Students’ changing conceptualizations of university internationalization in Australia

Figures & data

Table 1. Profile of survey participants (n = 418).

Categories of students		n	%
Gender
	Female	275	66%
	Male	113	27%
	Non-binary/Third gender	6	1%
	Did not answer	24	6%
Course level
	Undergraduate	382	91%
	Postgraduate	35	8%
	Other	1	<1%
Residency
	Domestic	291	70%
	International	127	30%
Discipline
	HASS	95	23%
	STEMM	323	77%
Semester started studies
	Pre-pandemic: Semester 2, 2019 or earlier	128	31%
	With pandemic: Semester 1, 2020	117	28%
	Mid-pandemic: Semester 2, 2020-Semester 2, 2021	173	41%

Table 2. Profile of participants who answered the open-ended question (n = 242).

Categories of students		n	%
Residency
	Domestic	174	72%
	International	68	28%
Course level
	Undergraduate	224	93%
	Postgraduate	17	7%
	Other	1	0%
Discipline
	HASS	45	19%
	STEMM	197	81%

Table 3. Responses to the question, ‘Before starting your studies, did you consider Major University to be an “internationalized” university?’, by when participants commenced their studies.

	Semester commenced studies			Total
	Semester 2, 2019 or earlier	Semester 1, 2020	Semester 2, 2020–Semester 2, 2021
n	128	117	173	418
Yes	60%	65%	75%	68%
No	2%	5%	1%	3%
I hadn’t thought about it	36%	26%	21%	27%
I don’t know what that means	2%	4%	2%	3%

Table 4. Responses to the question, ‘How important do you think the following characteristics are for a university to have?’.

		Semester started studies			Total
Characteristic		Semester 2, 2019 or earlier	Semester 1, 2020	Semester 2, 2020 – Semester 2, 2021
	n	128	117	173	418
Students from many different cultural/national backgrounds	Very/Extremely important	84%	75%	79%	80%
	Slightly/Moderately important	15%	24%	18%	19%
	Not at all important	1%	1%	3%	2%
Course material that considers additional cultural contexts	Very/Extremely important	83%	73%	69%	74%
	Slightly/Moderately important	16%	27%	29%	25%
	Not at all important	1%	0%	2%	1%
Lecturers and staff from different backgrounds	Very/Extremely important	65%	67%	61%	64%
	Slightly/Moderately important	34%	31%	34%	33%
	Not at all important	2%	3%	5%	3%
Internationally minded courses and subjects	Very/Extremely important	79%	82%	78%	79%
	Slightly/Moderately important	21%	18%	21%	20%
	Not at all important	0%	0%	1%	0%
Cultural clubs, events, activities, etc.	Very/Extremely important	82%	76%	78%	79%
	Slightly/Moderately important	17%	24%	21%	21%
	Not at all important	1%	0%	1%	1%

Table 5. Key themes in students’ responses to the question, ‘When you imagine an “internationalized university”, what do you picture?’ (n = 242).

Categories	Subcategories	n participants	% participants (n = 242)
Diversity		209	86%
	Student diversity	131	54%
	Cultural diversity	80	33%
	Staff diversity	30	12%
Social Inclusion and Interaction		94	39%
	Intercultural interactions	54	22%
	Welcoming and inclusivity	46	19%
	Dynamic community	14	6%
	Friend-making	5	2%
Internationalized Curriculum		69	29%
	Global perspectives	30	12%
	Culturally sensitive pedagogy	30	12%
	Globally focused courses and programs	23	10%
	Exchange programs overseas	17	7%
	Subjects taught in languages other than English	3	1%
	Satellite campuses	3	1%
Quality		55	23%
	Equality of opportunities	23	10%
	Quality of courses	14	6%
	Caliber of students	13	5%
	Employment preparation/skills	13	5%
	Quality of staff	7	3%
Reputation		27	11%
	Reputation	26	11%
	Ranking	2	1%
Not applicable/Unclear		2	1%