Internal stakeholders’ views on interdisciplinarity: An empirical study within an interdisciplinary master’s program

Figures & data

Table 1. Information on the focus groups

Respondent category	No. of focus group/s	Number of total respondents
Students	7	16
Teaching faculty members	2	8
Faculty members acting as program managers	1	3

Table 2. Total number of respondents’ responses grouped into each respective category

Categories in relation to each specific research question	Students (16 respondents)	Teaching faculty members (8 respondents)	Faculty members acting as program managers (3^a respondents)
How could interdisciplinarity be defined by different internal stakeholders?
Integration of people	21	4	3
Integration of knowledge	8	8	2
Deepened knowledge as outcome	10	4	3
Problem solving	9	5	1
How could interdisciplinarity be conceptualised in an interdisciplinary master’s program?
Student active learning	10	9	6
Traditional learning	4	2	1
Real-life setting	2	1	0
Physical location	3	1	2
Teacher role	2	6	4
Curriculum	2	4	2

^aOne from each involved faculty.

Extracted quotes and the final categorisation—Results from student interviews

Serial number	Quotes regarding definitions	Classification^a
2.1.	People from different backgrounds, not just culturally but mainly also regarding the field of, I call it educational background that they have when they come together and work together	1
2.2.	Interdisciplinarity could also be combined in one person when you … in Germany you have the, also university programs called business engineering where you have two different fields of education that are combined in one program. So people who study business engineering they somehow are … they combine the interdisciplinarity in one person.	2
2.3.	being influenced by different cultural as well as educational fields of interests when it all comes together	3
2.4.	My view is also somehow steered by the program that I’m in that calls itself an interdisciplinary master program because we are students from business, engineering and design. So interdisciplinarity in that regard means what educational background that you have, the main field of study you had before, so that somehow influence on how I see on interdisciplinarity now.	2
2.5.	Interdisciplinary work is easy: that is when the people from different disciplines meet each other, and interdisciplinarity itself can be, probably it always has to do with people meeting each other	1
2.6.	Does it have to be like two major directions, like business and engineering, or could it be like different directions within business like marketing discipline, finance discipline	2
2.7.	Say like in one field, even in one team that work that work in a company, and the team is very specialized then there is still interdisciplinarity because people have different backgrounds, different things done before, or … So you can probably go from very broad view and then you can narrow it down and go very much in detail and call it interdisciplinary	1
2.8.	You really need some further explanation or definition when you say interdisciplinarity. … is it maybe on the personal, one person as you said or is it like a team	2, 1
2.9.	A person can still on one topic from different perspectives but still be interdisciplinary. Yes, and that is what you said with business engineering. That one person can be a business engineer.	2
2.10.	I mean you can kind of randomly mix perspectives and say it is interdisciplinary and … Because you also, it makes difference, you can have a general business background in your studies but that you might have practical experience from something, or. Then it is also kind of interdisciplinary, also that kind of knowledge you require through what you do every day.	2
2.11.	You can have interdisciplinary thoughts for yourself but that is still … What is interesting most of the time is the interdisciplinary work that people do with each other from different perspectives.	1, 2
2.12.	It involves a lot of disciplines working together, so I would say that it is collaboration with different people from different backgrounds with a positive outcome.	1, 2, 4
2.13.	It is different people working together for achieving one piece of work, we were linked to each other	1, 4
2.14.	I think we need to differentiate between working interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary work, because I think that it is different when people from different disciples come together and work together and connect their qualities and they learn from each other. It is not next to each other but with each other. Interdisciplinarity is when we link and make the best out of it.	1, 4
2.15.	Interdisciplinarity is more like people work together and learn from each other. The knowledge they learn might be in their discipline and they provide that knowledge to the rest of the group.- It is two directions-.	1, 3
2.16.	It is like people from different background work together in a group solving complex problems with their knowledge. The involved people in the group are willing to accept the other members’ suggestions and that is a mutual agreement between the members, finally they come for a solution to the whole project.	1, 4
2.17.	It is not about understanding the word, it is about understanding the meaning. One word have several meanings, for instance, the word sketch	3
2.18.	When people or citizens, from different backgrounds also different nationalities, come together to accomplish a goal or a project. Interdisciplinarity is when people from different backgrounds come together	1, 4
2.19.	This diverse group working together, still, engineers and designers, interdisciplinarity is still beyond that, there are different types of people in life there are when 3, 4, 5 people with differences work together	1
