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‘Empty signifiers’ and ‘dreamy ideals’: perceptions of the ‘international university’ among higher education students and staff at a British university

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Abstract

This paper reports on a mixed-methods case study investigating how higher education staff and students understand, experience and envision the ‘international university’. As it is becoming clear that international student mobility is not in itself a panacea for universities seeking to internationalise, ‘internationalisation at home’ and ‘global citizenship’ are increasingly permeating university policy documents and mission statements. However, little is known about how students and staff on the ground perceive and experience these concepts. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected at one British university through focus groups (N = 19) and through an online survey (n = 148). Findings revealed a conventional mobility-focused understanding of the international university among students and staff, and a great deal of cynicism as regards ‘internationalisation at home’ and ‘global citizenship’. We discuss implications for practice and a research agenda.

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Notes

  1. The dominance of international postgraduate students undertaking degrees in the humanities and social sciences reflects the practicalities of this research. The authors had greater access to this student segment as they were themselves based in a postgraduate school for social science and humanities students.

  2. Please note that ‘references’ here refers to either individual words or longer phrases.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a research grant from the Newcastle University HASS Faculty Research Fund.

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  1. School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences (ECLS), Newcastle University, King George VI Building, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Alina Schartner & Yoonjoo Cho

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  1. Alina Schartner
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  2. Yoonjoo Cho
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Correspondence to Alina Schartner.

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Schartner, A., Cho, Y. ‘Empty signifiers’ and ‘dreamy ideals’: perceptions of the ‘international university’ among higher education students and staff at a British university. High Educ 74, 455–472 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0057-1

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