A suitable ambassador

When Sofia Pereira was close to completing her double degree at UTS, she had considered applying for a position at with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the hope that one day she would be an Australian diplomat.

While she didn't pursue that opportunity for other reasons, Pereira later managed to land the role she always wanted. Today she is Education Commissioner, Latin America at Austrade, with a central role in helping nations in Latin America build capacity through education.

"I don't want to promote Australian education in Latin America just for the sake of it," said Pereira. "I want to give it some context and positioning.

"So we looked at the strengths and capabilities of Australia and identified where human capital development needs are in Latin America. We then selected four sectors to promote proactively: mining, water, energy and food security."

These four sectors – all critical to the future of our planet – are also critical sectors for the development of many Latin American nations. And with expertise in all of these, especially mining, water, as well as education and governance, Australia is aptly placed to help countries in the region achieve their goals.  

In light of these synergies, UTS has a strong commitment to engage with Latin America by building research links and developing strategic, mutually-beneficial partnerships with universities, industry and governments.

In her role, Pereira oversees a team of education managers based in Latin America at Austrade's offices in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Argentina.

"We have people on the ground that help Australian institutions engage with Latin America and connect them to relevant stakeholders. We promote Australian education and gather market intelligence about opportunities."

UTS is one university providing opportunities for international and study abroad students from Latin America to study in Australia, with the Science without Borders program in Brazil being one of the largest funders underpinning such opportunities. This program is one of the key components of capacity development that Pereira refers to.

Chilean-born Pereira is ideal to encourage Latin Americans to seek education opportunities in Australia. She migrated with her family to Australia at the age of four and did all her schooling here. In 1997, she commenced a Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Arts in International Studies at UTS and spent her fourth year – her in-country study year – at Universidad de Concepción in Chile.

"When I graduated, I didn't feel like I had been in an academic silo. I understood what was happening globally because I got a global perspective and I really valued the experience of learning with international students.

"The double degree at UTS definitely gave me a competitive edge. Being fully bilingual and bicultural really made a difference as well. I see that every day in my world – people appreciate that – and working within Austrade, they really value my business background."

Pereira also has a Masters in International Relations from Macquarie University. After graduation, she returned to Chile, where she obtained her first professional role. After a couple of years living in Concepción again, Pereira felt it was time to move to the capital, Santiago.

"Just as I made that decision I was flicking through the newspaper and saw an ad for a job at the Australian Embassy," said Pereira. "I thought, 'This is perfect'."

Pereira applied but was unsuccessful. But one month later she received a call back for an educational role at the embassy. She went for the interview and landed the job, launching not only her career in international education, but also the start of the Australian Department of Education's presence in Latin America.

"I started off as a research officer and office manager, and was soon promoted to education manager. I covered primarily Chile and Colombia, and oversaw part of the team that was looking after other parts of the region. Then I was promoted to director of the office for Latin America."

At the time, some changes were being made within the Australian Government, and some of the functions of the Department of Education were transferred to Austrade. Austrade then opened up a new diplomatic position, which Pereira applied for, and still holds today.

"It's the best job in the world, I say, because I have regular contact with Australians every day. I work in education, which is a really rewarding sector, and I feel like I'm not selling widgets; I'm actually contributing to the region's development, which is something I really wanted to do.

"Something that I value about Australian education is that notion that you're an independent learner and you're responsible for your own learning.

"Multidisciplinary studies are not common at all in Chile. That's a view they have of Australian education in general – that it has a multidisciplinary focus and it's innovative, which is quite advanced and progressive in terms of curriculum and industry engagement."

To date 97 Brazilian students have come to UTS through the Science without Borders program. Students from Latin America are also at UTS as part of undergraduate and postgraduate full-degree scholarship programs with which UTS has an agreement. These include COLFUTURO (Colombia), SENESCYT (Ecuador), FIDERH (Mexico) and PRONABEC (Peru). UTS also welcomes students as part of the FUNED (Mexico) and BECAS CHILE scholarship programs.