2.20.	Interdisciplinarity is cross functional, it means that people who have different experiences come together and work to achieve a common goal	1, 4
2.21.	All the language and terms. What I see that each discipline has its unique language.	3
2.22.	I can’t explain it as working together as it is beyond it. Working with different perspectives on the same goal. Work in process with other disciplines towards the same goal, but also conversation. We had a project in Poland, A., M., Z. and me. In a car to Poland we discussed the project. Should have recorded the conversation, because we could approach from different angles the same project, understand weaknesses and strengths.	1, 3, 4
2.23.	It’s about working together with an open mind. To … because to work together you need to be open, to learn from each other.	1, 3
2.24.	Interdisciplinary work not just have to have three people different people together, it has to have the right attitude and the right environment to work.	3
2.25.	It’s me including and involving the engineer and business to learn about design and help me take the decisions. I cannot make them by myself even if I’m the designer.	1, 3, 4
2.26.	Interested in your own discipline and be able to define your problems within the project, your own disciplinary problems to each other and communicate to each other what we need from each other in different disciplines.	1
2.27.	Working closely with students partly from other institutions (marketing—accounting) but also other faculties (design and engineering)/academic groups	1
2.28.	Combination of disciplines (which depend on the type of project)	1, 4
2.29.	It is a situation being in an interdisciplinary team, understand the other members, more useful comments to the other members. The other members can understand why you ask specific questions.	1, 3
2.30.	You become interdisciplinar only by working with others	1
2.31.	Understand what it means—only by cooperation and solving conflicts, personality, nationality—cooperate and communicate differently Based on working in teams, we have learned … not the directly academic	3
	Quotes regarding conceptualization
2.32.	In the projects. In the projects that we worked on together. Because we didn’t have that many lectures, and if we had lectures then they were either based on some business topics or some engineering topics.	5, 6
2.33.	Yeah, it was not like a professor comes in now, this is what interdisciplinarity is about and lists all the things you have to look at. It was more you get thrown into projects and there it is a number of designers, a number of engineers, number of business people and then you have the issue you are dealing with and then you start and make through all the mess that arises you learn how to deal with it.	6, 5
2.34.	In reality it works in the production line,,, the program is in connection with the real world and how people work	7
2.35.	It is in the projects; I have an example when working with IKEA-module. I designed a really nice thing and the engineer said that we cannot do it is a sustainable material, and I said; what do you mean?	5
2.36.	Designer almost always have innovative ideas but sometimes it is not easy to make it reality, I think this program is more to drag the designers’ imagination back a bit into reality. the box is not that limited—it is more to do the things reachable.—we have to think about the concept.	7
2.37.	When we work in interdisciplinary teams, we complement each other.	5
2.38.	Based on my own experience, in the first year, in the first semester we all learnt how to work in an interdisciplinary team.- we needed time to work in this adapted mode, sometimes mistakes happened. For the second semester, we could always add something on it based on our aspects; designers—crazy ideas, business people—how to make it work, and engineers—we calculate if it could work or not.	5
2.39.	In our studio. Everyone came and we had our roles,,,,, we usually had lunch together in the restaurant and we talked about the projects, but mainly in our studio.	8
2.40.	We showed our projects before the final presentation and we got valuable feedback from different teachers from business, engineering and design, it was very valuable for us to progress in our projects.	9
2.41.	All teachers had their own subject into the project, design teachers focused more on design, engineering focused on finding a solution, business people were dominant. Some teachers had a strategic focus	9
2.42.	It is important to discuss together with friends. Interdisciplinary working in some hands on projects but in theoretical background, I do not know which lecture was about interdisciplinary work? There were good lectures in different disciplines.	5, 6
2.43.	That project, and, it was not in the classroom, it was when we would meet with our group and discuss and sometimes had some arguments and sometimes, but we … because we believed in what we believed, so we had arguments … then you also felt ok if we on our own together business, engineers and designers, to kind of learn how to do it. It was very good, I think.	5, 8
2.44.	So I think the learning is the discussions when you meet your group.	5
2.45.	The way we were working [in the projects]	5
2.46.	Interdisciplinarity is not directly shown in the course syllabi	6, 10
2.47.	Interdisciplinarity is the way we are working in order to meet the targets in the course syllabi	5, 10
2.48.	The studio was an important working place in semester one and two. You checked the studio every day. Semester 3 was different—it was boring, it was only course, it was only courses, but it was boring	8

