Internationalisation and Identity

Abstract

This chapter begins with exploring the concept of student mobility historically. Very few studies seek to address students' existing identities and to trace the colonial impulses contained within discourses of internationalisation. Instead, much of the literature is premised on assumptions of the benefits of these programs. In particular, there is an oversimplification of student identities in explorations of student mobility programs. The authors critically synthesise the literature on discourses of internationalisation and develop a conceptual framework to extend present understandings of the impact of student mobility programs on student identity (re)formation. Also, the present New Colombo Plan will be analysed with particular focus on their construction of student identity. The chapter concludes with the argument that the acknowledgement of students' already existing diverse identities could be utilized in internationalisation programs on home campuses and provides a possible roadmap for future directions for outbound student mobility programs.