Martina Gaisch

Das in dieser Ausgabe vorgestellte Instrument mit dem Akronym HEAD CD Frame steht fur „Higher Education Awareness for Diversity Curriculum Design“ und stutzt sich auf zwei Komponenten: Das HEAD Wheel als konzeptionelle Basis fur eine Vielfalt an moglichen Perspektiven auf Diversitat in Hochschulen und den es umgebenden Rahmen (Frame), der die curricularen Handlungsfelder fur die Gestaltung inklusiver Studiengange in einem dynamisch-komplexen hochschulischen Gefuge aufzeigt. Als eine Antwort auf die bis dato fehlende wissenschaftliche Fundierung (Amundsen/ Wilson, 2012, S 91) soll dieser Rahmen als heuristisches Instrument zur Gestaltung eines nachhaltigen und inklusiven Student Lifecycle-Managements dienen.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual frame for scholars who draws on the conflicting logics of the postpandemic university. Design/methodology/approach This feature paper is based on a systematic review of research and studies conducted in the field of higher education. It illustrates broader trends with respect to how the various elements of contemporary and conflicting challenges present themselves within higher education institutions (HEIs). Findings A combination of literature review and fieldwork across a broad range of scientific fields presents a potentially powerful means of reducing the gap between research and practice. For this reason, this paper sets out to provide conceptual perspectives as to contemporary and conflicting challenges in higher education. Research limitations/implications This paper presents many descriptive results from HEIs in the western world which do not allow for making global inferences toward the entire higher education sec...

Giving and receiving feedback is an essential part of a learning cycle for any learning organization in general, and its students in particular. As human communication is highly influenced by culture, the purpose of this study is to find out how and to which extent the socio-cultural socialization of the stakeholders at hand affects their patterns in feedback giving. Data was collected from written feedback given in the form of informal performance evaluation that student groups from Universities of Applied Sciences of Laurea, Finland and Upper Austria gave to each other after pre-scheduled online presentations that were delivered to each other within traditional learning settings (Communication classes in Finland and General English classes in Austria). The open-ended feedback questionnaires were collected after two different online sessions in May and December 2013. The feedback was then assembled in a list of themes categorized by the activity or factor to be evaluated (work process, in-class performance, content of the presentations and technology used to transmit them). In a second step a set of codes was developed. After repeatedly reading through the interview transcripts, three analytical frames emerged that were further assessed and analyzed through the mutually exclusive categories (see Berger 2011, pp 209 - 216) of positivity, neutrality or negativity of the feedback. The content analysis suggests a number of relevant differences in the feedback given by the Finnish and Austrian students. These results support the ethnographic observations made by the lecturers and are also in line with findings in previous literature (Berry and al. 2010; Chhokar, Broadbeck and House, 2007; Salo-Lee 1998; House 2006). It appeared that the Finnish students were somehow reluctant towards providing personal feedback to their counterparts, being most careful to remain on a surface content level whereas the Austrians seemed to be more at ease and better able to give personal feedback while at the same time not shying away from offering largely low-context and even negative feedback, if applicable

Giving and receiving feedback is an essential part of a learning cycle for any learning organization in general, and its students in particular. As human communication is highly influenced by culture, the purpose of this study is to find out how and to which extent the socio-cultural socialization of the stakeholders at hand affects their patterns in feedback giving. Data was collected from written feedback given in the form of informal performance evaluation that student groups from Universities of Applied Sciences of Laurea, Finland and Upper Austria gave to each other after pre-scheduled online presentations that were delivered to each other within traditional learning settings (Communication classes in Finland and General English classes in Austria). The open-ended feedback questionnaires were collected after two different online sessions in May and December 2013. The feedback was then assembled in a list of themes categorized by the activity or factor to be evaluated (work proc...

Recent years have seen a substantial increase in the number of higher education collaborations, most specifically in terms of cross-border projects (Weil et al, 2010). In framing the importance of effective international teams operating in the tertiary sector, academic apprenticeship should take "the interna-tional influences on university teaching and learning and the possibility to reflect on the teaching and learning contents and processes by contrasting (different) experiences" (Weil et al, 2010, p 219) into account. For these purposes, the present paper outlines the cultural dynamics involved in a EU project managed by a German core team in cooperation with Austrian and Finnish partner universities. A closer look was taken at the different perceptions and assumptions held by the stakeholders of each participat-ing university with regard to the outcome of their common endeavor -a summer school about "Design as an Inquiry". Of particular relevance to the prese...

