Abstracts Education

Nurturing global leaders| The influence of global education culture at international house

by Leslie A Weigl

International House at the University of Alberta (I-House) is a living-learning campus residence that aims to build a strong community from an intentionally diverse population of international and Canadian students. With global education programming that focuses on leadership through community building, I-House creates opportunities for new leaders to emerge in a culturally complex environment that is thought to foster global leadership development. Eighteen I-House alumni and residents who were recognized for their leadership contributions were interviewed in-depth to determine whether and how their experiences at I-House contributed to developing their global leadership capacities and to offer insight into best practice leadership behaviors for an intensive multicultural environment. It was found that the global education culture at I-House created a nurturing environment where diverse perspectives were actively valued; I-House leaders perpetuated mechanisms of active inclusion and support, and global leadership practices that were developed in I-House continued into leaders‘ personal and professional lives.