Dissertation klyberg final

The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Education THE FACULTY EXPERIENCE OF INTERNATIONALIZATION: MOTIVATIONS FOR, PRACTICES OF, AND MEANS FOR ENGAGEMENT A Dissertation in Higher Education by Sarah Grace Fuller Klyberg © 2012 Sarah Grace Fuller Klyberg Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2012 ii The dissertation of Sarah Grace Fuller Klyberg was reviewed and approved* by the following: Lisa R. Lattuca Professor of Higher Education Dissertation Advisor Co-Chair of Committee Roger L. Geiger Distinguished Professor of Education Graduate Chair, Higher Education Program Co-Chair of Committee Gerald K. LeTendre Professor of Education and International Affairs Head of the Department of Education Policy Studies Vincent M.

Colapietro Liberal Arts Research Professor of Philosophy *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii Abstract In recent decades, many U. colleges and universities have adopted policies of internationalization through which they have promoted such activities as study abroad, international student recruitment, curriculum development and/or reform, faculty exchanges, institutional linkages, and overseas campus development. Prior research has identified institutional motivations for engagement in internationalization that include preparation of students to live and work in an increasingly interconnected world, competition with other institutions, and revenue generation.

Institutional initiatives often rely on the cooperation and engagement of faculty members, but faculty motivation for participation in their institution’s internationalization effort is not well understood. The absence of research in this area is problematic because the faculty plays a crucial role in the fulfillment of higher education’s tripartite mission of teaching, research, and service through such responsibilities as designing and reforming curricula, teaching and mentoring students, collaborating on research, engaging in campus and community outreach, and perpetuating institutional culture. The phenomenon of internationalization provides a timely setting in which to explore how faculty members, as individuals, choose to enhance their work lives via engagement in an institutional initiative. It also offers an appropriate venue in which to investigate how faculty and institutional goals for an institutional initiative merge and diverge.

To these ends, this study engaged 15 faculty members at two undergraduate- focused institutions in the northeastern United States in phenomenological interviews as well as focus groups that explored personal and institutional motivations for faculty participation in internationalization; the teaching, research, service, and other iv professional activities that connect to their institution’s internationalization initiative; and the effect of facilitators and/or impediments to their engagement in internationalization on their motivation to continue to participate in these efforts. This inquiry was informed by scholarship from the fields of philosophy and higher education, particularly the theoretical underpinnings of the concept of internationalization, research on practices of internationalization, and research on faculty life and work. Data analysis employed Giorgi’s method of descriptive phenomenological reduction, through which structures, or dimensions, of the experience of internationalization and descriptions of how those dimensions connected to each other were identified. Among the key findings of this study regarding the structures of the faculty experience of internationalization was that participants were more intrinsically than extrinsically motivated to engage in it.

Specifically, participant engagement in internationalization generally predated institutional adoption of an internationalization initiative and came from personal experience. Regarding faculty practices of internationalization, a key finding was that participants had difficulty integrating internationalized teaching, research, and service practices throughout their work, despite an interest in doing so. Participants generally attributed this difficulty to a lack of institutional support. They also suggested that their efforts were not integrated into the broader life and work of their institutions because, despite the expressed intentions of their universities, internationalization was not incorporated into the broader institutional vision, identity, and mission.

Findings from this study generated a series of propositions for future research on faculty experiences of internationalization and the effects that they believe their v engagement in it has on their academic work and professional lives, as well as on how individuals’ goals and institutional goals for internationalization may or may not correspond and thus be achieved. Recommendations for the design of future studies on this topic are also offered, as are recommendations for institutional practices and policies of internationalization. vi Table of Contents List of Tables. 1 Purpose of the Study.

4 Significance of the Study. 7 Organization of this Dissertation. 11 Historical, Philosophical, and Theoretical Foundations of Internationalization. 12 Institutional Motivations for Engagement in Internationalization.

27 Definitions, Models, and Practices of Internationalization. 29 Implications of Internationalization for Faculty. 39 Expectations for Faculty Work. 40 Faculty Attitudes toward Change.

59 Methodology and Methods. 59 Site and Participant Selection. 65 Data Collection and Analysis. 80 Profiles of Research Sites and Participants.

81 Prudens University Study Participants. 89 Astutus University Study Participants. 98 Sources of Faculty Motivation for Engagement in Internationalization. 99 “That’s Who I Am”.

100 “I Get to Go”. 101 “That Experience Really Changed My Life”. 103 “Local Relationships … Opened My Eyes to Global Happenings”. 108 “The Problems that We Face Are Global Problems”.

110 “Ruin Them for Life”. 112 “I … Will Not Do Something that Doesn’t Matter”. 114 “They Need People Like Me”. 117 “This Is Why I’m Good”.

118 “If We Are Encouraged…”. 120 “How Are You Going to Be the Definitive Winner?”. 121 Summary and Initial Conclusions. 127 Faculty Practices of Internationalization in Their Institutional Contexts.

127 Navigating Institutional Culture. 130 Institutional Mission and Identity. 131 Academic Leadership and Vision. 133 International Office Support.

141 Promoting Internationalization through Service. 144 “I’m Committed to Leading the Department”. 144 “It’s a Good Place to Be if You Want Things to Happen”. 145 “I Try to Spread the Word”.

146 “Working with Folks from All Over”. 146 Pursuing Internationalized Research Agendas. 148 “You Can’t Do Absolutely Everything”. 148 “I Really Connect … the Classroom with My Research”.

