Education has always been the basis of a career, no matter where you live or study, as long as you have a degree or diploma. However, what makes a young graduate find a motivating job and how are students and graduates guided to start a career?

 

Well, first of all, we need to think about the education coming from home, the guidance of the parents. As a child or teenager, you are encouraged to contribute to the community, you are asked to help others and you get rewarded for your work around the house. So, how much influence does parental education have on your future career? It definitely has a lot of influence in choosing the studies you are going to pursue in college and maybe even university. That’s ok! Every child or teenager must have support and get advice from their parents, otherwise you wouldn’t call it a family, right? So, there’s how parental education has an influence on your future job or career.

 

Second, in school, you get to be part of a group, you get to make choices and you overcome the very first challenges of your life. Either you’re a science fan, or interested in biology or chemistry, it will most probably influence your decisions in choosing a career. Therefore, is it common to get hired in an industry or function for which you studied all your life? Definitely yes, as the employers look for candidates who are specialized and qualified in a certain business area or domain.

 

What does it take us to be competitive in a global market? Starting from choosing the right education coming from the parents at home, then from our teachers in school, we get to make our own choices in order to be excellent in what we’re pursuing as a career. Flexibility, communication, cultural awareness and tolerance will come as great advantages besides a proper education in order to get a job and develop a successful career.

Universitas 21 was founded in 1997 in Melbourne, Australia and it grew to become today’s leading network of research universities across the globe, made up of 27 member universities with more than 1.3 million students enrolled worldwide and several billion US dollars annual research income. The member universities come from 17 countries and the main offices of Universitas 21 are in the UK at the University of Birmingham and in the USA, in Charlottesville.

 

The network is led by presidents, a secretariat and local managers who are based at each member’s location and their responsibilities vary from setting strategies to daily operational issues and activities taking place at each member’s locations. Each of the three leading organizations has a specific purpose and therefore duty, so that the managers meet every year to exchange ideas, share best practices and advise the presidents on operational matters. At the same time, the secretariat is divided into areas of Student Experience, Educational Innovation, Researcher Engagement and Leadership & Management, so it is the best support for the management of the network.

 

U21 organizes annual events for its member universities all over the world and besides topics on research and innovation, they also address students on leadership aspects, health sciences and human rights.

 

Student Exchange provides students with the opportunity to study abroad, learn new languages, travel to new places and meet new cultures. More importantly, this student exchange experience enriches students by leading to personal growth, international perspective and maturity.

 

Since May 2013, University of Maryland is a member of Universitas 21 together with other 2 institutions, one from South Africa and the other from the USA.