“Educational systems in Europe tend to be very traditional, somewhat rigid in offering and organization, and resistant to change” (Moran, p. 467-468). Typically strong in science, engineering, literature, and languages, practical life courses centering around business and management have made a slower appearance into mainstream curriculum. For example, the oldest university in continuous operation, The University of Bologna, was founded in 1088. According to a recent report published only by Top Universities, The University of Bologna, only taught doctorate level studies until recently, when the school increased their educational programs beyond the doctorate level. The entire article can be found at https://www.topuniversities.com/blog/10-oldest-universities-world. However, out of the 232 programs offered to first and second year students at The University of Bologna, 102 are still geared toward engineering, medicine, and sciences. This is almost half of their offered curriculum. Only 22 are focused on economics and management. (Universita, 2020)
In order to build our next generation of leaders, professional development outside of University is critical. “European managers attend courses and workshops at another’s universities and read one another’s management journals and business publications” (Moran, p. 466). Although this type of information sharing is important, we must think bigger. Building leaders is key to the expansion and survival of international business. This need for strong European leaders was recently highlighted by The Obama Foundation which formed an international outreach program, Leaders: Europe. This six-month virtual program is designed to build and strengthen leadership skills through the discussion of challenging issues currently confronting Europe. (Obama) Ideally, with the implementation and awareness of programs such as this, we will continue to build the leaders of tomorrow. Although we recognize the importance the role education plays in the development of leaders, we must also focus on practical, real world experiences which include exposure to multi-cultural views and ways of doing business, such as highlighted by the program, Leaders: Europe. More programs like this will lead to stronger and more open-minded leaders across the globe.
References
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences (9th ed.). NY: Routledge.
Obama Foundation. Leaders: Europe. Retrieved from https://www.obama.org/europe-2020/
Universita Di Bologna Degree Programs. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.unibo.it/en/teaching/degree-programmes