As universities race to prepare students for an A.I.-driven workforce, they should not overlook an older form of education: international experience. Global education can build the adaptability, cultural fluency and judgment that is becoming more valuable in the workplace.
This op-ed by Jason Czyz was published in the Observer on August, 20, 2026.
As college students prepare for the start of the new academic year, many are worrying about their future employability in a world that is constantly being reshaped by A.I. Universities share this concern by revising curricula to include more technology training and helping students develop fluency with increasingly powerful tools. This is a clear-eyed and necessary response. However, what strikes me is that these efforts may be backward. If A.I. can provide technical knowledge, generate data analyses, write code and summarize information, then what competencies will become more valuable precisely because machines cannot replicate them? Universities should be investing more heavily in the capabilities that remain distinctly human: sound judgment, adaptability, communication, and the ability to build relationships.
These skills will become a greater source of competitive advantage in an A.I.-driven economy. The challenge for higher education institutions and companies, then, is not simply to teach students and young adults how to use the latest technology. It is to prepare them to operate effectively when technology cannot provide a complete answer: navigating unfamiliar situations, understanding different perspectives, earning trust, collaborating across cultures and making judgment calls when there is no clear playbook. International education, whether through a study abroad program, an international internship or another structured experience abroad, should be a key part of that preparation.
International education has often been positioned as an enrichment opportunity that is valuable, certainly, but separate from the “real” work of preparing students for careers. That distinction has become difficult to justify. An international experience provides a form of cultural and professional fluency that cannot be recreated in a classroom. Universities have an opportunity to make that experience part of the educational infrastructure available to a much broader range of students.
When young people attend school or work abroad, they must quickly adapt to a new environment, often where the language, customs and norms may be completely different from what they are used to. They learn to build trust and relationships with people from different backgrounds. They start to instinctively consider a variety of perspectives when solving problems. And they develop the confidence to navigate situations where there is no obvious blueprint.
A student may know how to analyze a problem, but working in an unfamiliar cultural environment requires them to determine which questions to ask, whose perspective they may be missing, how to communicate when assumptions differ and how to adjust when an initial approach fails. It is difficult to simulate that kind of uncertainty in a classroom. Those are the kinds of capabilities that become more important as technology takes on more of the informational work.
A recent report from the Institute of International Education and the AIFS Foundation underscores what years of anecdotal evidence have indicated: international education experiences are transformative learning opportunities. Researchers surveyed 44 individuals with professional leadership roles, representing fields ranging from engineering and technology to finance and law, who participated in an international education experience in countries spanning Europe, Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and Oceania. Nearly all of those surveyed said their educational experiences abroad had an impact on their professional growth, career trajectories and skill development.