The Strong-Willed Student: Shifting Expectations and Policy Implications for Global Education

Please join us for an FPLC special event with Michelle Johns, PhD – Academic Director of International Programs at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati.

Thursday, Oct. 28 at 6:30PM

The politics of international student mobility and global education are as chaotic as ever – yet the strong-willed student survives! The rapid shift and cheerleading behind the last two years of virtual education programming has been a testament to the true agility of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and students around the world. Two years later, those same adaptable international students are craving more, be it overseas or in the classroom. As each nation continues to manage their own approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, international student flows are slowly ticking up, with both sides of the aisle grappling with shifting expectations. Testing, vaccines, safety, freedom, rights, rigor, and leveling-up! We will discuss how international students’ expectations are shifting as they continue to acquire the global business experiences they need to remain relevant and competitive in the uncertain times ahead, and how this translates to foreign policy and HEIs as they look to meet future demand for resilient, culturally competent human capital.

Michelle JohnsMichelle Johns is an Assistant Professor of Management and International Business with research and teaching focused in organizational behavior and resilience, and leadership in change and crisis management across cultures. The past few decades have found Michelle working in the U.S., Spain, and Australia in corporate communications in the aerospace industry, as well as, tourism sustainability and IT projects with regional and local governments in the European Union and the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Michelle has served as the Academic Director of International Programs in the Lindner College of Business since 2019, and oversees the college’s growing International Business programs, study abroad programming, global strategic partnerships, and innovative international projects such as #BearcatsWithoutBorders and the Lindner Global Lounge podcast.

Michelle received her Ph.D. in Management and Organizational Behavior from the University of Wollongong, Australia, M.S. in Economic Integration from University of the Basque Country /Universidad del País Vasco, Spain, M.S. in Tourism Management from Texas A&M University – College Station, and her B.A. in Communications and Media Studies at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi. When she is not traveling the world with her students, or husband and four kids, Michelle is consulting on crisis preparedness and recovery, volunteering, hiking, cycling, or you guessed it… planning her next foreign adventure.