^aClassification codes: 1) Integration of people, 2) Integration of knowledge, 3) Deepened knowledge as outcome, 4) Problem solving, 5) Student active learning, 6) Traditional learning, 7) Real-life setting, 8) Physical location, 9) Teacher role, 10) Curriculum.

Extracted quotes and the final categorisation—Results from Teaching faculty members interviews

Serial number	Quotes regarding definitions	Classi fication^a
3.1.	Different disciplines going between the different disciplines to see what can be seen on a common platform perhaps also keeping the specialties in the different disciplines—because you do not want to lose the essence of the involved disciplines.	2
3.2.	I can also see that the word as such (interdisciplinarity) is quite an academic word, but it is about learning and working between different disciplines	2
3.3.	In different disciplines they talk about generalists, that is people who can a lot of everything in that discipline so that they can have a broader picture, they are chief in design or whatever engineering. There are some “universalgeni” in Swedish like da Vinci, they were really interdisciplinary. In a modern way we have talked about this a lot.	2
3.4.	You have the different disciplines and what is really between them. It compares … I think that there is a difference between which disciplines we are talking about, how much space there are between them (the disciplines). There are reasons why these disciplines are involved in this specific program	2
3.5.	The new things that are developing, innovations, are between disciples	3, 4
3.6.	If we look at the innovation master it is like a classic industrial design project, a good designer has a large knowledge of engineering and smaller knowledge about economy. You have all ingredients.	1, 4
3.7.	In an operational level confusion, but creative for learners, teachers. It is a scope where teachers become learners “we are learning a lot of this along with the students”. It is a journey.	3
3.8.	If we compare with multidisciplinary it is still that you still have the disciples separated in some way but you make them meet	1
3.9.	I agree with you about business people having this background—a lot of engineering students come to business. On a higher education level it differs on between the counties in India,,,, business is a new area—design is traditional	2
3.10	MBA is just a thing coming from the states	2
3.11	In the meeting between the different students and how they from the start speak different languages and then they slowly understand that they talk about the same thing in different way.	1
3.12.	That is also an interesting point sometimes designers think that they are the [ones] to generate ideas, but generate ideas are much more complex. Everyone can generate ideas. Everyone in this program have the possibility to [say] what is good in a design	4
3.13.	When people from different disciplines work together in a course, when the students on a course meet different disciplines connected to a question. You are working on a shared examination assignment	1, 4
3.14.	When several disciplines meet in order to deliver towards one goal, but I would like to add that the synchronized subjects meet in order to deliver towards one shared goal.	2, 4
3.15.	Two types of interdisciplinarity; one concerns very much progression in a subject i.e. management accounting, finance, for instance, … you can teach in this manner … these are common for the subject. Another what we perceive as extraterrestrial activities [Authors comment: not within the subject] like design, cooperation … The strength is when we let these feed on each other, create synergies	2, 3
3.16.	Interdisciplinarity is synthesis- instead of breaking down into pieces, you see the whole picture. Students learn to think synthetically—see whole things instead of parts, it is unusual and difficult	3
	Quotes regarding conceptualization
3.17.	In the meeting between the different students and how they from the start speak different languages and then they slowly understand that they talk about the same thing in different way.	5
3.18.	When they do their projects and present, actual the process as such. There is a big differences when they have done it some time, I really like when they do it the third time—you have different language and different way of keeping up the work.	5