The higher education landscape has been significantly affected by the process of transformation from industrial societies to knowledge societies where social realities are being shaped by knowledge-based processes and reflective enlightenment (Pasternack, 2005). As a consequence, emphasis of higher education has been gradually shifted, highlighting transmission and acquisition of key competencies and multi-functional skills as major elements of an academic education. What is more, higher education is no longer framed by local environments alone, but is becoming increasingly interconnected which means that knowledge of foreign languages, intercultural competence and multi-functional skills will soon become integral parts of university education. This paper sets out to provide insight into a student project carried out between Laurea University (Fin-land) and University of Upper Austria to provide an open innovation community for sharing challenges, ideas and visions within the contex...

Based on statistical information and policy texts, this chapter provides an overview and evaluation of the use and roles of English in traditional research universities and universities of applied sciences in Austria. While internationalization is interpreted and realized in different ways by different institutions, English functions as a central element. A factor supporting the widely unquestioned use of English might be found in the socio-economically strong position that German still enjoys in business, work-life, and higher education in Europe. This predominance is also noticeable in the utilitarian relevance awarded to both German and English in Austrian higher education, thereby failing to recognize the multi-layered relevance multilingualism could have in implementing internationalization policies that would go beyond Englishization practices.

This study aimed to understand the perceptions of young computing science students about women and older people with regard to their computer literacy and how this may affect the design of computer-based systems. Based on photos, participants were asked how likely they thought the person depicted would be to use desktop computers, laptops and smartphones, and how much expertise they thought they would have with each technology. Furthermore, in order to see what impact this could have on systems being developed, we asked what design aspects would be important for the depicted person and whether they thought an adapted technology would be required. This study is based on an existing questionnaire, which was translated into German and extended to explore what impact this may have on system design. The results draw on 200 questionnaires from students in the first year of their Information and Communications Technology (ICT) studies at an Austrian university of applied sciences. Quantita...

Neben xMOOCs und cMOOCs wird an dieser Stelle ein weiteres Format von MOOCS, die sogenannten enhanced MOOCs (kurz eMOOCs) vorgestellt. Unter Berücksichtigung interkultureller Unterschiede sowie der Erweiterung des Lernraums in Richtung trialogisches Lernen soll die MOOC-Landschaft erweitert werden. Im Zentrum der eMOOCs stehen Lernende mit ihren individuellen Bedürfnissen, dem jeweiligen soziokulturellen Hintergrund und differenzierten Sichtweisen auf den Lerninhalt. (DIPF/Orig.)

