Redesigning international student mobility for global competence development

Abstract

Engineering graduates are increasingly expected to possess a certain level of global competence to work in the diverse and intercultural collaborations of the modern profession. With stringent programme curricula and educators being technical – and not global learning – experts, higher education institutions (HEIs) often look at international student mobility as the solution for preparing students for culturally diverse working environments. Nevertheless, literature and widely shared experience have identified two major shortcomings of international mobility: low degree of participation, and lack of insights into actual learning outcomes of international student mobility. Our work aims to address these issues by exploring students’ perspectives on international mobility experiences. A student survey collecting the voices of 639 students from more than 30 countries provides insights into the motivation for (and against) participation, support received, as well as the challenges encountered by students on their way to international mobility experiences, and also reveals the students’ perceptions of opportunities for global competence development in their host countries. Based on the students’ experiences, we can provide suggestions for how international student mobility could be redesigned in order to better support and enhance global competence development among students.