Internationalisation has become an “institutional imperative” for many institutions of higher education. Two propositions are that internationalisation would help students develop competencies needed in todays globalised world, and increase the employability of students. This piece summarises findings from the HBO-Monitor (a survey amongst alumni of Dutch universities of applied sciences) to substantiate the aforementioned propositions. The analysis suggests that internationalisation measures such as a foreign experience are conducive to the acquisition of international competencies. By contrast, little support derives from the HBO dataset concerning the link between internationalisation (or the thereby acquired competencies) and an increase in employability. However, a good number of alumni confirm that international competencies are needed in their current jobs. Based on this project, the Research Group International Cooperation will set up a longitudinal study on internationalisation at THUAS and its impacts.
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The Hague University of Applied Sciences has high ambitions in the field of internationalisation. Two out of four priorities in the institutional policy touch this theme: global citizenship and internationalisation. In order to ensure that the curriculum of the new degree programme HBO ICT meets these priorities, it is interesting to know which international competencies the ICT sector requires. The main research questions in this report is: Which international competencies does the ICT sector demand of ICT graduates and how can these be embedded in the curriculum of the new HBO ICT degree programme? That the question is relevant, is shown by the fact that 25% of the respondents, ICT graduates, indicated that they actually work abroad for longer and shorter periods. In this research an online survey was held among alumni (n = 315) of the precursors of the HBO ICT degree programme in order to find out which international competencies are important. By conducting interviews on the same target group, this information was deepened. In an online survey among graduation supervisors (n = 202) it is examined to what extent the graduates master the required skills by the end of their training. This combined information provides the input to develop the new curriculum of the HBO ICT degree programme and its specialisations. The results show that English and especially English listening and reading skills are considered to be very important. Our alumni master these skills highly satisfactorily. It was specifically mentioned, however, that alumni must overcome a certain reluctance to speak. Intercultural and personal and social competencies are found very important. To master these competencies, students should learn by experiencing. This can be done by working together in international teams, but also in national teams as long as they are supervised explicitly on intercultural, personal and social competencies. As far as the international academic and professional competencies concerned, especially internationally accepted professional knowledge is considered important. On these categories the HBO ICT graduates score satisfactorily (a score of 6 or 6,5 out of 10). Depending on the ambitions of the programme, some improvements could be made here. In general, the ICT sector is quite satisfied with the extent to which our students possess international competencies they consider to be relevant. However, there are suggestions for improvement and some of them have already been included in the toolkit internationalisation as part of the development of the curriculum of HBO ICT.
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Internationalizing curricula. Needs and wishes of alumni and employers with regard to international competencies. Internationalization has become of great importance for universities acrossthe globe. The labour market is becoming international, with internationalopportunities and international competition. Emerging markets such as India, China and Russia are gaining economic power. Global challenges demand world-wide solutions. Production and marketing networks span the globe and various forms of migration have resulted in a large cultural diversity within nations. As a result, societies and labour markets are changing as well. In order to deal with these societal changes adequately and to succeed in today’s labour market, graduates need to be equipped with international competencies. In a survey among 500 chief executives, ICM Research (on behalf of Think Global and The British Council, 2011) showed that employers strongly value staff members who are able to work in an international and multicultural environment. Similar results were found in Diamond et al. (2011), in which ‘multicultural teamwork’ was considered most important. The Hague University of Applied Sciences seeks to prepare its students adequately for the world of tomorrow. The University’s development plans (e.g. HogeschoolOntwikkelingsPlan, HOP 7, 2009-2013 and HOP 8, 2014-2017) indicate that its vision is to train students to be globally-minded professionals with an international and multicultural perspective, who are world-citizens, interested in global issues and able to deal with diversity in a constructive manner. They are to be professionals, who possess the competencies to function well in an international and intercultural environment. Internationalization is therefore high on the agenda of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS) which is illustrated by the fact that, as of 2014, new students in all academies have to fill 12.5% (30 ECTS) of their four-year Bachelor program with international activities. These activities can range from an internship or semester abroad (student mobility) to participating in full programs of study or minors in which English is the medium of instruction, or an internationally themed minor (Internationalization at Home, IaH). And this is only the beginning. Internationalization is a means, not an end. All THUAS courses are looking into ways in which they can internationalize their curriculum. And in doing so, they need to be innovative (Leask, 2009) and keep in mind the specific needs and wishes of alumni and their employers with regard to international competences. The THUAS research group International Cooperation supports these internationalization policy objectives by investigating various aspects, such as: • The acquisition and development of international competencies among students. • The extent to which lecturers possess international competencies and what their needs and wishes are for further development. • The international competencies THUAS graduates have acquired as part of their degree and how THUAS has stimulated this development. • The international competencies that employers and alumni consider important. Although international competencies and employability have received growing attention in internationalization research, existing studies have mainly focused on: • The effects of study abroad on the development of international competence (cf. Hoven & Walenkamp, 2013). • The effects of an experience abroad (study, internship, voluntary work) on employability. • A more general analysis of the skills employers look for in prospective employees.
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What is the current career of alumni from the International Business School of hte Hanze University of Applied Sciences. Where do they work and what is the relevance of Internationalisation in the careers of these Alumni.IBS Hanze alumni work Internationally, some 30 % of the Dutch and Germnan alumni work in other countries than their nationality. For alumni of other nationalities both germany and the Netherlands seem te be countries of settlement. Alumni work in majority for larger companies that operate Internationally. This research explores if and how the career of IBS Hanze UAS alumni can be considered international.Country of settlement, nationality and home base of the employing company were considered in a descriptive research. Data was collected form the public LinkedIn profile of 2050 alumni as well as Hanze UAS internal databases. A smal qualitative research was conducted with 46 respondents to explore the questions why and how Internationalisation was relevant for the alumni.
