Working World Wide: The International Competence

The programme consists of five modules:

International context

This module focuses on states and why and how they work together. In a globalising world this cooperation becomes even more important in order to combat cross border problems such as climate change, crime, drugs and human trafficking, conflict and migration, poverty, etc. However, depending on the form of cooperation (voluntary, mandatory, semi-voluntary) and level of integration of policies, this cooperation may also lead to (inter)dependency, decline of sovereignty and a loss of democratic control for citizens. International organisations such as the UN and the EU have played an important role after WWII. The European Union is a special and highly integrated form of cooperation and will receive extra attention in class with a visit to Luxemburg, a city in which several EU institutions are located.

By means of research and critical analysis, you will build up a broad understanding of international cooperation, its strengths and its challenges. You will work individually but will also learn from the work of others.

Culture

Whether you approach the world from the perception of government, business or citizens, culture plays an important and often determining role in mutual relations. Culture is here not used in terms of the arts, but rather in the patterns of behaviour and thinking of groups of people up to the level of states. For this reason this topic plays an important part in this programme. In order to be able to handle cultural differences, it is important to have a good insight in your own culture. Therefore, we will use different theories and modules to describe culture on a national level and your own individual culture.

International economics

This module will further raise your knowledge of international economics that will allow you to understand the global challenges facing the world’s society and business. You will also think about the responses to those challenges from both governmental and business perspective. This knowledge is indispensable for a person working in an international context, either in government, a company or NGO. The course will focus on topics such as economic growth, unemployment, protectionism, exchange rate systems, fiscal and monetary policies. We will focus on challenges such as power differences between countries, discrimination, climate change and position of technological giants within the world economy.

Future responsible leadership

This module gives students an understanding as well as practical knowledge of both personal leadership and leadership within an organization. Every transition requires leadership: the will and ability to change, to see change as an opportunity, and to direct it from values and vision. Anticipating and responding to developments does not happen automatically, it requires choosing, innovating, experimenting, changing, investing, demonstrating, collaborating, and more. This requires leadership in all layers of the organization, from bottom to top. Leadership is not about everyone becoming a manager, or leading. It's about everyone knowing how to inspire change from their position, seeing change not as a threat, but as an opportunity. An opportunity to innovate and address new (international) markets. To face economic and social challenges.  

International project

Students organise their own international project for at least 392 hours. The international project can have different forms, e.g.  doing research, voluntary work or an internship. You may choose yourself what you would like to do as long as it is linked to your personal goals for this programme and to those of your own university programme. The requirements for your intern company or organisation are that they are able to provide you with an appropriate assignment, that they have an international focus and that they will give you support and guidance. The research will be on the basis of a pre-approved research plan.  

In the 1st week of July students should indicate what kind of international project they would like to do and hand in an action plan for arranging the project.

The way we work within this programme:

The overarching objective of the Working World Wide programme is the development of an international competence. As mentioned, such a competence implies knowledge, skills and attitudes.

The classes in which you will work on this knowledge, skills and attitudes, will be mostly physically. Classes will be as interactive as possible with a variety of activities.  This programme encompasses full time study during 5 months. This means you have to be available 40 hours a week. You will have approximately 16 hours of physical classes per week. So, you need to work the major part outside class, either individually or in teams with students from different programmes and countries. It implies that you have to decide yourself when you work on your assignments and how you organise the process in your team. You may split up the work between you or do things collectively. However, if you split up, you will have to discuss the results of your research between you. If you do not do so, you will only be aware of your own contribution and waste the benefit of learning from others and in doing so, not obtaining a picture as a whole.  

Type of assessment

Students will be assessed via portfolio’s with (reflection) reports, assignments, presentations and simulations. In addition, students will experience part of day-to-day reality through the international project. The form this project takes may vary considerably (traineeship, research, preparation of thesis, voluntary work, project), but in all cases the knowledge obtained during the first part of the programme has to be applied.  

The international competence refers to three overarching learning outcomes that students can obtain through international activities:

• Intercultural competence: Students have the knowledge, attitudes and skills that enable them to interact successfully with people from diverse (linguistic and cultural) backgrounds.
• International orientation: Students are informed about and engaged with, international organisations, topics and perspectives on:
  • Societal and global issues, such as inclusion, refugees, climate change and supranational institutions such as the European Union.
  • Disciplines and professions, such as international knowledge, techniques and perspectives on how to perform one’s profession.
  • Future responsible leadership.
  • International economics, such as economic growth, unemployment, protectionism, integration, exchange rate systems, fiscal and monetary policies, economics behind Brexit or trade conflicts between China and USA.
• Personal qualities: An international experience can contribute to personal development and growth, such as becoming more independent, self-aware, flexible and adaptable. These competences are not merely acquired through, or relevant to, international contexts. However, they can be vital to the success of an international experience, as well as enhanced through such an experience.

Fall 2025

This programme will run from September 1st 2025 until January 31st 2026. One semester is divided into two blocks:

Block 1: September 1st 2025 - October 31st 2025

• International Context (4 ECTS)
• Culture (4 ECTS)
• International Economics (4 ECTS)
• Future Responsible Leadership (4 ECTS)

Block 2: November 3rd 2025 - January 31st 2026

• International Project (14 ECTS)

After completing your exchange programme at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, you will receive a:

• Transcript of records

Attendance

A precondition for receiving a mark for the modules is attendance: students who miss more than one session  (this includes all, meaning: the group and consultancy sessions will fail the module. The reason for this is that insight and skills are acquired during the making and discussing of the weekly assignments with each other and with the lecturer. The learning in this course is based on ‘the learning by doing principle’. All students need to be present for the role play.

Working World Wide gets you prepared for an international career by providing a theoretical background and ways and means of applying this background in day-to-day reality.