Benefits of Internationalization to Students Cosmopolitan Competency

Abstract

Higher education institutions across the world are responding to globalization through internationalization. However, there is limited research that focuses on the benefits of both internationalization-at-home and cross-border internationalization to students’ cosmopolitan competency from the perspective of students. Therefore, this qualitative case study explored the benefits of internationalization to students from the perspectives of both domestic and international undergraduate and graduate students at two U.S universities. Purposeful and snowball sampling strategies were adopted to identify sixteen students. Data were garnered via interviews, institutions’ websites, and documents. Constant comparative method was employed to analyze the data. Findings from this study revealed that students acquired bilingual or multilingual abilities, firsthand cultural knowledge, global knowledge, cultural nuances critical to showing respect to people from different cultures and geographical backgrounds, friendship and networking, personal growth, high tendency to develop empathy through university internationalization, and opportunity to taste food from different parts of the world. The study recommends that, institutions of higher education should provide opportunities such as foreign language courses, Rosetta Stones, language laboratories, foreign language conversation hour sessions, English as a Second Language (ESL) or Intensive English Language program for students. Also, administrators and faculty are encouraged to provide a platform for study abroad returnees to share their experiences with their colleagues. Higher education institutions should continue to recruit more international students to enrich students’ experiences and global learning.