10 September 2007

A year before graduation, many university students begin to grow accustomed to a new feeling: that of inadequacy. After completing their internships, a junior-level requirement for most American-affiliated universities in Lebanon, students generally feel they lack the skills needed for the real working world.

"During my first week as an intern, I felt I knew nothing," says Maya al-Hajj, an American University of Beirut (AUB) business student who did her internship this summer at the Canadian Bank.

"Everything I know is in theory; practice is what seems to matter to businesses and employers," says Mona al-Halabi, a 2006 Haigazian University graduate who was then concerned about how her lack of experience would affected her job opportunities.

That fear is now nonexistent, as she has been employed for a year. "I am now more confident about what I know and how my resume appears to employers," says Halabi.

And that is the problem: a gap between theory and practice. But why is there a gap?

The theory is based on those of leading universities in the United States. Curriculum committees at most institutions make adjustments to the curricula based on current market needs, technology advances, recent trends, and input from employers.

The internship became part of the curricula at most American-affiliated universities in Lebanon only about five years ago, when alumni discussed the importance of getting students introduced to the job market before graduation. "[They] give a head start of what professional life looks like," says Antoine Sabbagh, director of AUB's Internship Program.

For many students however, internships allowed them to question the relevance of university material in the corporate world.

"I did not make use of anything I had studied in my two years," adds Hajj. "There was the bank's system of operations, and I had to learn their system".

"The lack of professional internship opportunities in the small Lebanese market, where businesses lack internship programs designed to benefit students, gives rise to the feeling of inadequacy experienced by interns," Sabbagh says. "Many institutions don't value interns and don't take them seriously."

Interns, she adds, end up doing clerical work that employees despise.

"Institutions must understand the value that interns could add to their company, and they must view them as potential employees or future customers," argues Sabbagh, who every year tries to place almost 360 business interns in institutions that meet the criteria.

What remains is that both the students and the universities agree on the necessity of including internships as part of the curriculum. Students get a feel for how the real world operates and universities get feedback that creates adjustments in the curriculum.

After their training, many students take more careful notice of the courses they must take as a part of their major to graduate. "As I began to read a course's material, I questioned how the course would help me in the business world," says Farah Hibri, a University of Saint Joseph insurance graduate.

The complaints are often targeted at cultural studies, which have become a required elective course for many US-based universities.

"I don't understand how learning about ancient culture will make me a better worker," adds Makram Zuhair Saab, a student at Lebanese American University (LAU), who did his training last summer at Bank of Beirut and the Arab Countries.

Senior university official disagree, arguing that such courses make a well-rounded and whole student more knowledgeable, able to absorb more information, and more capable of thinking at higher and more sophisticated levels.

Nonetheless, some students are demanding more workshops and projects - and longer internships. Through these, the students say they can apply and better remember what they learned in class.

"I enjoyed the workshop I took on communications," says Hajj. "I knew I was learning something that I needed to know and that I would make use of in my life and at work".

Technical schools also play a large role in Lebanese education. They are based on practice. With less emphasis on theory, students directly apply what they are taught.

But for educators, the goals of technical schools and those of universities differ. According to Sabbagh, technical schools emphasize hands-on application, while universities focus more on creating whole students who have the foundation they need to excel in their chosen fields. "Through variety in the curriculum, university offers the discipline and the strategic and critical thinking that other educational institutions cannot offer," says Fadi Asrawi, dean of Haigazian's Business Administration and Economics Faculty.

For students, the choice of technical schools versus university boils down to the major. "If I wanted to major in hotel management, I would go to a technical school where I would learn hands-on how to manage a hotel; however, for a major that is based on theory, such as accounting, university can offer more up-to-date information" says Saab.

Although students generally accept this argument, many still prefer to seek a university degree.

"It's a minimum requirement today to have a degree proving you completed your studies in a reputable institution," Saab explains. "The institution issuing the degree matters in the job market."

"Even though I know that I can learn the job requirements through working, I still have to go to university because everybody is going for a university degree," says al-Hajj. 

Lebanese undergraduates have the know-how to compete for job opportunities with their counterparts in Western universities, says Tarek Nawas, LAU's dean of student services.

"Our students have been under more pressure to gain information starting from their school years," he argues.

However, he adds, "at the graduate level, the Westerners are at an advantage because they would have gained more experience through their professional corporations than the Lebanese would have considering the sizes of the businesses in Lebanon"

Educators generally believe that it is natural to feel inadequate or incapable of handling a new job.

"The practice that is sought after will come and experience is enhanced with time," says Roubina Artinian, head of the registrar's office at Haigazian.