3.19.	L: what you can see in the presentations, when they present in the beginning you can really hear the they speak their own language J: That is an aspect we did not fully understood when we started the program—these cultural aspects need to be taken into consideration L: then also the language barrier,,, G: language depending on where you come from S: Specific for this program as we have so many international students and cultural backgrounds then the projects are really important because then they work, when you work you can see and feel, then they take in the knowledge in other ways than words	5
3.20.	L: In the projects J: that is where they train their capabilities G: That is where the interdisciplinarity shows up—where you have to solve the task/complex issue with all three disciplines	5
3.21.	The quality of interdisciplinarity—as it takes place everywhere—but in the beginning of the program, we as the teachers need to push the ideas to the students that it will be of value to them because they do not understand that. Once they have run a particular project, they realize what they have done and understand the uniqueness of the learning process. But if the student group is not able to understand or except the value interdisciplinary is going to give them, the projects will fall out.	9, 5
3.22.	For tutoring mainly interdisciplinary, I have to solve many things for the engineering students. When I tutor and discuss with them it is mainly design and engineering, but even business, for me this is classic design work. Business is on an overall level.	9, 5
3.23.	Teaching is on an overall level/conceptual level, It is in business, I do not think we have interdisciplinary teaching—the learning is interdisciplinary but not the teaching, maybe engineering does?	6
3.24.	teaching is disciplinary with the purpose that other should understand i.e. being helped by this knowledge for instance, what could you read out from a cad-drawing?	6
3.25.	To be a good generalist takes a life time, you are peaking when you are 60. We want to do it in 4–5 years is it possible? The education should be as a small company, with facilities, class room, and work shops	7
3.26.	Physical meeting place	8
3.27.	J: interdisciplinary does it require between some? The disciplinary you can do by yourself G: yes, it is difficult to be interdisciplinary by yourself. J: At the same time, you may need to reflect on the interdisciplinary for yourself	5
3.28.	It begins with the faculty members having a common understanding of the context and the delivery. We constantly underestimate to explain the context for the students. We as faculty members, we think we deliver a coordinated lectures to the students, but students see individual lectures. We need to be more interactive in our way of communicating our message and knowledge. Students are learnt to focus on silo activity.	9, 10
3.29.	It is apparent to 100% through project work. Students are forced to integrate in the projects	5
3.30.	When they interact, the synthesis appear in the projects	5
3.31.	How we have organized the grouping. Faculty members will always be disciplinary, we do not have time to be 100-% coordinated. Resources do not cover that.	9
3.32.	How are we going to manage the succession? The actual things that controls are; syllabus, group assignments etc.—these are fixed—they cannot be exchanged, we are going to be satisfied with the base level. It is the structure [that] creates interdisciplinarity.	10
3.33.	Interdisciplinarity is a competence that is learnt [as a teacher]	9
3.34.	You must be more skilled in your discipline when you are working in an interdisciplinary program, especially if you work with stakeholders; how do you contribute? If you do not, you can be replaced! It’s contradictory to “jack of all trades”. You must be skilled in your discipline in order to make a contribution in an interdisciplinary context. You have to motivate why you should be involved	9
3.35.	Interdisciplinarity is a fiction, an idealized figure of a reality that may not exist. It is the form, the communication, the format that creates interdisciplinarity.	10
3.36.	Our way of creating deliveries at universities is disciplinary. Interdisciplinary is rather a way of delivering an education rather than teaching.	10

^aClassification codes: 1) Integration of people, 2) Integration of knowledge, 3) Deepened knowledge as outcome, 4) Problem solving, 5) Student active learning, 6) Traditional learning, 7) Real-life setting, 8) Physical location, 9) Teacher role, 10) Curriculum.