151 “A Great Way for Students to Really Get Attuned”. 152 Curricular and Instructional Strategies Supporting Internationalization. 154 General Education Requirements. 162 Teaching and Learning Goals.

164 Mentoring and Advising Students. 169 Summary and Initial Conclusions. 173 viii Participants’ Recommendations for Internationalization. 173 “If You Want Things to Move Slowly, Go to the University”.

174 “Show Them How You Can Open Doors”. 174 “It Needs to Get a Little Bit of Real Polish”. 176 “A Really, Really Wonderful Program”. 180 “No Way … to Systematically Know Where this Is Going”.

185 “They Just Sort of Look at You a Little Funny”. 187 Summary and Initial Conclusions. 191 Discussion and Implications. 191 An Overview of the Study.

201 Summary of Key Findings and Propositions for Future Research. 204 Faculty Motivations for Engagement in Internationalization. 204 Faculty Practices of Internationalization. 210 Facilitators and Impediments to Faculty Engagement in Internationalization.

214 Recommendations for Future Research Design. 216 Implications for Institutional Practices and Policy. 240 Letter of Introduction to Provosts. 242 Participant Recommendation E-Mail to Provosts.

244 Faculty Recruitment Letter (Internationalization Grant Recipients). 246 Faculty Recruitment Letter (Internationalization Grant Non-Recipients). 248 Faculty Follow-up Recruitment Phone Script (Internationalization Grant Recipients). 249 Faculty Follow-up Recruitment Phone Script (Internationalization Grant Non- Recipients).

250 Faculty Informed Consent Form for Social Science Research. 253 Faculty Interview Guide (Internationalization Grant Recipients). 255 Faculty Interview Guide (Internationalization Grant Non-Recipients). 257 Faculty Interview Guide.

259 Focus Group Discussion Guide. 261 Faculty Summary Check E-Mail. 262 Faculty Follow-up E-Mail. 263 Faculty Member Check E-Mail.

263 x List of Tables Table 1: Prudens University Participant Characteristics……………………………….75 Table 2: Astutus University Participant Characteristics…………………………………80 xi Acknowledgments When I arrived at Penn State, I joined a remarkable community of scholars with whom I am grateful to have made this journey. Thank you to the members of my dissertation committee for its constant encouragement and insight, as well as the occasional indulgence. I am especially thankful to my co-chairs, Lisa Lattuca and Roger Geiger, for their help and guidance throughout my time in Happy Valley. Thank you also to David Post for the assistantship that facilitated my studies and expanded my perspective on the field of international and comparative education.

I must also thank my doctoral cohort, particularly Issam Khoury, India McHale Menon, Nate Sorber, and Jim Woodell, for the moral and intellectual support that they offered during our tenure at Rackley. Among my predecessors in the Higher Education program, I would like to thank Jen Domagal-Goldman, Suzie Hickey, Jordan Humphrey, Jason Lane, Meghan Pifer, and Alex Yin for being sounding boards and offering encouragement throughout my studies. I am also grateful to Sally Kelley, Angela Packer, Karen Tzilkowski, Susan Bass, and Trudi Haupt for always being ready to offer kind words and administrative assistance. Finally, Shannon Smythe Fleishman, thank you for your hospitality, positive energy, and willingness to help at a moment’s notice.

This study would have taken even longer to begin had it not been for my serendipitous encounter at a NAFSA conference with an undergraduate student from an institution that would ultimately become one of my research sites. Thank you to her for providing me with the information that I needed to get started. Thank you also to the Louise M. Berman Scholarship Board for the financial support that eased my research expenses, and to Louise Berman for being such an inspirational figure.

xii This study could not have happened at all without the cooperation of my two research sites. I am grateful to my primary contacts at each institution, who provided support throughout my data collection process. I am thankful to all 15 study participants for their trust in me and enthusiasm for my research. These institutions are very fortunate to have such passionate administrators and faculty members as part of their communities, and I hope that they will find the results of this study to be useful to them.

The production of this dissertation has been a family affair. Thank you to my parents, Ben and Christine Fuller, who, unbeknownst to them at the time, set me on this path 27 years ago. They have continued to support my academic and professional pursuits ever since. Thank you to my husband, Kevin Klyberg, who spent what seemed like endless miles on the road between Rhode Island and Pennsylvania as I finished my coursework, and then made it possible for me to be on the road to complete my research.

Thank you to my stepchildren, Graham and Rowen, for being such great kids, and to my parents-in-law, Al and Bev, for being there for all of us. My grandfather, William Harley Bailey, did not live to see this dissertation come to fruition, but I promised him that I would keep writing, and I did. He was and remains a profound source of inspiration to me, for which I am thankful. My son, William Alden Klyberg, waited just long enough to arrive so that I could finish this dissertation before heading to the hospital, and for that and the joy he brings me every day, I am grateful.

Thank you for making me Dr. I think that Pappy would be proud of both of us. 1 Chapter 1 Introduction A college or university community consists of diverse individuals who coalesce around the goal of the advancement of knowledge (Maringe, 2009). Traditionally, members of U.

institutions of higher education have pursued this goal in three venues: teaching, research, and service. Colleges and universities employ different strategies to engage in these areas in ways that will address institutional needs and ambitions, as well as those of members of their immediate and surrounding communities, their nations, and the world.