Thinking Globally, Working Locally: Employability and Internationalization at Home

Abstract

Word count (including notes and references): 6289 AbstractAs an approach to the internationalisation of higher education, Internationalisation at Home (IaH) looks beyond the mobility of a minority of students, emphasizing instead the delivery to all students of an internationally-focussed curriculum, and the embedding of intercultural communication. This can be expanded to include extra-curricular activities and building relationships with local cultural and ethnic community groups. The MA in International Development at Nottingham Trent University UK has implemented this approach, looking beyond both mobility and curriculum to apply IaH directly to student employability, embracing intercultural competence as a key professional skill. This paper explores the efficacy of this combination in the MA's Professional Development Pathway, which requires students to complete a placement which demonstrates international and intercultural engagement, usually undertaken "at home", and to critically reflect not just on their professional skills, but on their ability to engage in the ethical practice which is a key element of IaH.(150 words)

Internalising internationalisation: views of internationalisation of the curriculum among non-mobile home students

“…Working with teaching staff across a range of subjects, Leask (2012, 28) concluded that the vicissitudes of disciplinarity meant that IaH must primarily be handled case by case within the subjects. Clifford (2009) came to similar conclusions, and Watkins and Smith (2018) identified how IaH employability skills can be enhanced through creative course design. These conclusions are based on considerable differences in subject-level staff views about the relevance of IoC/IaH.…”

US Higher Education Internationalization Through an Equity-Driven Lens

“…Knight ( 2012 ) highlights that IaH “strategies can include the intercultural and international dimension in the teaching/learning process, research, extracurricular activities, relationships with local cultural and ethnic community groups, and integration of foreign students and scholars into campus life and activities” (p. 34). Civic engagement projects where students build relationships with local cultural and ethnic communities, participate in online group projects with students in other parts of the world, and are provided intentional opportunities for engagement between domestic and international students within a US HEI are all examples of IaH practices (Beelen and Jones 2015 ; Jones 2013 ; Watkins and Smith 2018 ).…”

From A Literature Review To The Conceptual Framework For The Employability

“…Table 2 represents the results of this differentiation. Watkins & Smith, 2018). Employers claim they can engender and strengthen employee know-how and strategies, but creation and training of soft skills are very difficult (Rao, 2015;Vázquez-Ingelmo et al, 2018;Watkins & Smith, 2018).…”

“…Watkins & Smith, 2018). Employers claim they can engender and strengthen employee know-how and strategies, but creation and training of soft skills are very difficult (Rao, 2015;Vázquez-Ingelmo et al, 2018;Watkins & Smith, 2018). Therefore, they tend to employ workers with a broad range of skills instead of technical abilities (Peterson, 2016;Zegwaard & McCurdy, 2014).…”

“…This approach applies more to crossing possible barriers not only of nationality and culture, but also of race, sex, class, or other types of social and cultural norms (Khirotdin et al, 2019;Barker & Mak, 2013;Wächter, 2003). These ideas are increasingly resonated in all higher learning institutions, realizing that the intercultural skills necessary for operations effectively in global contexts are equally important to live and work in our ever more diverse local societies (Burke et al, 2017;Watkins & Smith, 2018).…”