Realizing Internationalization at Home in Korean Higher Education: Promoting Domestic Students' Interaction with International Students and Intercultural Competence

Abstract

Increased international student mobility worldwide necessitates studying its impact on students, particularly for domestic students who have been neglected in research but who are greater in number than mobile students. It is also important that higher education institutions facilitate domestic students' relationships with international students and promote their international education. Using mixed methods, this study examined the effect of institutional intervention to promote domestic students' interaction with international students and its impact on intercultural competence in Korean higher education. The results of a path analysis showed that campus programs involving Korean and international students had a positive and direct effect on Korean students' interaction with international students, and a positive and indirect effect on their intercultural competence. Interview findings also revealed that Korean students' interactions with international students enabled their meaningful intercultural experience and influenced their future educational and career decisions. Implications of this study for higher education internationalization efforts, the contact hypothesis, and the larger host society are discussed.