Internationalisation of the curriculum in health programs.

Internationalisation is a broad term that has been used to encompass a range of activities including international student recruitment, student mobility and exchange, international teaching and research collaborations, institutional partnerships, and embedding international and/or intercultural perspectives within curricula.There are numerous drivers for institutions to develop an internationalisation strategy including building global reputation and influence, having a positive influence on communities, income generation, and helping their students gain a global perspective or develop intercultural competencies. Health students benefit from internationalisation activities as they will enter a workforce that increasingly engages with global diseases and works within multicultural societies.However, there are risks associated with internationalisation that stem from disjointed institutional decision making, power imbalances, and neo-colonial attitudes. There are also multiple barriers to effectively engaging in internationalisation including individual student circumstances, staff and institutional preparedness, and geopolitical factors.Within this broader context, internationalisation of the curriculum (IoC) is aimed at incorporating international, intercultural, and global dimensions into the curriculum, including consideration of content, teaching methods, learning outcomes, and how these are supported at a program and institutional level. This is a major undertaking requiring alignment of philosophy between teaching academics, senior university leadership, and the relevant professional body. Examples of IoC within health programs, and the significant challenges involved, are critically discussed in this paper, and strategies to overcome these challenges highlighted.Whilst recognising the challenges, this paper concludes that undertaking purposeful IoC is a critical step towards ensuring that the future health workforce is adequately prepared for the 21st Century environment.

The impact of academic disciplines on a constructively aligned internationalised curriculum.

Internationalisation has moved to the core of universities' mission, emphasising the qualitative elements of internationalisation, which is inter alia evident in the implementation of an internationalised curriculum. The latter must be implemented following the constructive alignment model; thus, the framework for a constructively aligned internationalised curriculum is proposed in this article, combining an internationalised curriculum with Biggs' constructive alignment model. Since academics are the owners of an internationalised curriculum and they are determined by their academic disciplines, in this paper, the impact of disciplines on a constructively aligned internationalised curriculum is evaluated, following Biglan's typology of academic disciplines. It was found from the sample of 1367 academics from all Slovenian higher education institutions that an internationalised curriculum is constructively aligned in practice, wherein we observed relevant disciplinary differences in the level/rate of appearance of international perspectives in the individual steps of a constructively aligned internationalised curriculum, with a noticeably higher incidence in the case of soft disciplines. Besides introducing the framework for a constructively aligned internationalised curriculum and identifying relevant differences between disciplines, an important contribution to the research topic is in several other characteristics of academic professions that were identified as having an impact on the implementation of an internationalised curriculum. Examples of these were academics' inclusion in pedagogical courses and academics' various modes of international engagement. The authors also highlight several opportunities for improvement and further research, as well as implications for the enhancement of curriculum internationalisation in hard disciplines.

Intercultural adjustment of internationally mobile academics working in Thailand.

Non-nationals constitute up to a quarter of the academic staff workforce of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) worldwide. Their motivations to 'work abroad', and their experiences of doing so, are, however, under-researched, especially where migration is to or within the global South. We report a study conducted among internationally mobile academics from a variety of countries working in Thailand. At policy level, Thailand aspires to increase the numbers of international staff and students in its HEIs, but with mixed success in terms of recruitment levels and the reported quality of the experience among these migrants. Conceptually, our study drew on a framework of intercultural adjustment defined as a multidimensional construct comprising psychological, sociocultural and professional/work aspects of the experience. Semi-structured focus groups were conducted to explore experiences of working in Thailand. Thematic analysis of findings showed that reported experiences mainly fell under the category of professional/work aspects of intercultural adjustment, although sociocultural issues were also important. The reported quality of experiences was mixed and generally more negative than positive in the key areas of professional and work adjustment. Specific challenges highlighted by participants related to issues with the work environment, most especially lingual-cultural problems and, crucially, a lack of secure status. We detail and discuss these findings and present recommendations for policy makers and HEIs, aspirant academic migrants, and for future research into global academic migration, particular as it relates to Thailand and other destinations for academic migration.