Die vorliegende Dissertation an der Schnittstelle von Hochschulforschung, Sozio- Linguistik und Kulturwissenschaften versucht Handlungen mit Aufforderungscharakter, sogenannte Affordanzen, im Internationalen Klassenzimmer zu identifizieren, die von Lehrenden, die Informatikfächer an einer österreichischen Fachhochschule unterrichten, wahrgenommen werden. In Anlehnung an die partizipative Aktionsforschung werden die Akteure aktiv in das Projekt eingebunden, um situative kognitive und affektive Handlungsaufforderungen reflektiert verorten zu können, mit dem Ziel das gewonnene Wissen in den internationalen Lehrbetrieb zurückzuführen. Eingebettet in einen psycho-ökologischen Rahmen und im konstruktivistischen Ansatz der Grounded Theory verankert, bezieht die gegenständliche Forschungsarbeit wesentliche Zugänge einer Nexus Analyse ein. Durch systematische Auswertung von qualitativen Daten wurde versucht, mittels komparativer Analyse und komplexer Analyseverfahren ein realitätsnahes, in der Empirie verankertes Modell zu generieren, das für die sozialen Akteure von Relevanz ist. Mittels einer Längsschnittanalyse wurde in einem Zeitraum von mehr als drei Jahren ein Grounded Theory-Modell konzipiert, welches zeigt, dass Lehrende Affordanzen im Internationalen Klassenraum mittels multipler Wirklichkeiten in vier unterschiedlichen Zyklen kontext-sensibel wahrnehmen können. Die gemeinsame Konstruktion der Daten in Interaktion mit allen sozialen Akteuren weist darauf hin, dass die von der Forscherin reflektierte und dokumentierte Rückmeldung von Transformationspfaden als Affordanzen kapitalisiert wird, während sich individuelle Persönlichkeitsfaktoren, sozialisierte und internalisierte Muster der Gesellschaftskultur und Professionskultur als hemmende Faktoren für die Wahrnehmung von Affordanzen erweisen können. Die positivistische Konzeption von institutionellem “wertvollen” Wissen wirkt sich nachteilig auf die subjektiven Wirklichkeitsdeutungen sozialer Akteure aus, was die Wahrnehmung für soziale Handlungen mit Aufforderungscharakter negativ beeinflusst. In diesem Zusammenhang wurde festgestellt, dass die Entwicklung von Reflexionsfähigkeit wesentlich zur Wahrnehmung von Handlungsmöglichkeiten für die Unterrichtsführung im internationalen Klassenzimmer beiträgt.This study focuses on disciplinary teachers’ perceptions of International Classroom Affordances (ICA) during English-medium education in a multilingual university setting (EMEMUS) in Austria. The main aim is to generate a conceptual model grounded in the data that points to the perceptual mechanisms of disciplinary teachers involved in this particular case study. Another aim is in line with the research identity of the author who seeks to exercise activist agency by facilitating a shift in perspective by those engaged in English-medium teaching. This research falls under the constructivist-interpretive paradigm within the boundaries of an ecological context and draws on the works of the perceptual psychologist Gibson (1986; 1977) and the sociologist Giddens (1984) who take organismen-environment reciprocity as a central element of their theoretical foundations. Constructivist Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2014, 2008, 2006), enriched by crucial elements of Nexus Analysis (Scollon & Scollon, 2013, 2004, 2002) has provided the methodological underpinning for this research. The systematic application of research methods anchored in the qualitative tradition and their subsequent analysis has resulted in the ICA model as the final outcome of this Constructivist Grounded Theory. By raising the agents’ descriptive accounts to the analytical level required for grounded theory research, it was sought to identify various contextual layers that allow for the generation of inductive and middle-range theory (Charmaz, 2008). Findings leading to the ICA model suggest that teachers perceive ICA on four analytical levels (at the framing, reacting, appropriating and embracing stage). They were found to appropriate their classroom practices in line with the emergent action possibilities they were able to perceive. The sequential affordance-based perception process largely depended on their subjective grounds for action and reflection, but was also stimulated by the researcher in form of itineraries of transformation. Personal agency coupled with hardened internalised societal patterns and the positivist conception of institutional rules were identified as the biggest defordances in EMEMUS

ABSTRACT Abstract: While there are many ways at looking at MOOCs at a global scale, this paper seeks to identify a number of factors according to which MOOCs are considered to be successfully implemented in Europe. The principles behind the US-American MOOC higher education landscape appear to be mainly of financial and reputational relevance which are neither pedagogically nor cross-culturally driven. By analogy, European universities try hard to follow the same path. For the purposes of this paper, a brief examination of existing MOOCs is undertaken before presenting intercultural factors and learning theory mechanisms that might call for a diversified and thus different approach than the one adopted by the US digital agenda. A European lens taking into account culture-sensitive and learning theoretical factors might therefore call for an additional classification of MOOCs, one that we call enhanced MOOCs, in short, eMOOCs.

Abstract Classroom Management Strategies: Does the perception of affordances act as a gate-opener for internationalist teachers? This contribution points to major changes triggered by the upcoming Conceptual Age where contextual thinking and creative teaching have become increasingly foregrounded. Such a conceptual shift entails numerous challenges, many of which have to be faced by academic staff. This is all the more relevant for internationalist teachers who -in view of the ever-changing student demographics -need to move beyond their entrenched practices and embrace a more holistic approach towards classroom management. It was found that academics that teach in International Classrooms adapt their teaching practices in accordance with their individually perceived grounds for action and reflection. Track 5 Visions, missions and values, institutional strategies

