The Challenges of International Credential Evaluation
Backround: Matt Sterenberg, Director of Customer Advocacy at Parchment, the technology partner powering My eQuals, sat down with Jasmin Saidi-Kuehnert, President and CEO of the Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI), an organisation that provides a variety of services to assist individuals and institutions in understanding and recognizing educational qualifications from around the world.
As part of Parchment’s podcast series - Credentials Unscripted - the pair discussed the laborious process for understanding educational systems around the world, the role the credential evaluation community plays, and offered up some solutions to make the international exchange of credentials easier.
“I look at international credential evaluation as a puzzle.”
That’s how Jasmin described the challenge of evaluating international credentials, with the biggest piece of that metaphorical puzzle being the need for a deep understanding of both the U.S. education system and the diverse educational frameworks of other countries.
“If your brain is wired to solve puzzles, then you’re in the right field”
Throughout the conversation, Jasmin highlighted that many challenges stem from assumptions, such as presuming that English-speaking countries have similar educational systems. For example, Canada’s educational structure varies significantly by province, necessitating detailed knowledge of its specific standards. Similar nuances can be found in the education systems of Australia and New Zealand.
The challenges don’t stop there, though.
There are language barriers, translation difficulties, different learning and student management systems… and even within a country, different institutions operate in different ways.
All this makes for a fascinating conversation and a topic relevant to any organisation receiving international credentials. Below is a short clip of the podcast - if you’d like to listen to the whole thing, you can do so here.
