What is your current position?
I work as a Marketing & Communications Manager at Keystone Academic Solutions here in Oslo.
What do you do in your present job?
My job entails helping universities around the world increase their international student recruitment. The company I work for operates a web-based marketing tool which these schools use to become more globally visible; I find new schools to contact, sell them the product, and then become responsible for managing their account and making sure their targets are met.
What was the subject of your thesis?
My thesis was meta-research: I did a historical discourse analysis of the formation of CIE and then analysed the field's research through an empirical survey of four leading journals in order to discern the purpose of our field.
In what terms has your CIE master helped you in getting where you are today?
The programme helped me become a lot more confident in very diverse groups of people with very different opinions; I learned how best to engage with people from other cultures and became much more comfortable with my communication skills. I also found my strengths and weaknesses, and was allowed to pursue my particular interests within CIE independently, thus helping me to determine what I wanted to do after school. The position I'm in requires independent, quick thinkers, and these skills were definitely improved through studying CIE at UiO.
My particular thesis topic also helped to establish me as a scholar in the field and has opened doors to speaking engagements, opportunities for publishing, and connections within the world of academia.
Why did you choose the CIE programme?
I chose the CIE programme because I wanted to study international education in a truly international environment. I always knew I wanted to work in some way with international student exchange, and I felt that the only way I could truly be knowledgeable in this field was to extensively study abroad myself. The experience of being an international student, studying education around the world with other international students, really did help me to understand what the whole exchange process entails.
Plus, the CIE programme at UiO had several logistical benefits: it was in English, housing was guaranteed, tuition fees were very low, and Oslo seemed like an incredibly friendly and beautiful city.
Where do you see yourself career wise in the future?
In the future, I hope to move upwards through my company and continue working with education marketing and international student recruitment. I'd also like to maintain a connection to the field of CIE, and hopefully publish further academic papers and speak in more conferences later on.
Any additional comments you may have for future applicants to the CIE programme are welcome.
The fact that this is a Masters of Philosophy is not to be underestimated! That's what makes this programme so unique: studying CIE at UiO completely changed the way I think about education. I really developed my own critical thinking skills and learned to ask the hard-hitting questions about how we approach education around the world.
I made lifelong friends who didn't shy away from disagreeing with me: the discussions and arguments we had in class were pivotal for helping me to understand where my own values lie and determine what my point of view actually is. I now feel absolutely confident in my abilities and believe that I have something to offer the field, and am more sure than ever about who I am and what I want to do.
Getting my masters and writing my thesis was not easy, but overcoming that struggle in the end made the accomplishment feel that much more deserved.