Development and empirical study of international student satisfaction model of online course learning interaction in chinese universities.

COVID-19 has disrupted education internationalisation around the world, making online learning a necessary means of learning. This study proposes an International Student Satisfaction Index Model (ISSM) on the interaction of online international courses in Chinese universities, aiming to investigate the potential factors that affect international students' online learning interaction. Based on the large-scale online course practice in Chinese universities during the pandemic, this study adopted a stratified random sampling method to select 320 international students participating in online courses as a research sample. The model proposed in this study includes four antecedent variables, one target variable, and one outcome variable. This study is quantitative, using SPSS26.0 and AMOS 21.0 to analyse the collected empirical data, and the results verify the nine research hypotheses proposed and the applicability of the online course international students' satisfaction index model (ISSM) proposed. The research results provide strong theoretical and practical support for international students' satisfaction with online course learning interaction, which is conducive to the reform of online courses and improving international students' retention rate in the online course.

Mobile agency and relational webs in women's narratives of international study.

Internationalisation and forced migration are rarely thought about as related phenomena in higher education (HE) literature. Internationalisation is associated with movement, choice and brand recognition, and used in international rankings methodologies as a proxy for quality. Forced migration is associated not only with movement, but also with lack of choice, containment, or 'stuckness'. Some scholars have called for a rethinking of 'the international' through attention to students as mobile agents, and international study as situated within broader mobile lives. Our study responded to these calls through exploring the educational biographies of 37 international and refugee-background women students based in two universities: 21 in New Zealand and 16 in Bangladesh. Ten of the women were from refugee or refugee-like backgrounds, while the remainder were international students. The women's accounts revealed the complex ways in which circumstances shaped their educational journeys similarly and differently. One woman represented mobility in relation to autonomy and choice; but most emphasised relational webs as shaping their access to and experiences of international study, and post-study aspirations. In this paper, we draw on selected narratives to illustrate the range of ways in which family and/or community members appeared in women's accounts of their education journeys: as a source of (1) sustenance and support; (2) inspiration and motivation; and (3) obligation, and sometimes regulation. We conclude by suggesting that attention to the affective and embodied entanglements that shape students' international study journeys might inform new ways of thinking about both 'the international' and higher education more broadly.

The affective assemblage of internationalisation in Japanese higher education.

Positive attributes stick to higher education internationalisation, and it is a policy paradigm with performative effects. Internationalisation draws on imagined virtuous flows of knowledge production and exchange, and is presented as an assemblage of detraditionalisation, expansiveness and epistemic and cultural opportunity for individuals, organisations and nation states. Policies target bodies, minds and affect, yet are presented as an unquestionable good in an imagined genderneutral, borderless, meritocratic and benign global knowledge economy. This paper explores the affective economy of internationalisation drawing upon interview data gathered in fifteen private, five national and eight public universities in Japan with thirty-four migrant academics and thirteen international doctoral researchers. We aim to contribute to internationalisation theory by exploring the sticky micropolitics of internationalisation in relation to affective assemblages, and how the gendered, racialised, linguistic and epistemic inequalities constituting academic mobility are frequently disqualified from discourse. Our discussion includes consideration of the Japanese policy context, the concept of affective assemblages, navigating gender regimes, precarity and linguistic imperialism. We conclude that the immaterial or affective labour that is required to unstick, install and maintain an internationalised academic identity and navigate the translations and antagonisms from everyday encounters with difference is substantially under-estimated.

Welfare and world money: the domestic foundations of currency internationalisation.

