Changing the Culture of Outbound Mobility with a First Experience Abroad (FEA)

Incorporating international opportunities into an academic program is a life-changing experience. Students gain highly valued skills/competencies, enhance language skills, develop professional networks, and increase employability.

New Brunswick students are unique. Approximately 50% of University of New Brunswick students are first-generation university from low-income or Indigenous families with unexplored cross-cultural skills due to limited travel experience. Students feel intimidated and ineligible, dismissing these valuable opportunities as unobtainable, leaving UNB’s outbound mobility programs for privileged students.

UNB will design/deliver “First Experiences Abroad” challenging this culture, addressing barriers and demonstrating the personal, academic, professional benefits of short-term, structured programs which are inclusive, equitable, accessible and achievable.

Latest Publications

Post

Strengthening Canada’s Global Skills: Our submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance Pre-budget Consultations in Advance of Budget 2024

The program has equipped a new generation of students, from all backgrounds, with global skills necessary to meet Canada’s ever evolving labour market needs. It is now time to make the program a permanent part of Canada’s skills strategy and approach to international education.
Opinion

Louisane LeBlanc: If the Global Skills Opportunity pilot ends, Canadians with disabilities will miss out

Post

Seventy new GSO projects to support hundreds of students’ global work and study experiences

With funding from Economic and Social Development Canada, the new GSO projects will allow hundreds more Canadian students to gain invaluable global skills through international work and study experiences in countries around the world.