Professors and Internationalization in Canada: Academic Disciplines and Global Activities

Abstract

This paper examines professors’ perceptions of internationalization activities at Canadian universities using the findings of the Academic Profession in the Knowledge-based Society (APIKS) survey. The findings suggest academic disciplines are the organizing logic for diverse manifestations of internationalization within the same universities. Professors in the hard sciences are more likely to publish internationally while those in the arts and humanities are more likely to internationalize their curriculum. The findings are analysed contextually, pointing to the decentralization of Canadian higher education as well as university governance which has exacerbated, yet rarely recognized, these disciplinary divides. The paper calls for new conceptual understandings of internationalization that take into account disciplinary divides.