In the last decades, a large body of both scientific and grey literature has examined the phenomenon of internationalisation. Today, it may not be a new idea that internationalisation in higher education means more than mobility. It was still an important aspect more than twenty years ago when Internationalisation at Home (IaH) emerged. Initially, the concept was developed in the European countries where the mother tongue is not one of the world languages (for instance, English) but one of the languages spoken by a smaller community, and where internationalisation has traditionally focused on higher education mobility (Beelen & Jones, 2015).

The definition of the concept has changed several times in the last decade, and according to some authors, we cannot even speak of a well-defined concept (Robson, 2017). In the early 2000s, IaH was redefined to mean that all international activities can be included here, except for outbound student and teacher mobility (Wächter, 2000). An essential element of the approach is that the focus is increasingly on the learning and teaching process. Subsequently, in Beelen-Leask’s study in 2011, IaH was defined as institutional activities and tools that contribute to developing the international and intercultural competence of all (domestic and international) students (Beelen & Leask, 2011). According to a 2015 definition, the goal of IaH is the purposeful integration of the international and intercultural dimension into the formal and informal curriculum, which applies to all students in the domestic learning environment (Beelen & Jones, 2015b, p. 69). This definition is currently the most widely employed. In the last decades, IaH has built into the European policy framework (European Commission, 2013).

A summary of the EAIE professional network published in 2018 identified the concept's essential elements (Jones & Reiffenrath, 2018). According to this, the approach is strongly student-centered, in which framework all students need to gain international perspective and experience. However, the implementation is considered important not only in the framework of optional and specialised study programmes and courses but also in the study programme as a whole (Jones & Reiffenrath, 2018). Through learning outcomes and formal curricula, informal curricula also play a key role in developing international and intercultural competencies for all students. The IaH permeates all teaching and learning practices (methodology, content) inclusively: it creates an opportunity for students to meet and learn cultural diversity. Teaching in English is not necessarily a key element, but virtual mobility and various collaboration tools are essential. All teaching and institutional staff have a role to play in implementation, not just those managing and coordinating international affairs (Jones & Reiffenrath, 2018).

The research examined how the main elements of IaH are implemented in Hungarian higher education institutions. The research aimed to deeper understand the phenomenon and not create a general picture of higher education in the Hungarian context. 

The implementation of the IaH at the institutional level can be analysed according to the following pillars (Almeida, Robson, Morosini, & Baranzeli, 2019): developing the intercultural competence of domestic and international students, institutional commitment, and integrating domestic and international students into academic, and academic life. The research focuses on how the IaH supports the domestic and international students to gain experience in an intercultural environment, and it does not examine institutional commitment and relating strategic goals.

Elaborating on the research questions thus required a complex, interdisciplinary approach. Among the research methodologies, I employed qualitative research methodology (Johnson & Christensen, 2014). The qualitative data collection tool was semi-structured interviews. The aim of the data collection and analysis was a detailed, deeper understanding of the institutional processes and a multi-aspect exploration and approach of the given phenomenon. In defining the main questions of the semi-structured interview protocol, I used the pillars of Internationalisation at Home as defined by Jones & Reiffenrath (2018); integration of international and domestic students, student-centered approach in organizing teaching and research activities, the involvement of teaching and non-teaching staff, virtual mobility, and various forms of collaborations. A total of 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted in three institutions sampled in a purposeful way between September 2019 and January 2020. Regarding the sample, I used non-random, purposive sampling (Johnson & Christensen, 2014), selecting higher education institutions in which the number of international degree-seeking students increased mainly between 2015 and 2018, mainly studying in English-taught study programmes. The interviewees were the following actors: non-academic staff (dealing with international affairs, including managerial and non-managerial positions), academic staff (managerial and non-managerial positions), and students responsible for international affairs (e.g., mentors, member of Erasmus Student Network). In the interviewees' case, I assumed that they provide relevant information for the research and that the phenomenon is well expressed in their opinions and experiences. The approximate length of the interviews was 40-90 minutes. In this poster presentation, I show examples of 3 Hungarian higher educations institutions. Semi-structured interviews were analysed by MAXQDA qualitative data analysis software, based on the blended method of content and thematic analysis (Neuendorf, 2019).

Some elements of IaH can be identified among the goals and activities of higher education institutions. In several cases, the interviewees applied the concept of IaH and the internal internationalisation as a synonym: IaH is not a commonly used “expression”. Examining the key elements of IaH, the essential pillar of extending internationalising activities to all students is not widespread. The institutions support the integration of international students into academic and university life by the application of a number of tools and activities such as mentoring or tutoring programmes, various extracurricular programmes. These programmes or events are very diverse; the institutions are constantly organising them. Besides extracurricular activities, according to the interviewees, a kind of shift can be felt in the fact that in the recent period, the institutions have also tried to implement integration within formal curriculum more effectively; however, in several cases, this was a random practice. Interviewees mentioned the following difficulties relating to integrating international and Hungarian students, for instance, the low number of English-taught courses, the lack or low level of intercultural approach in the institutional practices. An important aspect is that Hungarian students do not actively participate in university life due to the lack of students' time, the change in classical student roles, and the difficulty of balancing between learning and work. In the last decades, IaH has become an accepted, well-known approach at the policy level in more European countries: although its definition is not clear - many researchers note that it is not a well-defined concept - the institutional activities and practices that are its essential elements can now be well analysed. The crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic has interrupted certain internationalisation activities (for instance, credit mobility), so perhaps it has become even more important for the IaH to be more prominent.

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