Extracted quotes and the final categorisation—Results from Faculty members acting as program manager interviews

Serial number	Quotes regarding definitions	Classi fication^a
4.1.	An exchange is understood between different disciplines, and an exchange in the sense that it is not one-way, but directed in both directions	2, 3
4.2.	Interdisciplinarity is a way of working	1
4.3.	Knowledge is exchanged between different disciplines	2
4.4.	To work from different disciplines towards a common goal	1, 4
4.5.	This means that you see new disciplines, which you might have little idea about. You know some concepts that you can relate to, so you do not feel so confused, it’s not completely new, and then you start to look at yourself, your own discipline. And then it becomes “Aha!” Then you are both confirmed by this discussion, that socializing is also important.	3, 1
4.6.	… that you start to separate yourself, you begin to see yourself in your own thinking. Separating the different disciplines. In this case three different. You see their own role as well as what you can perform and (identify) the limits; what you can do and what you cannot do. What to do, what you should not do and then start connecting the disciplines. So when you start to see the boundaries between them it is then you can start over bridging them. That is cooperation, the right cooperation and you can win something on it	3, 1
4.7.	… if you look at a discipline, that’s a way of being. You are in it, it’s not just knowledge, it is a way of being. You have codes, but then, the interdisciplinary opens up for other ways to be and other codes that you do not have to master completely, one must understand them. Especially when you go inside and solve things together. But I think that’s a good description.	3
	Quotes regarding conceptualization
4.8.	It is a word that we use repeatedly in our program, both in marketing and in, yes, and when we present the program for the students. And when we teach. That’s something that we bring up all the time, really.	10
4.9.	We just started it. We picked up a group from different disciplines to solve something together. And then we’ve been working very hard to bring about a situation where they almost have to deal with this, huh. And then we were like, “What’s up, then?” We were not so prepared. We did not at all prepare ourselves in terms and methods, etc., but we moved on like this.	9, 10
4.10.	… it’s up to this to find a distinction, “Yes, who am I in relation to you. You’re one of those and I’m one of those.” Like, that’s the first thing to happen. But then when they do, when we force them, they aim at a common goal, then things are happening in the classroom. This focus is an important part. What unites is the focus. Everybody wants be somewhere, everyone we give their best, I think.	5
4.11.	To me it is that we represent it through our teachers	9
4.12.	I think it is important that, yes, there is a desire that we also work as we expect them to work. There is a dialogue there, amongst the teachers.	9
4.13.	… The intention has been to shape activities where everyone enter from their own perspective and discuss it. And from that discussion there will then be something common uniting the participants. From the different perspectives. It has been the intention so that it … workshops and activities, yes activities.	5
4.14.	… how sometimes it does not occur when we expect it to. I think that it might be interesting when you see that students have been trying for a while, working together in projects with different skills, but then they may face too much resistance and fall back to their own disciplines and then stay there. Because they are safer there, they may know what they are going to do and they cannot really take in more from outside	5
4.15.	It’s one thing to work in their competence to solve a certain task and the other to work with team dynamics to ensure that these competencies really flourish in the activities	5
4.16.	In the physical room, that is, this studio we have given them. A residence … to have a residence that they feel “there I can be, that’s my place”. … it combines technology and design, the bodily and that it is linked to a certain environment, the workshops are also the environment where things happen. Yield. And unlike our business administrators who have their world in the books in a way	8
4.17.	And then to hang out. To hang out constantly in that office. I think that happens a lot more when we’re not there …	5, 8
4.18.	I: When you are in a classroom, what kind of teaching do you do that is interdisciplinary? P: I actually do quite a bit of disciplinary work. I have one … M: Our methodology course is example. Like there, three representatives participate and deliver perspectives, and there is a community there.	6
4.19.	Interdisciplinarity is not like a knowledge, it is a way of being	5, 9

^aClassification codes: 1) Integration of people, 2) Integration of knowledge, 3) Deepened knowledge as outcome, 4) Problem solving, 5) Student active learning, 6) Traditional learning, 7) Real-life setting, 8) Physical location, 9) Teacher role, 10) Curriculum.