Preparing the Global Software Engineer

With a goal of preparing software engineering students for practice in today\´s global settings, Uppsala University has for some years run courses involving global collaboration. The "IT in Society" course is one such course which applies an \´Open Ended Group Project\´ model, in partnership with a local health sector client and global educational partners. Within each iteration of the course, students across the partnering institutions are given a brief around an open-ended problem. They work in collaboration with their client and stakeholders to investigate options and produce a report with their findings and recommendations, informed by global perspectives. The report may or may not be supported by working software prototypes. We analyze student evaluations & reflections on the course to unpack their perceptions of software engineering, the perceived relevance of a global learning experience and its role in reshaping their identities as global software engineers.