International mobility placements enable students and staff in Higher Education to enhance transversal and employability-related skills (original) (raw)

Internationalisation of Higher Education and Global Mobility

University of Debrecen Electronic Archive (University of Debrecen), 2015

developments in the global higher education landscape, caused by globalization and internationalization in higher education. It is divided into three parts. The first part, "Global issues in internalization and mobility" provides a big picture of the main trends that are affecting student and staff mobility today. The second part, "Regional studies: Europe, the Middle East, the United States, Africa, Asia, and Latin America" deals with region-specific studies that address aspects of internalization and mobility in those parts of the world. The third and last part of the book called "Education abroad: students and practitioners", provides several papers from the students' and practitioners' perspective about specific cases in education abroad.

International academic careers: personal reflections

International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2014

University business schools are increasingly adopting an international outlook as they compete for students who are aiming for global careers. A natural consequence of university internationalisation is the need to internationalise the academic workforce, resulting in increasing attention on, and recognition for, the academic with international teaching and research experience. Yet the effort and complexity involved in making an international academic transition is often overlooked. Academic institutions' efforts to recruit international academics often outpace their expertise and support in the inpatriation and orientation processes. Academics interested in international mobility may find it difficult to obtain helpful information prior to arrival in the new country and encounter problems adjusting to their new job and surroundings. This paper presents personal experiences of a select group of academics who have moved between countries. Their reports illustrate differences in teaching loads, language, student behavior, recruitment and career ladder issues across countries as well as strategies they have used to adapt to their new surroundings.

Internationalization of higher education through academic mobility

West – East

The article deals with Erasmus+ Key Action 1 International Credit Mobility, one of the most popular programmes under European Commission. The article considers the opportunities that it provides for the students and staff from European Universities and those beyond Europe: to study, teach or train in a new academic and geographic environment. It analyses the partnership of University of Bedfordshire (UK) and National Research Mordovia State University (Russia). From the position of programme requirements, it highlights its unique character to expand international cooperation, open up new regions and Universities for staff and students, develop and strengthen partnerships and engage with new fields of international research. The article discusses the relevance of the mobility to the internationalisation strategy of each University. It also talks about the quality of the cooperation arrangements which details previous experience of similar projects with the higher education institutions, and explains how the Partner Universities are planning to share responsibilities, roles and tasks during the life time of the project. Quality of project design and implementation is also highly important. It presents the different phases of the mobility project and summarizes the partner organisations plans in terms of selection of participants, the support provided to them and the recognition of their mobility period. Impact and dissemination of the programme considers the desired impact of the mobility project on the partner organisations at local, regional and national levels.

Transnational academic mobility, internationalization and interculturality in higher education

Intercultural Education, 2009

The purpose of this paper is to consider the complex relations of transnational academic mobility, internationalization and interculturality in higher education. It is argued that, in the contemporaneous relations of the triad, 'interculturality' disappears and the other two -transnational academic mobility and internationalization -are both enclosed by the market. The contemporary condition and pattern of transnational academic mobility are also shaped by neoliberal policy and market-framed research competition. This paper offers some critical reflections on the new world of mobilities and interculturalities and the 'new strangers' in the university.

Student mobility and internationalisation in higher education: perspectives from practitioners

Language and Intercultural Communication, 2016

Internationalisation is high on the agenda of higher education institutions across the world. Previous research on national and local policies surrounding this phenomenon has identified different discourses of internationalisation which may have an effect on practices such as student mobility. In order to understand better the role of student mobility in practice, the article analyses responses to an inquiry about internationalisation to a group of academic staff involved in intercultural education from universities around the world. Informants, all members of the research network Cultnet, working at 28 different universities in 15 countries, describe internationalisation within their practice, and their understanding of the role which student mobility plays in relation to this. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews over a period of six months. The findings locate student mobility within discourses of internationalisation. They also raise questions in relation to the need for an intercultural dialogue approach in internationalisation. We argue that institutions and their staff should be aware of the discursive field of internationalisation in HE, take a critical stance and analyse their own role in student mobility. How mobility fits within the field of intercultural education for incoming, outgoing and ´home´ students should be highlighted and clarified in internationalisation agendas.

Internationalisation and Transnationalisation in Higher Education. Studies in Vocational and Continuing Education

2018

International students who study overseas for a finite period (regarded as learners in 'mainstream' international education) constitute the largest group of students engaged in international education. This chapter discusses the opportunities and challenges inherent in the educational sojourn experience of these learners. The discussion, underpinned by a theoretical framework based upon a developmental theory promulgated by Urie Bronfenbrenner, offers a psychological perspective on the distinctive processes entailed in an educational sojourn. Likewise, Jin Li's mindvirtue orientation dichotomy illuminates the likely consequential effects of moving from one academic culture to another. A focus on the less explored perspective of academic acculturation offers invaluable insight into the factors that are arguably central to the quality of students' educational experience that are often closely connected to their engagement or disengagement. Supported by the strategic priority given by universities to the internationalisation agenda, a greater appreciation of intertwined complexities and opportunities that underpin the claimed transformative international experience raises questions about the roles played by the institutions, staff and students themselves in maximising what international education can offer, not only to educational sojourners but equally, in realising 'internationalisation at home'.

International Student Mobility and Internationalisation of Universities - The role of serendipity, risk and uncertainty in student mobility and the development of cosmopolitan mind-sets through knowledge and intercultural competence. Employability, students' future mobility aspirations and the EU...

2017

The background to this study lies in the discrepancy between the perceptions of international student mobility in the context of the internationalisation of higher education by the EU and universities on one hand and international students themselves in terms of their motivations to study abroad on the other hand. This is a comparative study based on three main case studies, of six universities in New Zealand, Oxford University in the UK and the Charles University in the Czech Republic. It explores the students' experiences abroad in terms of their intercultural competence, the shaping of identities, the acquisition and transfer of knowledge, the possible forming of cosmopolitan mind-sets and empathy, perceptions of employability and their future mobility aspirations. This thesis also considers the barriers and 'push and pull' factors of mobility, perceptions of risk and uncertainty in regards to mobility and the role of serendipity in student mobility, which has been ov...

Students get International Exposure

In an increasingly globalized world, it is important for our students to be globally smart. To this end, the Center is linking its international research with providing opportunities for students to conduct research or intern abroad. Thus, Mr. Antonio Francis (Ph.D. Student) is conducting research in Trinidad on Planococcus minor, a serious invasive pest threat to the United States. Ms. Shalom Sierbert (B.S. Entomology Student), spent a month in Ecuador, working as an intern on a collaborative project. Students are also taking opportunities for greater exposure at the national level. For instance, Mr. Keith Marshall (B.S. Entomology Student) spent the last summer as an intern working with entomology faculty in Purdue. This summer, Ms. Oulimathe Paraiso (Ph.D Student), interned at the USDA- APHIS Center for Plant Health Research, Raleigh, NC.