HR: 09:30h
AN: ED31E-07    [Abstracts]
TI: Global Workforce Development - Addressing the Changing Geography of Investment
AU: * McElvy, G W
EM: gerald.mcelvy@exxonmobil.com
AF: ExxonMobil Foundation, 5959 Las Colinas, Irving, TX 75039 United States
AU: Loudin, M G
EM: mike.loudin@exxonmobil.com
AF: ExxonMobil Exploration Company, 233 Benmar, Houston, TX 77060 United States
AB: The Geography of professional workforce hiring is changing significantly and rapidly in the petroleum industry, mostly in response to shifting investment patterns. These geographical changes pose daunting challenges as well as new opportunities for philanthropic institutions such as the ExxonMobil Foundation, and especially for academia. Our Angolan affiliate illustrates the challenges brought about by investment in new areas. Although we will continue to require access to numerous Angolan Geoscience graduates who can fully participate in our global Geoscience community, there is only one Angolan institution that grants a relatively small number of Geoscience degrees. Our access to other locally-educated Angolan professional graduates is similarly limited. The Petroleum sector's response to this situation has been to seek indigenous students who are already enrolled, often in North American or European academic institutions, or to sponsor Angolan students there. If one multiplies our Angolan Geoscience example by the number of competing employers in Angola, and then by the number of countries around the world that are experiencing strong economic growth, the magnitude of the unfilled demand for international educational development seems daunting. However, several academic institutions have already taken the initiative and have provided educational, linguistic, and cultural pathways that encourage Angolans and others to obtain a world-class educational preparation on their respective campuses. This strategy has indeed begun to address the need for capacity-building for many indigenous students, and has aided various industries in their efforts to build indigenous workforces. Nevertheless, growing the capacity of indigenous academic infrastructure is also essential for the long term, and only a few academic institutions have begun to explore this educational frontier. Increased engagement and collaboration in international educational activities would clearly confer benefits on all the stakeholders, including universities, private industry, and various philanthropic institutions and governmental authorities. Continued economic growth around the world will be accompanied by growth in academic capacity, and it seems likely that the established academic institutions of today that nurture and influence academic growth outside of their own countries will become tomorrow's leading institutions.
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 0855 Diversity
DE: 6630 Workforce
DE: 9305 Africa
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005