This essay explores the domestic foundations of currency internationalisation. I consider how a state that internationalises its currency might sustain the domestic economic and social costs of doing so. In particular I highlight the role of welfare provision as a neglected element of the domestic political economy of currency internationalisation. I examine the trajectory of welfare provision in Britain (1870-1930), the United States (1950-2020) and China (2000-2018), and use this data to consider some of the ways in which these costs might be related to the question of issuing world money. In this essay I suggest, first, that our conceptual framework for understanding currency internationalisation is strengthened when we consider welfare provision as an important element of the domestic foundation of issuing world money; and, second, that it is unclear whether the current level of welfare provision in China is adequate to meeting the costs to China of fully internationalising its currency as world money. This framework generates further insights about how China's challenge to American monetary leadership remains incomplete, and provides another angle of vision by which we might assess the multifaceted foundations of US dollar domination in the global political economy.

'A melting pot of cultures' -challenges in social adaptation and interactions amongst international medical students.

BACKGROUND: The internationalisation of higher level education and the profiles - nationalities, ethnicities and cultural identities - of students who migrate to undertake higher level education programmes in a different country are increasingly complex. This article explores the way in which cultural backgrounds impact the student's experiences of an international medical school, and how these experiences have the potential to inform the development and design of student support services for those students who are not coping well with the transition. METHODS: Thirty one first year students were interviewed by sixteen second year students who were trained and supervised by an experienced researcher. Three focus group discussions were also held. RESULTS: While many international students had lived in more than one country and region and spoke several languages, most reported difficulties in forming intercultural friendships, especially interactions outside of the academic setting. Some of the challenges faced were similar to what has been reported in the literature, such as difficulties with language and loss of established friendship networks. Other challenges to emerge in this study were the complex interrelatedness of the daily life challenges facing international students regarding the forming and importance of intercultural relations, which is impacted by gender, the presence of alcohol, languages spoken (in addition to English, which was the language used for medical education), and the dominance of the regional grouping the student belongs to. CONCLUSION: The challenges of adaptation and intercultural relations are increasing in complexity and it is important for higher level institutions who enrol international students to understand the nature of the pressures these students experience, outside as well as within the academic environment, and to support them in managing these transitions.

Graduate mobility: Where do dentistry graduates choose to practise?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The international higher education market has grown and developed rapidly. International students generate attractive income for host universities, and gaining an international education benefits students in an increasingly globalised world. However, there is little research regarding where international students intend to work and settle beyond graduation. This study investigated where dentistry students intended to practise after graduation, and whether international students who graduated between 2001 and 2016 are currently practising in their host country (New Zealand) or have migrated overseas. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was used to investigate current students' intended destination of practice after graduation. Additionally, names of international graduates since 2001 were matched against the 2017 register of practitioners to determine if they were currently registered to practise in their host country. A frequency and bivariate analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Almost 64% of current international students indicated their intention to stay in their host country after graduation. However, only 22% of graduates since 2001 were currently practising in New Zealand. The number of international graduates who registered to practise in New Zealand increased between 2001 and 2016. CONCLUSION: Less than one-quarter of international graduates were currently practising in their host country; however, longitudinal data showed that this is an increasing trend. These findings can be used to inform how we might prepare current and future graduates for both local and globalised labour markets.

Learning global health: a pilot study of an online collaborative intercultural peer group activity involving medical students in Australia and Indonesia.

