Lourenço, Mónica and Andrade, Ana Isabel and Byram, Michael (2020) 'Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution : From institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices.', Revista Lusófona de Educação, 47 (47). pp. 53-68.
Abstract
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, internationalisation 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 internationalisation 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 thematic analysis suggest that internationalisation 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.
Item Type: | Article |
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Full text: | (VoR) Version of Record Download PDF (627Kb) |
Status: | Peer-reviewed |
Publisher Web site: | https://revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/rleducacao/article/view/7132 |
Date accepted: | No date available |
Date deposited: | 16 July 2020 |
Date of first online publication: | 23 June 2020 |
Date first made open access: | 16 July 2020 |
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