On a recent visit to Latin America, it was increasingly clear to me that policymakers in both the public and private sector are committed to investing in higher education to develop their workforce and future leaders.
Learning, research, institution-building, and community engagement have become top priorities for many governments across Latin America in the past ten years, and an emphasis on international study as a means to advance national economic growth has been one of the keys to achieving these priorities.
The Institute of International Education has been involved in many of these developments over the years, beginning with establishing a Latin America Division at our New York headquarters in the 1930, and then through our Latin America regional office in Mexico City since 1974. Chief among the programs managed by IIE beginning in the 1970s was the ITT International Fellowship Program, which served as an exemplary model of corporate involvement in international educational exchange for 17 years.
Over the years, the Institute’s work in the Western Hemisphere has grown to include a number of dynamic initiatives related to higher education, scholarship, and fellowship programs, promoting study abroad, workforce and professional development, institutional partnership building, educational advising, and English language testing.
We have launched partnerships with a number of organizations and government agencies to build global talent in Latin America to undertake new research, develop strategic higher education links, and engage leaders in dialogue on the role of higher education institutions as incubators of innovation, workforce development, and international discourse. We have seen firsthand the tremendously positive impact of these initiatives over time, through our work with the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program, the Inter-American Foundation Grassroots Development Program, the GE Foundation Scholar Leaders Program, the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Student and Scholar Program and Humphrey Fellowships, and now with the Government of Brazil’s new Scientific Mobility Program.
A new book published by IIE this spring, Latin America’s New Knowledge Economy: Higher Education, Government, and International Collaboration, offers views from regional experts on the policies, institutions and programs that have helped bring about impressive growth and change.
Changing paradigms in Latin America’s higher education system, as well as demographic shifts in the United States, have led to an increase in educational exchange opportunities between the two regions.
In the United States, the Obama administration has made it a priority to expand academic exchanges between Latin America and the United States. The U. S. government is working with foreign governments, universities and colleges, and the private sector to reach the goal of “100,000 Strong in the Americas” to increase the flow of students between Latin American and the Caribbean and the United States to 100,000 in each direction. The most recent data in Open Doors report, published by IIE in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, shows that 64,021 students from the region studied in the United States and 39,871 students from the U.S. studied abroad in Latin America and the Caribbean. As described in a chapter on Western Hemisphere Academic Exchanges by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Meghann Curtis and Policy Adviser Lisa Kraus at the U.S. Department of State, “Strong partnerships in the region are critical to both U.S. domestic and global strategic interests.” The authors note that science and technology innovations have accelerated through cooperative partnerships and are key to shared sustainable growth, and that working collaboratively across borders in the region is necessary to attain energy security and to combat transnational crime and narcotrafficking, as well as to support the global effort to promote democracy, rule of law, social inclusion and human rights around the world. “At the center of these partnerships—and U.S. strategy in the region—are educational exchanges, which help us establish a strong foundation for empowering the best innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders of today to meet all these challenges.”
The State Department is implementing a number of programs to help meet these goals, and the chapter by Meghann Curtis and Lisa Kraus outlines these initiatives according to their four major lines of effort: advising students and governments, engaging key countries through strategic dialogues, offering both merit-based and need-based scholarship, and increasing relevant language instruction. Key initiatives include the advising services provided by a U.S. government-supported network of 109 EducationUSA advising centers throughout Latin America, providing Opportunity Funds for highly talented students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and expanding Fulbright, Gilman, and other scholarship opportunities.
In Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff created a new multi-year scholarship program called Ciência sem Fronteiras (known in English as the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program) to send 75,000 fully funded Brazilian students abroad for training in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, with an additional 26,000 scholarships expected to be funded by the private sector. These new scholarships are specifically targeted to produce a workforce that is trained in STEM fields and has the language and cultural skills needed to succeed in the workplace.
And Brazil has incorporated the private sector into its educational changes. At a time when Brazil's economy is expanding rapidly, and Brazil and the United States are forging unprecedented ties in trade, energy, and scientific development, business leaders have joined in this effort. Companies like Boeing, Cargill, and GE have been eager to contribute scholarships and offer internships to connect with these students and the colleges and universities that host them.
