Intercultural communication training to support internationalisation in higher education

Abstract

With a steady growth in globalisation, many universities increasingly invest in their human capital by training employees to meet the demands of organisational diversity, to become culturally flexible and adaptable in multicultural contexts. Internationalisation is an important part of a university’s economic, academic and cultural vitality, and this is true at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand. In order to proactively build the University’s internationalisation capability, an introductory interactive intercultural communication workshop which encourages self-reflection, was developed and presented to staff on three campuses. As a follow-up to these workshops, staff were invited to participate in an online survey a week after attending the workshop, and then a focus group one month later, to ascertain any transfer of learning to the workplace. This paper reports on the findings and provides recommendations for universities to enhance their intercultural capabilities.