The authors of this paper conducted a cross-cultural study on lingua-cultural affordances perceived and acted upon by internationalist teachers. While the Brazilian context was investigated at the secondary level with a clear institutional commitment to intercultural sensitivity, the Austrian setting was explored at the tertiary level where English-medium instruction serves as a vehicle for meaning-making. Given that lingua-cultural affordances do not present themselves automatically, but need to be perceived and acted upon, the added-value of such a perceptual process had to be clearly outlined to the investigated teachers who were confronted with cultural theories to facilitate intercultural learning and heightened awareness for their classroom settings. It was found that Brazilian teachers started to appropriate lingua-cultural affordances by drawing on the culturally diverse student population as a resource while the Austrian teachers demonstrated a good degree of deficit-orient...

Dieser Beitrag nimmt globale Nachhaltigkeitsprogramme ins Visier, die Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung fördern. Im Besonderen wird das bis 2019 laufende Weltaktionsprogramm GAP mit seinen fünf Handlungsfeldern unter die Lupe genommen und mit österreichischen Maßnahmen zur Nachhaltigkeit abgeglichen. Dabei wird auch ein kritischer Blick auf potentielles Entwicklungspotential hinsichtlich der Verankerung von nachhaltiger Bildung gelenkt. Im Weiteren wird argumentiert, dass die Informatik eine Schlüsselrolle für eine nachhaltige Zukunft einnimmt und der Wissensgesellschaft als wesentlicher Treiber technologischer Entwicklungen und der Digitalisierung Vorschub leistet. Diese wirkt sich wiederum nachhaltig auf die Rolle der Hochschulen aus, die neben Forschung und Lehre nun auch zunehmend die „dritte Mission“, also den aktiven Wissensund Technologietransfer im Dienste der Gesellschaft adressiert.

Today, higher education institutions are confronted with ever-changing challenges brought about by dramatic changes in demographics, the ongoing massification of higher education and globalization trends that force them to also critically assess their strategies for attracting future students. One strategic approach that has long been regarded as a winning formula was the change of the domestic language of instruction into English which, as a consequence, serves as a basis for the recruitment of internationally mobile students. This contribution attempts to identify the junction between critical elements such as internationalization efforts, intercultural competencies and diversity-related factors that seem all relevant for higher education institutions (HEI) but are frequently treated as synonymous without clear terminological and conceptual boundaries. What is more, activities in these fields are often undertaken in a sketchy and stand-alone fashion without a cohesive frame or ove...

Dieser Beitrag diskutiert das Konzept Diversity und organisationale Verstandnisansatze von Diversity Management und zeigt dabei grundlegende Prinzipien und historische Entwicklungen entlang der Faktoren Antidiskriminierung, Business Case und Inklusion auf. Ein auf Hochschulen und deren Zielgruppen zugeschnittenes Diversity Wheel, das alle Paradigmen miteinschliest und Vielfaltsmanagement auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen abbildet, soll einen mehrdimensionalen Blick auf demografische, kognitive, fachliche, funktionale und institutionelle Diversitat erlauben.

Eine Grundvoraussetzung, um die Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung bewältigen zu können liegt darin, mehr Menschen für eine Ausbildung im IKT-Sektor zu gewinnen. Der Anteil an weiblichen Studierenden in den MINT-Fächern ist mit rund 30 Prozent in Österreich zu niedrig. An der IKM-Fakultät in Hagenberg liegt der Frauenanteil über alle Studiengänge gerechnet seit 15 Jahren relativ unverändert bei rund 24 Prozent. Nimmt man internationale Vergleichswerte, wie z.B. aus arabischen (Algerien, VAE) oder asiatischen Ländern (Malaysia), die durchwegs einen Anteil von über 40 Prozent Studentinnen aufweisen, ist erkennbar, dass in der Erhöhung des Frauenanteils an den Studierenden im MINT-Bereich ein Schlüssel zur Abmilderung des Fachkräftemangels in diesem Bereich liegt. Dass der Grund für die aktuelle Situation ein gesellschaftspolitischer sei, mag partiell stimmen, die durchführte Untersuchung soll aber auch andere mögliche Hemmnisse identifizieren und dadurch konkrete Maßnahmen ermöglic...

