‘Global competence’ of minority immigrant students: hierarchy of experience and ideology of global competence in study abroad

Disrupting Neoliberal and Neocolonial Ideologies in U.S. Study Abroad: From Discourse to Intervention

“…Doerr (2019) explained that the expertise and possessed global competence of minority students is discounted in the current 'global' discourse which implies that one can only gain global competence through study abroad and that all other types of global or intercultural knowledge are not considered legitimate. To contrast this narrative, Doerr (2018) presented findings supporting the value of minority students' global competence. Doerr's ethnographic study on the experiences of four minority immigrant students studying in Sierra Leone and Spain found that each student was able to use their multicultural and multilingual heritage to help navigate and connect with their study abroad experiences in ways that their peers could not.…”

From campus to the world: Global learning in the context of an urban community college

“…For example, when interviewing “minority immigrant” students about their time studying abroad, Neriko Musha Doerr found that their personal backgrounds crossing borders and navigating the process of assimilating into American society brought new approaches to the intracultural dialogue and understanding of the “Other,” not only for themselves but also for other students (2020). By considering particular students' subjectivity, global citizenship is transformed into something deeper, from simple awareness to an understanding that it is “situational, acknowledged competence, something that emerges in a particular context where certain knowledge, attitudes, and skills are recognized and valued” (Doerr, 2020, p. 85). This recognition of students' existing experiences and backgrounds as a resource enables global learning to become an integral part of LaGuardia's everyday educational practices rather than one‐off activities.…”

Internationalization at home strategies examined through the intersections of racism, linguicism, and ableism

“…Students from non-dominant racial backgrounds bring their bi-/multi-cultural experiences and increase the potential of the internationalization curriculum possible in the home institution (Doerr, 2020). And yet, even after decades of efforts to provide equal educational opportunities regardless of skin color (e.g., Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, U.S.; South African post-Apartheid policies), institutional racism including inequality between racial groups, especially between Black and White, persist, creating barriers to increasing social interaction and growing intercultural competence among students.…”

“…For example, visual supports often help students on the autism spectrum meet course expectations and improve selfadvocacy skills in college. Transnational students can also bring global understanding including different politics, businesses, religions, and languages (Doerr, 2020). Thus, tailoring the curriculum based on students' demographics can help learners foster appropriate behavior, such as openness to different learning styles and culture within domestic environments without traveling abroad.…”