BACKGROUND: There is limited research to inform effective pedagogies for teaching global health to undergraduate medical students. Theoretically, using a combination of teaching pedagogies typically used in 'international classrooms' may prove to be an effective way of learning global health. This pilot study aimed to explore the experiences of medical students in Australia and Indonesia who participated in a reciprocal intercultural participatory peer e-learning activity (RIPPLE) in global health. METHODS: Seventy-one third year medical students (49 from Australia and 22 from Indonesia) from the University of Tasmania (Australia) and the University of Nusa Cendana (Indonesia) participated in the RIPPLE activity. Participants were randomly distributed into 11 intercultural 'virtual' groups. The groups collaborated online over two weeks to study a global health topic of their choice, and each group produced a structured research abstract. Pre- and post-RIPPLE questionnaires were used to capture students' experiences of the activity. Descriptive quantitative data were analysed with Microsoft Excel and qualitative data were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Students' motivation to volunteer for this activity included: curiosity about the innovative approach to learning; wanting to expand knowledge of global health; hoping to build personal and professional relationships; and a desire to be part of an intercultural experience. Afer completing the RIPPLE program, participants reported on global health knowledge acquisition, the development of peer relationships, and insight into another culture. Barriers to achieving the learning outcomes associated with RIPPLE included problems with establishing consistent online communication, and effectively managing time to simultaneously complete RIPPLE and other curricula activities. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students from both countries found benefits in working together in small virtual groups to complement existing teaching in global health. However, our pilot study demonstrated that while intercultural collaborative peer learning activities like RIPPLE are feasible, they require robust logistical support and an awareness of the need to manage curriculum alignment in ways that facilitate more effective student engagement.

Shared learning experiences: Pilot study of an online exchange project between pharmacy students in South Africa and the United States.

INTRODUCTION: Internationalisation enhances students' understanding of social, cultural, and ethical differences, preparing them to be global-minded, socially accountable healthcare practitioners. Traditionally, internationalisation of education involves international student travel. Online tools provide opportunities for international, peer-driven learning and collaboration without costly travel. This research described the experiences of pharmacy students from South Africa (SA) and the United States (US) that participated in a virtual peer exchange project during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The virtual peer exchange project allowed students in SA and the US to establish connections within the global pharmacy community and compare healthcare, pharmacy education, and pharmacy practice between the countries. Students engaged in facilitated dialogue through video recordings, video conferencing, and a group discussion board. Student introduction video comments and discussion board posts were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Twenty-one students participated in the pilot project that met some of the intentions and goals of internationalisation via a virtual platform. Two over-arching themes of Practice of Pharmacy and Pharmacy Education emerged from both the introduction video and discussion board comments. Students described lessons learned about similarities and differences in socioeconomic determinants of health as well as structure, functioning, and financing of the different healthcare systems. CONCLUSIONS: This project was a unique way to conduct exchange programmes via a virtual platform, and bypassed challenges of traditional exchange programmes. Through technology, more students in diverse geographic locations can be exposed to various perspectives and healthcare experiences with international students.

The effectiveness of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) on intercultural competence development in higher education.

In this study we measured the effect of COIL on intercultural competence development using a quasi-experimental design. Our sample consisted of 108 undergraduate students from two universities, one located in the Netherlands (NL) and one in the United States (US). Students' self-reported intercultural competence was measured using a pre-post survey which included the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) and Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). Qualitative data were collected to complement our quantitative findings and to give a deeper insight into the student experience. The data showed a significantly bigger increase in intercultural competence for the US experimental group compared to the US control group, supporting our hypothesis that COIL develops intercultural competence. This difference was not observed for the NL students, possibly due to the NL control group being exposed to other international input during the course. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41239-022-00373-3.

Do cross-national distances still affect the international penetration speed of digital innovation? The role of the global network effect.

This paper provides an improved understanding of the internationalisation speed of innovation in a digital context. It integrates virtual distance into the previous Cultural, Administrative, Geographic, and Economic (CAGE) distance framework. By tracking the penetration in 43 target countries of a unique sample of 102 mobile apps available on Apple's App Store, cultural and economic distances still hinder the penetration speed of digital innovation in a focal country. However, geographic and administrative ones no longer have a significant effect. More importantly, distance does not always act as a barrier, with high virtual spaces promoting international penetration. Therefore, digital innovation developers may overcome challenges presented by cross-national distances by resorting to the global user network effect.

Beyond Organisational Borders: The Soft Power of Innovation in the Health Sector Comment on "What Managers Find Important for Implementation of Innovations in the Healthcare Sector - Practice Through Six Management Perspectives".