We are also beginning to see increased investment in education and training in Chile among leaders who seek to build the knowledge economy in their country and to increase cooperation between Latin America and the United States. In the late 2000s, Michelle Bachelet’s government specifically sought to build economic, social and cultural development by encouraging more students to study abroad. The “Becas Chile” grants, launched in 2008, increased the opportunities for students to study abroad from 200 students in 2007 to 5,809 in 2011, with the goal of funding 30,000 students for international study by 2017, as authors Raisa Belyavina and Jordan Bresinger detail in Latin America’s New Knowledge Economy. “Much like its counterparts elsewhere in Latin America, ‘Becas Chile’ focuses on the economic, social and cultural development of Chile by strengthening ‘basic and applied research, scientific and technical development, innovation and entrepreneurship,’” they write.
The new growth and investment in education in the region is a positive sign, but much remains to be done. Higher education systems in Brazil, Chile and across Latin America still face the urgent need to break down societal barriers and expand educational access and equity. Governments and educators across the region are still challenged to enhance the research capacity of universities, produce a skilled workforce, and prepare students for global careers.
To help meet some of the most urgent needs, IIE is working with EducationUSA to hold a series of U.S. university fairs this May, which will bring U.S. universities together with STEM students in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia. With STEM education so key to economic development and building human capacity in their home countries, it is increasingly important to help foster an interest in pursuing further education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and connect students with the institutions that best suit their needs.
Latin America’s New Knowledge Economy is available on IIE's website.
Dr. Allan E. Goodman is the President of the Institute of International Education. IIE administers the Fulbright program for the United States Department of State, as well as over 250 other corporate, government and privately-sponsored programs. Previously, Dr. Goodman was Executive Dean of the School of Foreign Service and Professor at Georgetown University. He has a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard, an M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and a B.S. from Northwestern University.
a global affairs media network
Cooperation is Key to Growth for Latin America
May 24, 2013
On a recent visit to Latin America, it was increasingly clear to me that policymakers in both the public and private sector are committed to investing in higher education to develop their workforce and future leaders.
Learning, research, institution-building, and community engagement have become top priorities for many governments across Latin America in the past ten years, and an emphasis on international study as a means to advance national economic growth has been one of the keys to achieving these priorities.
The Institute of International Education has been involved in many of these developments over the years, beginning with establishing a Latin America Division at our New York headquarters in the 1930, and then through our Latin America regional office in Mexico City since 1974. Chief among the programs managed by IIE beginning in the 1970s was the ITT International Fellowship Program, which served as an exemplary model of corporate involvement in international educational exchange for 17 years.
Over the years, the Institute’s work in the Western Hemisphere has grown to include a number of dynamic initiatives related to higher education, scholarship, and fellowship programs, promoting study abroad, workforce and professional development, institutional partnership building, educational advising, and English language testing.
We have launched partnerships with a number of organizations and government agencies to build global talent in Latin America to undertake new research, develop strategic higher education links, and engage leaders in dialogue on the role of higher education institutions as incubators of innovation, workforce development, and international discourse. We have seen firsthand the tremendously positive impact of these initiatives over time, through our work with the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program, the Inter-American Foundation Grassroots Development Program, the GE Foundation Scholar Leaders Program, the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Student and Scholar Program and Humphrey Fellowships, and now with the Government of Brazil’s new Scientific Mobility Program.
A new book published by IIE this spring, Latin America’s New Knowledge Economy: Higher Education, Government, and International Collaboration, offers views from regional experts on the policies, institutions and programs that have helped bring about impressive growth and change.
Changing paradigms in Latin America’s higher education system, as well as demographic shifts in the United States, have led to an increase in educational exchange opportunities between the two regions.
