Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!!
ComputerWorld online (www.computerworld.com QuickLink 56883) provides a story about a graduate intern's experience with HP India. In it he says, " I knew people were doing very, very good work because I had worked with them in the airline and had studied this, but I didn't really conceptualize that these people are just as smart as we are. Not that it's surprising, but it really came home for me. They are just as talented, they can do the same work, they use the same software and lingo, and they produce the same quality work as anybody I've worked with on any consulting engagement. "
Well, it does not come as a surprise to me at all!
If you really reflect on your actions you will notice that a great majority of people at all levels in the US (I can not say about other countries) really believe that no one else can be smart, intelligent, capable, and hard working as they are. Especially, anyone from, as you like to call "Third World Countries" can be! Hundreds of Thomas Friedmans can talk and write about this but this thinking will not go away. It is cultural bias. It leads to resentment, illogical responses, and eventually to hatred.
Can Universities help in coping and reversing this behavior. I believe it can. Examples abound. Look at London School of Business and INSEAD where the MBA students are expected to do an International Internship. While we may not be able to replicate these efforts, we can try building relationships with Industry and Academe in India, China and other developing nations. Faculty should be required and students strongly encouraged to spend a semester abroad in these countries. Not in a comfortable Western European country, where it may only further cements the wrong sentiments!
I doubt this will happen. It requires risk taking, standing against the norm.
7:52:53 AM 
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