Publicação
Representations of internationalisation at a portuguese higher education institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices
| Resumo: | Internationalisation has become a major concern of higher education institutions around the world, featuring as a goal in their mission statements and agendas. Yet, the ways it is perceived and addressed vary greatly. In some cases, internationalization is viewed as a service to export, whilst in other cases, the focus falls on the acquisition and development of graduates’ global and intercultural competences. This paper reports on a study that aimed to understand how internationalization is perceived at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution. To achieve this goal institutional policy documents were collected, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of governing and coordinating bodies, as well as with academic and non-academic staff. Results from the thematic analysis suggest that internationalization is seen as a priority at the highest strategic level, being associated with a set of activities (student mobility, international research projects, and English-medium instruction) and with a set of desired outcomes (increased revenues and institutional visibility). Moreover, stakeholders consider internationalisation a valuable asset for the development of students’ skills, expressing positive attitudes towards such initiatives as “internationalisation at home”. Based on these findings, recommendations for a more comprehensive and sustainable internationalisation approach applicable to other contexts are put forward. |
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| Autores principais: | Lourenço, Mónica |
| Outros Autores: | Andrade, Ana Isabel; Byram, Michael |
| Assunto: | Internationalisation Portuguese higher education Social representations |
| Ano: | 2020 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | artigo |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade de Aveiro |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RIA - Repositório Institucional da Universidade de Aveiro |
| Resumo: | Internationalisation has become a major concern of higher education institutions around the world, featuring as a goal in their mission statements and agendas. Yet, the ways it is perceived and addressed vary greatly. In some cases, internationalization is viewed as a service to export, whilst in other cases, the focus falls on the acquisition and development of graduates’ global and intercultural competences. This paper reports on a study that aimed to understand how internationalization is perceived at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution. To achieve this goal institutional policy documents were collected, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of governing and coordinating bodies, as well as with academic and non-academic staff. Results from the thematic analysis suggest that internationalization is seen as a priority at the highest strategic level, being associated with a set of activities (student mobility, international research projects, and English-medium instruction) and with a set of desired outcomes (increased revenues and institutional visibility). Moreover, stakeholders consider internationalisation a valuable asset for the development of students’ skills, expressing positive attitudes towards such initiatives as “internationalisation at home”. Based on these findings, recommendations for a more comprehensive and sustainable internationalisation approach applicable to other contexts are put forward. |
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