Health is not just a physiological state, it is also a relational phenomenon. This means health is a collective challenge, often a cross-border one. Diplomacy in the health sector has progressively received more attention from formal actors (national states, international organisations, etc) but after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) challenge, this attention became a global emergency mobilising an expansive set of knowledge-seeking players (industry, research networks, civil society, etc). This paper comments on and leverages the contribution by Palm and Feschier on innovation management at the organisational level to address a complementary dimension: the internationalization process, and the need for a particular set of skills and routines to make innovations travel through different markets and regulatory contexts. Our argument is that marketing (knowing about customers) and diplomacy (understanding framing institutions) constitute a set of dynamic capabilities (soft power) that are critical for the effective internationalization of innovation.

Emotion and International Business: Theorising Fear of Failure in the Internationalisation.

The road to internationalisation is paved with risk, uncertainty, the possibility of failure, and the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) phenomenon. However, the process of internationalisation (IP) theory treats an individual decision-maker as a "black box." Emotions are largely ignored by international business (IB) researchers. This study offers conceptual thoughts on the role of fear of failure in the process of internationalisation. It argues that managers experience this emotion in making internationalisation decisions for a firm, which is an area of study that requires further understanding. Following the content analysis method in the literature review and a theory-based adaptation approach to complete the conceptualisation, this manuscript joins the scholarly conversations on "connecting the IP model to people" and "emotion and internationalisation." Focussing on fear of failure as a new perspective, this manuscript contributes to IB literature by suggesting new avenues in understanding decision-making about international activities by embracing psychological insights. It also contributes to IB practitioners by offering implications for understanding one's emotional state and its effect on decision-making about internationalising ventures.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Internationalisation of the Spanish Agri-Food Sector.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to suddenly adapt their daily operations. This has also affected the agri-food sector, which is one of the main sectors of the Spanish economy in terms of exportations. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the internationalisation of Spanish agri-food companies. A case study has been developed to gain understanding and insights about the COVID-19 impacts on this sector. The information has been obtained through 12 semi-structured phone interviews that have been made with international/export managers (or managers with international responsibilities) from Spanish exporting companies of the agri-food sector. This research suggests that internationalisation is a great growth opportunity for Spanish agri-food companies. However, COVID-19 has considerably impacted the sector, and they have needed to focus on identifying such impacts to manage them efficiently. In this sense, most interviewees have identified common changes and adaptations to be faced and risks generated by the pandemic that importantly influenced such companies, being the most important risks the sanitary and the payment default risk. In addition, interviewed managers have also explained main actions that were taken. By handling the COVID-19 situation in a flexible, quick and efficient way, companies will achieve international success.

Using LEGO® Serious Play® Methodology in supporting Nigerian nursing students' sociocultural transitions to UK higher education: A phenomenological research study.

INTRODUCTION: From an historical perspective the United Kingdom (UK) has been the first European country of choice for Nigerian students wishing to study overseas. As an international contingent, Nigerian students continue to represent the UK's third largest international student body. This paper provides an insight into research undertaken to examine students' capacity to transition into the UK Higher Education system from a sociocultural perspective. Across the UK Higher Education Institutions (HEI's) have addressed issues surrounding internationalisation and decolonisation of the portfolio of programmes available to overseas students, with strategic curriculum design and justification processes evident in the extant literature. This project uses an innovative approach for the facilitation of dialogue with international students about their experiences of transitioning into UK systems of learning and teaching using a social constructivism approach. AIMS: The aim of the research was to explore sociocultural perspectives which impacted on self-reported transitions to UK HEI's by Nigerian students. The objectives of the study were to a) provide a reflective lens of perspective on international student transitioning experiences for HEIs, educators and policymakers b) illuminate the challenges and barriers faced by Nigerian students during their transition from Nigerian to UK HE systems and infrastructures and c) to co-construct authentic and pragmatic knowledge of how best Nigerian students can be supported in their transition to UK HEI's. METHODS: Smith (2010) interpretive phenomenological analysis, integrating qualitative research methods was implemented as a means of undertaking research facilitated using LEGO® Serious Play® Methodology as an innovative method of data collection. Twenty participants were recruited purposively to the study from an annual cohort of nursing students at a satellite Higher Education Institution (HEI) campus in Metropolitan city. Quirkos was used as a software package in analysing the data and establishing the salience as well as the commonality of emergent themes. RESULTS: Findings reveal the extent to which sociocultural acclimation is of importance in the process of transition to UK HEIs. The perception of complex ambiguity surrounding the design and delivery of UK academic curricula was also reported as challenging by Nigerian students. Self-reported comments from Nigerian nursing students revealed the priori existence of negative learning experience, including lack of IT facilities, culturally rooted family expectations and responsibilities which then influenced perceptions and experiences of learning and teaching in the UK. Negative experiences included perceptions of racism regarding skin colour, fashion sense and UK practice focused on authentic assessment opportunities. CONCLUSION: The small purposive sample of participants who engaged in this study, illuminated that students' prior experiences have the potential to influence their current pedagogical experience, in accordance with the principles of social constructivism. Most participants reported their experience of the transition period of entry to UK education varied between individuals, perhaps most significantly that perceptions of acculturation, acclimatisation and overall transition to the UK took between four and six months for a programme that may only have one year's duration.

