Human Values and Intercultural Competence in Internationalised Universities: The Views of Administrative and Support Staff in Two European Settings

This book investigates the perceptions of the administrative and support staff at two universities (one in Spain, the other in the Netherlands) regarding internationalisation in their institutions and their own perceived intercultural competence within their contexts. Using the Schwartz value system, the author aims also to understand and explore how human values relate to attitudes and intercultural competence more broadly. The book argues for the importance of intercultural competence of administrative and support staff in internationalised universities, as well as their key role as essential agents in promoting internationalisation. The author proposes an interdisciplinary method to evaluate intercultural competence from an emic perspective--through questionnaires and interviews--and from an etic perspective--analysing participants’ discursive constructions to reveal their human values. This volume will be of interest to academics and practitioners in fields such as linguistics, intercultural competence, intercultural and cross-cultural studies, internationalisation of higher education, and sociology.This book investigates the perceptions of the administrative and support staff at two universities (one in Spain, the other in the Netherlands) regarding internationalisation in their institutions and their own perceived intercultural competence within their contexts. Using the Schwartz value system, the author aims also to understand and explore how human values relate to attitudes and intercultural competence more broadly. The book argues for the importance of intercultural competence of administrative and support staff in internationalised universities, as well as their key role as essential agents in promoting internationalisation. The author proposes an interdisciplinary method to evaluate intercultural competence from an emic perspective--through questionnaires and interviews--and from an etic perspective--analysing participants’ discursive constructions to reveal their human values. This volume will be of interest to academics and practitioners in fields such as linguistics, intercultural competence, intercultural and cross-cultural studies, internationalisation of higher education, and sociology.

Andrea Martínez Celis is a lecturer and researcher at Rey Juan Carlos University, Spain. She obtained her PhD in English Linguistics from Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. Her teaching and research explore innovative English-teaching methodologies that include training in pragmatic and intercultural competences, and she also collaborates with Small Wide World (SWW) as an intercultural competence trainer. In 2023, Andrea Martínez Celis participated in the United Nations’ Science Summit, promoting the importance of intercultural competence for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).