May 7, 2003 For Immediate Release

The University of Northern British Columbia is the lead institution from Canada participating in a Canada-Europe exchange program designed to foster the role of women in global management.

The Educating Women for Global Management program is designed to provide women with the education and skills necessary to participate in the management of global business. While the exchange program is between post-secondary institutions, a feature of the program involves having students participate in work placements while they are overseas. There will be a total of 51 exchanges, with eight or nine exchanges from each participating institution.

Canadian Partners
University of Northern BC (lead)
Northwest Community College (Terrace)
University of Regina

Europe
Turku Polytechnic (Finland, lead)
Malardalen University (Sweden)
University of Strathclyde (Scotland)

Turku Polytechnic is Finland's largest technical school and spreads its operations across eight campuses in southwestern Finland. Malardalen University has about 14,000 students and, like UNBC, has about 50% of its students in the sciences and half in the social sciences and humanities. Founded in 1796, the University is Strathclyde is located in Glasgow and has just over 14,000 students.

The exchange project is scheduled to run three years, starting this fall. Prior to departure on an exchange, students will be required to complete language training and cultural workshops to ensure that they gain an understanding and appreciation for cultural diversity, language expression, social structures, and the historical, geographical, and economic conditions of the international partner countries. These skills are in demand by private and public employers around the globe.

The program is being funded by Human Resources Development Canada and the European Commission.