contribution to Project Malaysia on The Politics of Race can be viewed here.