In the United States, the Obama administration has made it a priority to expand academic exchanges between Latin America and the United States. The U. S. government is working with foreign governments, universities and colleges, and the private sector to reach the goal of “100,000 Strong in the Americas” to increase the flow of students between Latin American and the Caribbean and the United States to 100,000 in each direction. The most recent data in Open Doors report, published by IIE in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, shows that 64,021 students from the region studied in the United States and 39,871 students from the U.S. studied abroad in Latin America and the Caribbean. As described in a chapter on Western Hemisphere Academic Exchanges by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Meghann Curtis and Policy Adviser Lisa Kraus at the U.S. Department of State, “Strong partnerships in the region are critical to both U.S. domestic and global strategic interests.” The authors note that science and technology innovations have accelerated through cooperative partnerships and are key to shared sustainable growth, and that working collaboratively across borders in the region is necessary to attain energy security and to combat transnational crime and narcotrafficking, as well as to support the global effort to promote democracy, rule of law, social inclusion and human rights around the world. “At the center of these partnerships—and U.S. strategy in the region—are educational exchanges, which help us establish a strong foundation for empowering the best innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders of today to meet all these challenges.”
The State Department is implementing a number of programs to help meet these goals, and the chapter by Meghann Curtis and Lisa Kraus outlines these initiatives according to their four major lines of effort: advising students and governments, engaging key countries through strategic dialogues, offering both merit-based and need-based scholarship, and increasing relevant language instruction. Key initiatives include the advising services provided by a U.S. government-supported network of 109 EducationUSA advising centers throughout Latin America, providing Opportunity Funds for highly talented students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and expanding Fulbright, Gilman, and other scholarship opportunities.
In Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff created a new multi-year scholarship program called Ciência sem Fronteiras (known in English as the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program) to send 75,000 fully funded Brazilian students abroad for training in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, with an additional 26,000 scholarships expected to be funded by the private sector. These new scholarships are specifically targeted to produce a workforce that is trained in STEM fields and has the language and cultural skills needed to succeed in the workplace.
And Brazil has incorporated the private sector into its educational changes. At a time when Brazil's economy is expanding rapidly, and Brazil and the United States are forging unprecedented ties in trade, energy, and scientific development, business leaders have joined in this effort. Companies like Boeing, Cargill, and GE have been eager to contribute scholarships and offer internships to connect with these students and the colleges and universities that host them.
We are also beginning to see increased investment in education and training in Chile among leaders who seek to build the knowledge economy in their country and to increase cooperation between Latin America and the United States. In the late 2000s, Michelle Bachelet’s government specifically sought to build economic, social and cultural development by encouraging more students to study abroad. The “Becas Chile” grants, launched in 2008, increased the opportunities for students to study abroad from 200 students in 2007 to 5,809 in 2011, with the goal of funding 30,000 students for international study by 2017, as authors Raisa Belyavina and Jordan Bresinger detail in Latin America’s New Knowledge Economy. “Much like its counterparts elsewhere in Latin America, ‘Becas Chile’ focuses on the economic, social and cultural development of Chile by strengthening ‘basic and applied research, scientific and technical development, innovation and entrepreneurship,’” they write.
The new growth and investment in education in the region is a positive sign, but much remains to be done. Higher education systems in Brazil, Chile and across Latin America still face the urgent need to break down societal barriers and expand educational access and equity. Governments and educators across the region are still challenged to enhance the research capacity of universities, produce a skilled workforce, and prepare students for global careers.
To help meet some of the most urgent needs, IIE is working with EducationUSA to hold a series of U.S. university fairs this May, which will bring U.S. universities together with STEM students in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia. With STEM education so key to economic development and building human capacity in their home countries, it is increasingly important to help foster an interest in pursuing further education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and connect students with the institutions that best suit their needs.
Latin America’s New Knowledge Economy is available on IIE's website.
Dr. Allan E. Goodman is the President of the Institute of International Education. IIE administers the Fulbright program for the United States Department of State, as well as over 250 other corporate, government and privately-sponsored programs. Previously, Dr. Goodman was Executive Dean of the School of Foreign Service and Professor at Georgetown University. He has a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard, an M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and a B.S. from Northwestern University.