The objective of the paper is to diagnose organisational culture of selected universities and analyse its impact on the innovation processes within them. The subject matter of the study was organisational culture and innovation at universities. The subjects were four selected universities in Poland, Austria, Germany, and Ukraine. The paper provided a definition of organisational culture and its typology. It further discussed the organisational culture of universities and the relationships between organisational culture and innovativeness. The literature review provided foundations for building a model for the formation of a type of organisational culture at universities that is innovation-friendly, which is the added value of the paper. It offers actions worth taking to shape innovation-friendly culture at universities. It is particularly important during difficult time of changing labour market, when universities greatly impact the attitudes of young people. The knowledge of how to...

The aim of this study is to analyse and compare online learning preferences of higher education students taking a degree in logistics both in Austria and the Czech Republic. It is sought to grasp aspects that support the acceptance of online learning material and to identify how learning styles and societal and disciplinary cultures influence the perception of e-learning resources. In this context, the acceptance of gamification elements is investigated in more detail to shed light on the preferences of the respective learning culture. This investigation is embedded in a larger EU project that seeks to foster cross-border cooperation between two technical oriented higher education institutions and the local industry. Due to increasing international cooperation and emerging markets, a profound understanding of multinational aspects as well as the differences in geographical perspectives have become major drivers for international business. Within this project it is intended to produc...

This article sets out to compare the organizational culture of the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (henceforth, UAS UA) with the Austrian societal culture. Leadership practices of the UAS UA are elaborated in the knowledge that they are partly based on personal values of leaders/managers and partly on the perceived organizational set of values. Since it is assumed that societal and personal values translate in managerial practices, the authors seek to investigate how the organizational values of the UAS UA and the societal values of a country that belongs to the Germanic Europe cluster ( House et al., 2004 ) comply with each other. In a previous study, leadership styles and practices were investigated among 24 heads of study programs and members of top management of the UAS UA. It came to the fore that the respondents were attaching the utmost importance to values in the light of leadership. Among others, values discovered were trust in fellow employees and team solidar...

Being able to interact effectively and efficiently in the networked professional environments appears to be a crucial skill for junior job seekers. Graduates possessing these skills can markedly increase their possibilities of being hired. A sample analysis on recruitment advertisements revealed that interaction skills are of paramount importance in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. In view of the scarcity of terminological definitions, the authors of this article sought to make a cross-cultural comparison on the scope and definition of interactional skills required in the sector at hand. The data were gathered by means of open-ended questionnaires and interviews in which first year ICT students from Austria and Finland defined their understanding of work-life interaction skills. The wide variety of responses was clustered by subsuming particulars into general categories (see Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014 , pp. 279–286). In parallel, recruitment staff ...

ABSTRACT In the last 20 years Higher Education Institutions (henceforth HEIs) experienced major challenges in developing operational and organisational structures and decision making processes. Against this backdrop, modern HEIs have to manage manifold issues of leadership development. Middle-level ‘manager-academics’ defined as “academics who take on management roles in higher education institutions, whether temporarily or permanently” (Deem & Brehony, 2005, p. 232) play a vital role within HEIs and their management structures. Given that they are situated at the “centre of universities management procedures” (Floyd & Dimmock, 2011, p. 388), they operate as the main intermediates “between the strategic apex and the organisation’s operating core” (De Boer, Goudegeburre, & Meek, 2010, p. 231). Further, manager-academics are essential for top management, since they support and implement strategic objectives and decisions on the one hand (Jones, 2011), and represent and defend the interests of their department/institute/faculty within the HEI on the other hand (Bryman, 2007a; Smith, 2005). Accordingly, their position involves an inherent power to cause a stand still. As Jones (2011, p. 281) stated “there is no way in which the university’s expectations will be realized if HODs [head of departments] as ‘middle managers’ are unable or unwilling to put them into action.” Furthermore, De Boer et al. (2010) point to the ability of middle managers to make use of their powerful ‘sandwich’ position for promoting their own interests and agendas. The concept of ‘manager-academics’ seems to be vital for the higher education leadership and management discourse, even more so as “academics continue to lead academics” (Smith & Adams, 2008, p. 348). Manager-academics are expected to feature both, academic excellence and management capacities (De Boer et al., 2010). In fact, even though manager-academics provide leadership and management to faculty, fulfil representational duties (Smith, 2002) and play an increasingly important strategic role (Floyd & Dimmock, 2011), their academic reputation is still a crucial ingredient for the legitimacy as a leader (De Boer et al., 2010; Hancock, 2007). Despite their vital role, literature on middle-level manager-academics is relatively scarce, with only a few studies (e.g. Floyd & Wooldridge, 1997; Currie & Procter, 2005) pointing to their relevance in higher education leadership and management. Existing research is heavily “western-biased” (Nguyen, 2013, p. 1) with the majority of studies coming from Australia, UK and the United States. This is all the more remarkable in view of the assumption that context and tradition are pivotal for structural and executing elements and facets of leadership and management (De Boer et al. 2010). In line with other studies conducted in other national contexts (e.g. Nguyen, 2010; Castro & Tomas, 2011; Meek, Geodegebuure, Santiago, & Carvalho, 2010), this contribution discusses the outcome of an investigation on middle-level manager-academics of two Austrian HEIs, namely, a university of applied sciences (henceforth UAS) a historically young type of HEI in Austria and one more traditional, classical university. The study focused on heads of study programme (henceforth HOSP) at the UAS and heads of department (henceforth HOD) at the classical university, both comparably positioned in the hierarchy structure of their institution. The overall objective was to derive crucial competencies and skills essential for the areas of responsibility that HODs/HOSPs have to assume in their particular institutional environment.

