Certificate Offers Global Learning Opportunities

October 7, 2022

The McBride Center for International Business offers Baylor business students the opportunity to develop a global perspective through the Global Engagement Certificate in Business.

Students in the certificate program gain innovative problem-solving skills and a competitive advantage in the job market, Dawn Carlson, director of the McBride Center, said.

“The certificate helps business students develop cultural competency, encourage global responsibility and participate in solutions to global challenges,” Carlson said. “This certificate is the next step toward building future global leaders.”

The multi-tiered program has three components, each giving students options to choose from to personalize their experience. 

The first category requires students to complete five domestic intercultural engagement modules, each challenging them to attend community-based events and activities that teach them about various cultures.  

George Fereg, a first-generation student from Houston, said he enjoyed attending multicultural events, which satisfies a requirement for one of the modules.

“My favorite multicultural event was an Indian-themed event,” he said. “Even though we weren’t physically in India, I felt like I spent a day in India.”

To complete the next category, students must take three business courses with a global component. Because numerous courses are offered that fulfill this requirement, students can cater to their own major and interests.

Lastly, students are required to complete one business global engagement experience, which they can fulfill through various travel abroad programs.

Fereg completed this requirement through Baylor in Costa Rica in Winter 2021, which he was able to attend because of the First Abroad Fellows-Study Abroad Scholarship program. As a hands-on learner, Fereg enjoyed seeing what he learned at Baylor in action.

“When you go out and see new things, you can start to take those things that you learn in the classroom and apply them to the real world,” he said.

The Costa Rica trip allowed Fereg to see how business is applied globally in different cultures and settings.

“Business is everywhere—It’s taught and exchanged differently everywhere,” he said. “When I went to Costa Rica, I got to see how their businesses operated and noticed the differences between business there and in America.”

For more information on the Global Engagement Certificate in Business, email Carlson at Dawn_Carlson@baylor.edu or visit https://hankamer.baylor.edu/global-business/worldwide-scholarship.