Higher education professionals' perspectives on international student experiences of life and learning in Ireland: a qualitative study

Although numerous studies have explored international students' experiences, there is a dearth of research exploring the perspectives of professionals who have contact with international students. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by providing an analysis of higher educational professionals' (n=11) perspectives of international students' experiences and analysing the challenges which arise when working with international students. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from a large Irish Higher Education Institution. Participants described a range of difficulties experienced by international students, including sociocultural and psychological difficulties, and outlined a number of challenges which exist when dealing with international students, most of which relate to cultural differences and lack of interest in internationalisation. The findings have important policy and practical implications for higher education service provision and point to the need to consider internationalisation as a process which can be enriching for international students, host students and staff members alike.     

Going Global: The implications for students with a disability

Equitable educational access is a hallmark of truly international universities, and higher education institutions operating in an international context have a responsibility to incorporate the principles of equity and justice espoused under international conventions. This paper considers the implications of internationalisation for students with a disability, it focuses on study abroad, exchange and international students travelling to Australia, and Australian students travelling to universities outside Australia. The paper considers the curriculum implications of the internationalisation of education for students with a disability and utilises Murray-Seegert's (1993) ecological theory of diversity to explore the ways cultural factors affect opportunities for inclusion of students with a disability in the higher education sector. The authors also examine the effect of the advance in information technology, the implications for inclusive curriculum, and the complexities inherent in cross-cultural expectations on students with a disability.     

Subjects of Western education: Discursive practices in Western postgraduate studies and the construction of international student subjectivities

This paper focuses on discursive practices of postgraduate research as a crucial element in constructs of international student subjectivities when they undertake postgraduate studies in Australian universities. As such, it focuses on a discursive field emerging within domains of internationalisation, globalisation, and resistance. It examines processes and protocols in a number of Australian universities’ postgraduate divisions’ practices in the conduct of postgraduate supervision, in the context of increasing pressures towards internationalisation within frameworks of globalising influences. It takes issue with Western custom and tradition as privileged within the field of supervision of postgraduate research studies and suggests a model of postgraduate research supervision as intentional and systematic intervention, based on literature deriving from research in postgraduate supervision which acknowledges the problematic natures of cultural relationships as to teaching and learning and knowledge production, and student resistances within these fields. In doing so, it examines issues of discursive practices and the problematic natures of power relationships in supervisor-supervisee protocols and possibilities suggested by alternative models of postgraduate supervision of international students.     

Like a Version: playing with online identities

The paper offers a neo‐Marxist framework of interculturalisation to accommodate the increasing cultural diversity in the internationalisation of higher education with specific reference to Chinese students in New Zealand. At present, there are few official strategies in place to provide for the needs of international students in New Zealand universities. Tolerance is often promoted to cope with differences in general, but this notion is not sufficient to embrace and encourage cultural diversity in higher education. The paper reviews neoliberal and neo‐Marxist perspectives of interculturalism/interculturalisation. In order to move beyond mere tolerance of cultural diversity, which is seen as a problem to be overcome, the paper concludes that a national and institutional policy for internationalisation in higher education should be underpinned by neo‐Marxist principles of interculturalism.     

Internationalisation of higher education curriculum: the contribution of international students

Internationalisation of Australian higher education was initially characterised as growth in the number of international students. While the economic benefits brought by this student cohort and the challenges associated with teaching them are well noted in the literature, their academic contributions are hardly acknowledged. Using a qualitative research approach, the paper explores the extent to which international students facilitate the internationalisation of the curriculum and the intercultural learning of domestic students. Interviews with academic staff in one university in Australia indicated that international students brought a diversity of cultures that inspired teachers in their teaching. While academic staff members positively value these potentials, they argued that domestic students remained neglectful and unaware of the changing cultural environment. It was a challenge for staff to get domestic students to utilise the cultural resources represented by the students. Some implications were discussed concerning ways in which the process of internationalisation can be progressed in a more effective way.     

