Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Lourenço, Mónica
Data de Publicação: 2020
Outros Autores: Andrade, Ana Isabel, Byram, Michael
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/31635
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, 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.
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spelling Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voicesInternationalisationPortuguese higher educationSocial representationsInternationalisation 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.A internacionalização tornou-se uma grande preocupação das instituições de ensino superior em todo o mundo, figurando como um objetivo nas suas declarações de missão e agendas. Porém, a forma como a internacionalização é percebida e tratada é muito variada. Em alguns casos, a internacionalização é vista como um serviço para exportação; em outros casos, o foco recai sobre a aquisição e desenvolvimento de competências globais e interculturais pelos graduados. Este artigo apresenta um estudo que teve como objetivo compreender como é que a internacionalização é percebida numa Instituição de Ensino Superior Portuguesa. Para atingir esse objetivo, foram recolhidos documentos institucionais e foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas a líderes institucionais, pessoal docente e não docente. Os resultados da análise temática sugerem que a internacionalização é vista como uma prioridade estratégica na instituição associada a um conjunto de atividades (mobilidade estudantil, projetos de investigação internacional e ensino através da língua inglesa) e a um conjunto de resultados desejados (maior retorno financeiro e visibilidade). Para além disso, os entrevistados consideram que a internacionalização pode ser um recurso valioso para o desenvolvimento de competências pelos estudantes, mostrando atitudes positivas em relação a iniciativas como a “internacionalização em casa”. Com base nestes resultados, são apresentadas algumas recomendações para uma abordagem mais abrangente e sustentável de internacionalização, que podem ser aplicadas a outros contextos.La internacionalización se ha convertido en una gran preocupación de las instituciones de educación superior en todo el mundo, figurando como un objetivo en sus declaraciones de misión y agendas. Sin embargo, la forma como la internacionalización es percibida y tratada es muy variada. En algunos casos, la internacionalización es vista como un servicio para exportación; en otros casos, el foco recae sobre la adquisición y desarrollo de competencias globales e interculturales por los graduados. En este artículo se presenta un estudio que tuvo como objetivo comprender cómo es percibida la internacionalización en una institución de educación superior portuguesa. Para alcanzar ese objetivo, fueron recogidos documentos institucionales y se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas a líderes institucionales, personal académico y no académico. Los resultados del análisis temático sugieren que la internacionalización es vista como una prioridad estratégica en la institución asociada a un conjunto de actividades (movilidad estudiantil, proyectos de investigación internacional y enseñanza a través de la lengua inglesa) y resultados deseados (mayor retorno financiero y visibilidad). Además, los encuestados consideran que la internacionalización puede ser un recurso valioso para el desarrollo de competencias por los estudiantes, expresando actitudes positivas hacia iniciativas como la “internacionalización en casa”. En base de estos resultados, se presentan algunas recomendaciones para un enfoque más amplio y sostenible de internacionalización, que se pueden aplicar a otros contextos.L’internationalisation est devenue une préoccupation majeure des établissements d’enseignement supérieur du monde entier, en tant qu’objectif dans leurs énoncés de mission et leurs programmes. Cependant, la manière dont l’internationalisation est perçue et traitée est très variée. Dans certains cas, l’internationalisation est considérée comme un service d’exportation; dans d’autres cas, l’accent est mis sur l’acquisition et le développement de compétences globales et interculturelles par les diplômés. Cet article présente une étude visant à comprendre comment l’internationalisation est perçue dans un établissement d’enseignement supérieur portugais. Pour atteindre cet objectif, des documents institutionnels ont été rassemblés et analysés et des entretiens semi-structurés ont été menés avec des responsables institutionnels, du personnel académique et non académique. Les résultats de l’analyse thématique suggèrent que l’internationalisation est considérée comme une priorité stratégique dans l’établissement associée à un ensemble d’activités (mobilité des étudiants, projets de recherche internationaux et enseignement en langue anglaise) et aux résultats souhaités (produit financier et visibilité). De plus, les personnes interrogées estiment que l’internationalisation peut être une ressource précieuse pour le développement des compétences des étudiants, en faisant preuve d’ouverture à l’égard d’initiatives telles que «l’internationalisation à domicile». Sur la base de ces résultats, des recommandations pour une approche d’internationalisation plus complète et durable, applicable à d’autres contextes, sont formulées.Edições Universitárias Lusófonas2021-07-23T14:59:30Z2020-06-23T00:00:00Z2020-06-23info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10773/31635eng10.24140/issn.1645-7250.rle47.04Lourenço, MónicaAndrade, Ana IsabelByram, Michaelinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2024-05-06T04:32:27Zoai:ria.ua.pt:10773/31635Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openairemluisa.alvim@gmail.comopendoar:71602024-05-06T04:32:27Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices
title Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices
spellingShingle Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices
Lourenço, Mónica
Internationalisation
Portuguese higher education
Social representations
title_short Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices
title_full Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices
title_fullStr Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices
title_full_unstemmed Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices
title_sort Representations of internationalisation at a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: from institutional discourse to stakeholders’ voices
author Lourenço, Mónica
author_facet Lourenço, Mónica
Andrade, Ana Isabel
Byram, Michael
author_role author
author2 Andrade, Ana Isabel
Byram, Michael
author2_role author
author
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Lourenço, Mónica
Andrade, Ana Isabel
Byram, Michael
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Internationalisation
Portuguese higher education
Social representations
topic Internationalisation
Portuguese higher education
Social representations
description 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.
publishDate 2020
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2020-06-23T00:00:00Z
2020-06-23
2021-07-23T14:59:30Z
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dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
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dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv 10.24140/issn.1645-7250.rle47.04
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