03 December 2013

CBIE PhD research paper highlights impact of institutional culture on internationalisation

In the latest edition of the Canadian Bureau for International Education's PhD Research Series, Alison Nussbaumer (Interim Dean (International) at the University of Lethbridge and a PhD candidate in higher education leadership at the University of Calgary) looks at the impact of organisational culture on institutional strategies for internationalisation.


Her short paper Organizational Culture and Internationalization: A Brief Literature Review provides a useful summary of key authors on organisational culture in higher education, then reviews five recent articles on the impact of organisational culture on internationalisation.

In her conclusions, Alison summarizes that organisational culture is indeed significant to the success or failure of institutional internationalisation. She also identifies several areas for further research, including the deployment of internationalisation as a "change agent" by institutional leadership.

Interestingly, only two of the key articles on organisational culture and internationalisation were written in the last three years, perhaps highlighting the limited focus that this topic has received in academia to date. Unsurprisingly, more attention appears to have been paid to this topic by international education administrators, in particular via the professional associations (NAFSA, EAIE, IEAA...).