跨文化化:适应高等教育中文化多样性的新途径

在分析中国和新西兰高等学府个案的基础上,本文为在高等教育国际化进程中如何适应日益增加的文化多样性提出了新途径--新马克思主义的跨文化化.笔者的个案研究表明新西兰的高等学府在满足留学生的需求方面鲜有合适的对策.笔者建议高等学府不应只是容忍文化多样性,而应在国家和教育机构政策法规的制定上重视跨文化主义的原则,发挥跨文化主义的积极作用,以更好地适应高等教育中文化多样性的形势.     

Internationalisation of Business Education: Meaning and implementation

The internationalisation of business has been one of the most prominent features of the second half of the twentieth century, with its pace and breadth touching all elements of the value-adding network. In this environment, the higher education sector has been revising its aims and objectives to incorporate an international dimension to the skills and knowledge development of students. However, interpretation of the educational challenges posed by internationalisation in the form of guidelines that specify how the curriculum might be internationalised, is in its infancy. Despite early efforts, little work has been done to translate this trend into a developmental overview of curriculum delivery. This paper begins by synthesising the literature regarding globalisation, curriculum internationalisation and student learning in higher education. It seeks to bridge the gap between the aims of curriculum internationalisation and the subject curriculum. It applies well-accepted educational principles to the task by presenting a three-stage typology of business curriculum internationalisation. These stages are international awareness, international competence and international expertise. Directions for further research are also provided.     

International experience and graduate employability: stakeholder perceptions on the connection

This paper reports the findings of an Australian qualitative study (N = 45) concerned with the way that employers, academics and students perceived connections between international experience and graduate employability. Drawing on the literature, the authors argue that increasing globalisation and internationalisation has heightened the need for graduates with the ability to operate in culturally diverse contexts. Universities have focussed upon exchange as part of internationalisation to prepare students for work but there is still limited literature on the nature of the relationship between international experience, more broadly and graduate employability. The findings suggest that all stakeholders identify clear connections between international experience and employability given outcomes associated with the forging of networks, opportunities for experiential learning, language acquisition and the development of soft skills related to cultural understandings, personal characteristics and ways of thinking.     

English is for dummies: linguistic contradictions at an international college in South Korea

Under the slogan of internationalisation, Korean universities have opened international colleges as a way to better attract and accommodate foreign students. However, due to a lack of foreign student recruiting capability, the majority of the students who enrol at one such international college are not foreign, but Korean. Contradictions arise when the English-language medium enforced by the foreign faculty members of the college conflicts with the linguistic practices of the mostly Korean student body. This article uses an international college in South Korea as a case study for the examination of the role of English on student life at Asian universities pursuing internationalisation strategies via the recruitment of foreign faculty members. Paradoxically, by establishing an international college that aggressively enforces the English language medium, the Korean university has created an environment where students avoid using English at all.     

A Probe into the Internationalisation of Higher Education in the New Zealand Context

This paper presents a model of practice for analysing the internationalisation of higher education, and for better providing teaching service and support to both the internal and external other. It is derived from the theoretical analysis of the rationales, concepts and developments of the internationalisation of higher education, and from a New Zealand case study that exemplifies the current trend in the internationalisation of higher education—a shift from aid to trade. In the paper, the author examines the impacts of globalisation and the knowledge economy on the shifting currency of the rationales. The paper concludes that, because of increasing numbers of resident immigrant students, ‘the international (other)’ is no longer beyond national borders but is within them. Therefore, universities would do well to revisit neglected social and cultural dimensions in the provision of higher education services.     

Beyond ‘export education’: aspiring to put students at the heart of a university’s internationalisation strategy

For many universities around the world, internationalisation means the recruitment of fee-paying international students (so-called export education) for primarily commercial reasons. For UK universities, international (non-European Union) students account for approximately 13% of their annual revenues, making them highly dependent on international student recruitment. This paper discusses the attempt by one UK university to change direction and develop a new approach to internationalisation which puts an international learning experience for all students at the heart of its new strategic plan. It discusses the obstacles to changing direction in this way and shares some of the lessons learned about how to roll out an alternative university-wide internationalisation strategy.     