KURZFASSUNG/ABSTRACT: Die Autorinnen diskutieren Developmental Networks (DN) von FH-Studierenden und leiten daraus ein konzeptionelles Modell ab, welches Unterschiede zwischen I-Shaped und T-Shaped Professionals berück-sichtigt (Barile, Franco, Nota, & Saviano, 2012). Als Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass das FH-Berufspraktikum aus theoretisch-konzeptioneller Sicht zwei Developmental Networks Formierungen erlaubt, wobei die Ausrich-tung des Berufspraktikums eine wesentliche Rolle spielt. Sowohl I-Shaped als auch T-Shaped Developmental Networks sind typische Developmental Networks, welche sich über organisationale (und teilweise gesellschaftliche) Grenzen hinweg bilden. Beide Typen haben eine integrierende Funktion, indem beste-hende Netzwerkelemente aus der Ausbildungsphase (z.B. Betreuer/in Bachelorarbeit) in ein Berufsnetzwerk integriert werden. Damit verfügen Studierende nach dem Studienabschluss auf jeden Fall über ein quantitativ größeres und diversifizierteres Netzwerk als andere Hoch...

The ICT industry has brought about tremendous changes in all sectors of life. The rate at which both hardware and software have been adopted has led to a constant need of qualified personnel. According to some recent studies managerial positions are not considered as one of the top career goals for young ICT professionals. In Finland, becoming a manager or leader was ranked only the sixth important career goal for young ICT professionals (Universum 2010). Here the question arises to which extent national cultures differ in their approach to managerial aspirations by applying the example of Finland and Austria. In this exploratory study a qualitative approach is used to assess differences in managerial aspirations of UAS Master`s ICT students. Using the framework for categorizing cultural differences from the Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (GLOBE) study, potential Finnish and Austrian managers are examined by individual cultural dimensions. Taking the GLOBE dimens...

Internships provide practice-oriented experience to students (Fayolle and Gailly, 2008) and are intended to enhance graduate employability as they comprise three aspects: 'hard facts' (knowing what to do), 'soft facts' (knowing how to react in a specific situation) and 'know-whom' (knowing which network can be helpful in this process). The author of this paper contributes to both the graduate employability literature and intercultural higher education research by analysing acquired competencies related to the search, production and realisation of creative ideas developed by students born after 1980 who, by definition, are representatives of the so-called " Generation Y ". Within this age group, eight ICT Bachelor students are compared with regard to competencies acquired during their work placements in the Anglophone world, on the one hand, and at the domestic Austrian industry, on the other hand. Based on the premise that the ability to create mean...