The international focus-A neglected curriculum in global undergraduate nursing.

International learning in undergraduate global nurse education is recognised for promoting essential cultural competence. This can be addressed both at university; through the increasing use of collaborative technology and in practice, where the impact of international placements has promoted cultural sensitivity and outward student mobility. The authors debate the barriers that impede students' desire to take up international placements and review initiatives to promote a greater investment in this experience. The complexity and lack of transcultural principles that govern an international placement exchange have been addressed by one initiative to produce a robust pan-European quality audit process for clinical learning environments. In conclusion, the authors call for a greater and evaluated effort to increase global understanding and learning in the context of the COVID-19 response.

Global partnerships in nursing - A qualitative study in lessons for success.

Global nursing partnerships can develop cultural competence and standardisation across international nurse education programmes. Issues of context, cultural awareness and modes of engagement can influence the success of international collaboration. The 'Supporting Internationalisation of Traineeships in the Healthcare Sector' project, funded from 2017, brought together nine international partners from Finland, Poland, Spain and the UK to develop a pan-European quality audit process for clinical learning environments. As part of the evaluation, eight project partners were interviewed about the project and their criteria for a successful global partnership. The interviews allowed insight into previously hidden aspects of implementation. The importance of a scoping period for nursing global partnerships was highlighted that built on cultural diversity to explore common understandings. Attention to the use of prior expertise in internationalisation, or project objectives, could accelerate a global partnership to achieve a greater potential in its outcomes and cultural sensitivity. Framed in a clear structure, it is possible for global partnerships to embed ownership, autonomy and individual voice in partner organisations. The research concludes that only by growing international champions through funded and well constituted projects, that a genuine impact on the global health and educational needs in nursing can be met.

The impact of The Florence Network in advancing nursing and midwifery in Europe.

Diversity of the nursing workforce and multiculturalism of European cities have mandated the need for culturally sensitive nurses and midwives able to provide effective, engaging, high quality and socially just healthcare. The Florence Network is a professional network that aims to bring together like-minded professionals and to cultivate relationships amongst nurses and midwives from different European Union (EU) countries to create synergies on matters of common interest by transcending national and cultural barriers. A qualitative study based upon a focus group interview was conducted with six former Presidents and one present President of the Florence Network, each with a tenure of two years. The study explored the impact of the Florence Network in advancing cultural awareness and promoting educational, research and professional synergies. The outcome of the study identified that from the Presidents perspectives networks create awareness of cultural diversity, enable the delivery of multicultural nursing care and develop future leaders regarding global health-related issues. Furthermore, professional networks contribute to the refining of educational curricula, in developing applicable research evidence, and in sharing formal and informal professional knowledge.