Missing friendships: understanding the absent relationships of local and international students at an Australian university

In recent years, research on higher education has increasingly examined the realities of internationalisation, with a particular focus on international students’ experiences and internationalisation at home programs. These studies have explored the friendships of international students, including their relationships with both locals and internationals from other countries. However, local students’ perspectives and experiences of friendship are largely absent from this literature. The few accounts examining local students’ lives explicitly focus on improving their cross-cultural knowledge and engagement, or on rare cases of local–international student friendships. The overriding assumption in this literature is that the understandings and social practises of local students are major barriers to their relationships with internationals. This paper addresses this gap by exploring local students’ perspectives on the absence of friendships with their international peers. We utilise findings from a research project on internationalisation at home, involving interviews and focus groups with local and international students and staff at an Australian university. Focusing on locals’ discussions of potential friendships with internationals, we propose that these missing friendships are an important area of study. We find that these friendships are missing for several interrelated reasons: local–international friendships are considered unnecessary and are therefore unimagined by locals, who tend to assume that similarity and affinity naturally lead to friendships, and the structures and spaces that might facilitate friendships are absent. Ultimately, uncovering why these friendships are missing sheds fuller light on how relationships might be facilitated, potentially informing and improving universities’ internationalisation initiatives.     

‘Empty signifiers’ and ‘dreamy ideals’: perceptions of the ‘international university’ among higher education students and staff at a British university

This paper reports on a mixed-methods case study investigating how higher education staff and students understand, experience and envision the ‘international university’. As it is becoming clear that international student mobility is not in itself a panacea for universities seeking to internationalise, ‘internationalisation at home’ and ‘global citizenship’ are increasingly permeating university policy documents and mission statements. However, little is known about how students and staff on the ground perceive and experience these concepts. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected at one British university through focus groups (N = 19) and through an online survey (n = 148). Findings revealed a conventional mobility-focused understanding of the international university among students and staff, and a great deal of cynicism as regards ‘internationalisation at home’ and ‘global citizenship’. We discuss implications for practice and a research agenda.     

Why do English Universities really Franchise Degrees to Overseas Providers?

Franchising degrees to overseas providers, normally for‐profit private companies, has become big business for English universities. The latest data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency reveal that there are now more international students registered for the awards of English higher education institutions that are studying wholly offshore than are on campus. There is an extensive economic literature exploring the role of franchising (or licensing) in the internationalisation of multinational companies. There are, however, few studies that have attempted to understand the reasons why so many English universities have moved beyond exporting (educating foreign students on campus) to franchising their degrees to overseas partners. This study uses an exploratory research methodology to get ‘inside the black box’. It investigates the motivations of decision‐makers entering and maintaining franchising operations at four English universities, revealing that financial considerations are less dominant than widely believed within the sector and are overshadowed by other, non‐commercial considerations.     

Internationalisation,higher education and educators' perceptions of their practices

Internationalisation of higher education is big business in Australia, yet, despite the growing body of literature informing learning and teaching of international students, challenges remain. While language and pedagogical differences are well documented from the students' perspective, less known are the challenges to educators and their practices in responding to these named issues. This article explores some implications for educators and their practices, when international students come to study in an English-language university in Australia. A small research project focusing on educators' perspectives reveals the pedagogical challenges, difficulties and differences in approaches to teaching large numbers of international students. Implications for educators are discussed, focusing on the need to respond to policy and institutional demands to participate in these international collaborations, and to engage in building sound and equitable educational provision.     