Open innovation community • Academic platform to share challenges, ideas and visions • Match-making tool for academics for intercultural collaboration Massidea Org -Smashing Ideas Laurea UAS Helsinki – UAS Upper Austria: joint lecture "Organisational Communication" Collaborative tasks • Give online presentations with Adobe Connect Pro and peer-comment each other's performances • Practice both academic and professional writing (e.g. press release), elaborate on cultural differences • Prepare a joint output (e.g. wiki, website, video) and discuss cross-cultural challenges; evaluate cooperation and group dynamics during team-building Hands-on example of intercultural cooperation • Use the match-making tool of Massidea Org • Provide details of your project/course/ timeframe • Post your requirements on the platform

Language plays a crucial role in gaining proficiency in the host country, in successful integration of foreigners in general, and of international students in particular. However, the spread of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in tertiary education limits the need for third language acquisition (TLA) and, as a result, endangers the enhancement of cross-cultural competence. Research on third and additional language acquisition, on language awareness (Jessner 2009), on cross-linguistic similarities (Ringbom 2007), on multilingual education (Cenoz et al 2001) and on language attitudes in Europe reflects the idea that both language capital acquisition and intercultural sensibilities are enhanced through continuous contact to the local society, its cultural and linguistic patterns. This article, however, explores if foreign Master students taking a degree in Austria acquire German as a third language in an International Classroom without any instructional settings. Most publications deal...

The intention of the European Project for Sustainable Information and Communication Technology in Academic Education (EPSIAE, http://www.epsiae.com/) is to raise awareness among students and faculty from various EU countries about the necessity for a more sustainable information and communi-cation technology (ICT) and to confront them with different kinds of aspects to resolve problems of en-ergy and material waste encountered in the ICT industry. The EPSIAE project runs as part of an Inten-sive Programme funded by the EU and was set up by six academic institutions (Hogeschool INHOLLAND,) with the aim to bring together students and teaching staff from these six institutions for a two weeks' intensive programme each year during the period the ESPIAE project runs (2011-2013). The study sets out to examine the intercultural dynamics within this Intensive Programme shedding a critical light on each setting and investigating the potential increase of global awareness when being emerg...

Aufgrund rechtlicher, ethischer und ökonomischer Gegebenheiten hat sich Diversität an Hochschulen zum regelrechten Hype entwickelt. Ein kontextsensibler Rückgriff auf unterschiedliche Paradigmen scheint nicht nur aufgrund zahlreicher Transformationsprozesse (Digitalisierung, breite Teilhabe an hochschulischer Bildung, demografischer Wandel, Globalisierung) ein wichtiger Faktor eines systemischen Diversity-Management-Ansatzes zu sein; er erlaubt es zudem, dem dynamischen Wissenschaftssystem, das mit immer heterogener werdenden Studierenden und Mitarbeitenden konfrontiert sind, zielgruppenspezifische Antworten auf ihre Bedarfe zu liefern. Durch eine strategische Verknüpfung von Diversitätszielen mit der institutionellen Profilbildung und Positionierung lässt sich zum einen ein höheres Kommittent der Hochschulleitung zu Vielfaltsthematiken erzielen. Zum anderen hat ein pluralistischer Ansatz, der trotz allem einen eklektischen Maßnahmenkatalog je nach Studiengang, Fakultät und Zielgrup...

Das Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, bestehende aus dem Unternehmenskontext entspringende Diversitätsparadigmen zu beleuchten und auf den Hochschulsektor und dessen anders gelagerten kontextuellen Rahmenbedingungen umzulegen. Dabei dient das Konzept des HEAD (Higher Education Awareness for Diversity) Wheels (Gaisch/Aichinger 2016) als Bezugsrahmen für einen holistischen Blick auf für die Hochschule relevante Vielfaltsaspekte. Das HEAD Wheel umfasst fünf Diversitätssegmente (demografische, kognitive, fachliche, funktionale und institutionelle Diversität) und stellt die Basis für eine ganzheitlich-systemische Verankerung von Diversity Management als Querschnittsmaterie in den Aufbauund Ablauforganisationen von Hochschulen dar. Somit lenkt das Wheel den Blick weg von einer eindimensionalen Betrachtung spezifischer Strukturdimensionen hin zu einer ganzheitlichen und intersektionalen Sicht auf Vielfalt im tertiären Bereich. Das HEAD Wheel soll zu einem konstruktivistischen und system-theoret...