The internationalisation of the academy: Convergence and divergence across disciplines

The internationalisation of the academy is a multidimensional phenomenon. Usually, the discourse on internationalisation focuses on three areas, namely, academics’ international physical mobility, the internationalisation of research, and the internationalisation of teaching. Often a distinction is made between border-crossing activities, such as mobility, research collaboration, and co-authorship, and “internationalisation at home”, that is activities such as teaching international students at the home institution and integrating international contents or dimensions within courses. Further, being involved in international activities may have an impact on other aspects of academic work, such as productivity. The internationalisation of the academy and its consequences vary according to individual, institutional and structural characteristics. Among factors influencing it, academics’ discipline plays a major role. Relying on data collected by two international comparative studies – the Changing Academic Profession Study (CAP) and the Academic Profession in Europe Study (EUROAC) – this presentation aims at highlighting some areas or activities in which the internationalisation of academics belonging to different disciplines converge and some in which it diverges.