Learning to Teach Offshore: Pre-Departure training for lecturers in transnational programs

The internationalisation of higher education in Australia over the past two decades has brought about dramatic changes in Australian universities. Growing numbers of international students have enrolled in Australian universities and the number of students studying offshore has also increased dramatically. While considerable material has been published on the ramifications of the increased numbers of onshore international students studying at Australian universities, there is relatively little published research on the specific challenges facing academics participating in offshore programs. The aim of this project was to examine the current pre-departure cross-cultural training taking place in the business faculties of three Australian universities in order to gain a better understanding of the adequacy of the support given to Australian academics teaching offshore. Twenty staff involved in offshore education were interviewed as part of this project, including academics with considerable offshore teaching experience, senior academic managers and cross-cultural trainers. While these institutions engage in little formal preparation for offshore teaching, a great deal of informal mentoring and briefing is taking place. We consider the implications of the new quality assurance framework for Australian universities, which requires that institutions be able to demonstrate the ways in which they ensure the quality of teaching and learning. Under this new system, universities are bound by the Australian Vice Chancellors' Committee's guidelines for the provision of education to international students. It appears that Australian universities will need to establish more formal mechanisms to ensure that offshore staff are adequately prepared for offshore teaching posts.     

Academic adaptation amid internationalisation: the challenges for local,mainland Chinese,and international students at Hong Kong’s universities

Internationalisation has been actively pursued by Hong Kong’s universities. Recent years have witnessed quantitative growth in non-local students. To ensure a qualitative success of internationalisation, it is crucial that universities cater for students with diverse academic backgrounds. This research explored challenges to academic adaptation. Focus group interviews were conducted with 124 local, mainland Chinese and international students at four Hong Kong universities. Findings revealed variation in academic adaptation challenges. First, adaptation to an English-medium-of-instruction was a concern for local and mainland Chinese students, while international students noted that limited English proficiency among other students undermined classroom discussions and led to tensions in group projects. Second, local students faced challenges in adapting to a wider range of assessment modes and academic writing, while mainland Chinese and international students reported how teacher-student relations and teaching approaches differed from prior educational experiences. Implications for the delivery of higher education amid internationalisation are discussed.     

Business sustainability and undergraduate management education: an Australian study

The academic literature arguing that there is an urgent requirement for businesses to become more sustainable is rapidly expanding. There is also a demonstrated need for managers to develop a better understanding of sustainability and the appropriate strategies required to improve business sustainability. In addition, there have been international calls for educators to address sustainability in their programs. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which business sustainability was incorporated into undergraduate business and management courses in Australian universities. The high percentage of international students enrolled in these courses suggests our findings have implications beyond the Australian context. Students currently studying these courses are the managers and leaders of the future and their knowledge and skills will influence the extent to which business sustainability will be achieved. The findings demonstrate that more than half of Australian universities did not explicitly identify sustainability as part of their business/management curricula and those universities that did address sustainability did so, in most cases, only in a limited way.     

China’s international student recruitment as ‘outward-oriented’ higher education internationalisation: an exploratory empirical inquiry

This study investigates China’s international student recruitment strategy and policies as a dimension of its present approach of using higher education internationalisation for soft power and image enhancement. An exploratory survey of international graduate students in English instruction programmes in education-related majors in three Chinese universities has been conducted to analyse their attitudes towards China’s approach. Quantitative analysis has been conducted on the survey data based on Holmes’s four-pattern taxonomy for analysing contextual features, which includes normative patterns, sociological laws, national conditions, and deep cultural roots. Qualitative data have been collected and analysed as a supplement. This study attempts to reveal the relations between international students’ source-country contextual features, identified based on Holmes’s taxonomy, and their attitudes towards China’s approach in international student recruitment. Policy suggestions are provided based on these findings.     

The communication patterns of Chinese students with their lecturers in an Australian university

Chinese students are now the largest group of international students in the Australian higher education sector. The patterns of Chinese communication and education affect the ways that Chinese students engage with their lecturers and manage their learning relationships. A case study of these patterns provides a small window through which to observe the progress of higher education internationalisation in Australia. In this study, the experiences of seven Chinese students in a multicultural educational context are explored, with a focus on their communication practices and relationships with their lecturers in Australia. This paper contributes to understandings of how student–teacher communication practices affect learning experiences for Chinese students in Australian or other international universities.