International student mobility (ISM) is a growing phenomenon within Europe and worldwide. International students transcend borders in pursuit of education, but also in pursuit of leisure, adventure and employment. A multiplicity of factors exist that influence students’ decision making in regards to the choice of their study destinations. Thus, mobile students can be typified in this regard; although, the types of student migration constantly develop, fragment and intertwine.[1]

ISM is one of the vital elements of the internationalisation of higher education. According to Knight, the internationalisation of higher education is the process of integrating an international and intercultural dimension into the teaching, research and service functions of the institution.[2] She recognizes four main rationales for internationalisation: academic, economic, political and socio-cultural. 

This presentation will draw from findings of my PhD thesis, which looks at knowledge circulation, networking and intercultural competence in the context of ISM and internationalisation of higher education. The research is ongoing. New Zealand universities and the University of Oxford have been involved in my study so far and the Charles University in Prague together with the Freie University in Berlin will be included in 2012.

The focal point of my study is the triptych of networking, knowledge circulation and intercultural competence. In the case of international students, these are partly determined by their motivations to study abroad. 

Williams and Balaz emphasize the knowledge circulation in terms of the ability to learn and the ability to transfer learning. While “knowledge in itself is of limited value,” they argue, “what matters is how that knowledge is collected, transferred and applied.”[3] To emphasize further, Drucker points out that in order “to make knowledge ... [one has] to learn to connect.”[4] This leads to the notion of intercultural competence, defined as “characteristics that an individual possesses which facilitate competent intercultural interaction.”[5] According to Otten, failed intercultural competence or communication between students can have a negative effect on the academic performance of individuals and even deliver a culture shock; consequently, it has an effect on networking and knowledge circulation.[6]

This paper will illuminate international student mobility at several universities in the context of the internationalisation of higher education. This presentation will try to shed light on students’ perceptions and experiences in the forming of networks, knowledge circulation and the interplay of their intercultural competencies.

[1] Russell King, “Towards a New Map of European Migration,” International Journal of Population Geography 8, (2002): 90, 92-94.

[2] Jane Knight, “Internationalisation of higher education: a conceptual framework,” in Internationalisation of higher education in Asia Pacific countries 8.

[3] Allan Williams and Vladimir Balaz, International Migration and Knowledge (London: Routledge, 2008), 1.

[4] Peter F. Drucker, “Seminal paper,”in in International Migration and Knowledge, ed. Allan Williams and Vladimir Balaz (London: Routledge 2008), 1.

[5] Andrea Graf, “Assessing intercultural training designs,” Journal of European Industrial Training 28, no. 2-4 (2004): 201.

[6] Matthias Otten, “Intercultural Learning and Diversity in Higher Education,” Journal of Studies in International Education 7, no. 12 (2003): 6.

Drucker, Peter F, “Seminal paper.” In International Migration and Knowledge, ed. Allan Williams and Vladimir Balaz (London: Routledge 2008), 1. Graf, A. “Assessing intercultural training designs.” Journal of European Industrial Training 28, no. 2-4 (2004): 201. Knight, Jane. “Internationalisation of higher education: a conceptual framework.” In Internationalisation of higher education in Asia Pacific countries, edited by Jane Knight and Hans de Wit, 5-20. Amsterdam: European Association for International Education, 1997. King, Russel. “Towards a New Map of European Migration.” International Journal of Population Geography 8, (2002): 89-106. Otten, Mathias, “Intercultural Learning and Diversity in Higher Education.” Journal of Studies in International Education 7, no. 12 (2003): 6. Williams, Allan M. and Vladimir Balaz, International Migration and Knowledge, (London: Routledge, 2008).