Contemporary HEIs are characterized by internationalized classrooms and diverse learning spaces that blend various linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Achieving the benefits of diversity falls short however, and challenges remain unaddressed since academics, central to unlocking the full potential of the international classroom, lack competence, resources, and tools. Despite universities offering CPD, these suffer from low enrollment and a high drop-out rate. A literature review confirms that the voice of academics has been neglected in designing CPD. We investigated the perceptions and needs of academics in the context of a medium-sized university in Sweden using a survey. The findings indicate that the design and delivery of CPD would benefit from adopting an andragogical approach. There is a valuable lesson for designers and deliverers of CPD in academia: listen to the needs of your audience, involve them in design and delivery, acknowledge their experience, and build collaborative learning opportunities.

Academics are the main vessels in the implementation of Internationalisation at Home, but they often feel lost at sea as they encounter multiple challenges in this endeavour. To support them in engaging in Internationalisation at Home teaching practices, this poster examines the challenges they face and describes a range of appropriate support mechanisms.

Internationalisation at home. Internationalisation of the curriculum. Internationalisation of teaching and learning. ‘A dear child has many names’ and in all, educators are key. Yet, not all academics support internationalisation or are supported by their institutions. This session will compare the results of the SUCTIA project on internationalising academics and research on institutional support for internationalisation provided to academics by 29 Swedish HEIs.

Introductory paragraph: Globalisation and technological development are steadily reshaping the landscape of higher education (HE) and making new demands on higher education institutions (HEIs) to prepare their graduates for the challenge of living and working in a globally connected world. According to the OECD (2018), global awareness and social and cross-cultural skills are highlighted as 21st-century skills that students need to succeed in their future careers.

The covid-19 pandemic served as an accelerator to prioritise local internationalisation activities at many higher education institutions (HEIs). Internationalisation of formal curriculum at home is one of such activities that has the power to bring the benefits of internationalisation to all students, not only the mobile ones. To make this happen, university teachers need the expertise to become capable of designing and facilitating international practices in their disciplines.

The view of teaching staff as key players in internationalisation at home/internationalisation of the curriculum (IaH/IoC) is well established. However, even though teachers, in theory, may be aware of their role, research shows that there is great uncertainty about how to carry out their responsibility in practice. HEIs stand in front of the important task: equipping their teaching staff with the competencies to manage the challenges and opportunities that the international classroom brings.

This presentation will give an example of meeting this demand by introducing an ongoing initiative in creating a staff development course driven by the network for Strategic Internationalisation for Swedish University Colleges (HÖNSI).

A group of researchers, teachers, curriculum developers and international officers representing six Swedish HEIs have planned the joint course with the aim to increase the awareness of academic teachers about their role as intercultural educators and to support them in how to integrate an international, intercultural and global perspective in their own practice to increase their students’ intercultural competence. Our session will present the course plan, its learning objectives and contents. In addition, the dialogic planning process and its challenges will be discussed, for example, the balance between theory and practice and the didactic/educational issues: what is internationalisation, why internationalisation and how to ‘do’ internationalisation?

Globalization and technological development are steadily reshaping the landscape of higher education (HE) and making new demands on higher education institutions (HEIs) to prepare their graduates for the challenge of living and working in a globally connected world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), social challenges including globalization, migration, and increased social and cultural diversity, will affect the future of education. Global awareness and social and cross-cultural skills were highlighted as 21st-century skills that students need to succeed in their future careers (OECD, 2018). Universities can address these challenges and foster active, responsible, and engaged global citizens by incorporating deliberate interventions within their formal curriculum. Accordingto Leask (2015), an internationalized curriculum has the power to acknowledge the importance of intercultural and international skills and knowledge, as well as cultural awareness and the ability to think in a local, national, and global context. Data from the Global Survey Report of the International Association of Universities (IAU) indicated that 88% of HEIs globally considered Internationalization of the Curriculum (IoC) as important (Marinoni, 2019). Yet, most HEIs find it challenging to pursue an inclusive and systematic approach toward the IoC (Killick & Foster, 2021).

This article explores current Internationalization of the Curriculum practices and perceptions among teaching staff at a middle-sized Swedish University. Further, this article elaborates on enablers and blockers that local teaching staff face in their efforts to internationalize the curriculum. This work will serve as a foundation for stimulating the reflection and discussion amongst teams of teaching staff about the IoC in their disciplines and how to navigate future opportunities to further internationalize curricula.

There is an agreement among scholars that we need to prepare students to be ready-for-life, as well as the agreement that the future might be characterized by, broadly defined, diversity. Although the benefits of diversity are numerous and praised, there is also an understanding that diversity on its own does not necessarily mean that these benefits will be realized. Working (and living) in a culturally diverse environment poses a challenge and requires skills and mindset to overcome obstacles and reap the benefits. It is no surprise that the global contemporary business world induces discussion on globally competent employees. But employees of tomorrow are today’s students, and therefore, to prepare them for culturally diverse workspaces, the question of intercultural competence and its development during studies becomes relevant. Future employees are to work with a diverse group of stakeholders outside the organization (customers, clients, intermediaries, partners) and to work in a diverse team of colleagues inside their organizations. The internationalization of HEI created an environment that offers opportunities to engage in cross-cultural contacts and advance cross-cultural competence. 

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate about advancing and measuring intercultural competence by presenting findings from a pilot study. We conducted 45 interviews on internationalization and diversity in a HEI from the multistakeholder perspective (management, teachers, staff, students) across four schools belonging to a university in southern Sweden. Parallelly, we assessed the intercultural competence of different student groups using Ang’s Cultural Intelligence Scale collecting 177 responses in the process. We will present our experience from the project, initial findings and share a suggestion for a practice that can serve as an alternative to measuring intercultural competence.

Higher education institutions’ work with internationalisation is often managed by a small group of people who decide on the strategic direction and priorities. But what happens if we open this strategic door to all staff? This poster describes how the Appreciative Inquiry method (a tool often used for organisational development) can support the implementation of an Internationalisation at Home strategy throughout your institution.