Internationalising Equality, Equalising Internationalisation

About the Research The study was designed to investigate existing or potential areas of overlap between the internationalisation and the equality and diversity agendas in higher education in the UK. It was commissioned by Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) and undertaken by the consultants thinkingpeople.

About the Research The aims of the research were to: Investigate areas of actual and potential synergy between the equality and internationalisation in the UK higher education form an understanding of the barriers inhibiting the integration of the two Identify gaps in provision and research and outline recommendations for future work and opportunities for sharing and developing good practice.

Internationalisation in Higher Education Key findings: Intercultural learning are at the heart of the internationalisation at home agenda. Intercultural learning is dependent on inclusive approaches to the delivery and development of formal and informal curricula, pedagogy and student support functions.

Equality and Diversity Key findings: There is now an expectation that E&D will contribute to the positive learning and living experience of all students and staff and go beyond just institutional compliance. This environment can be achieved in the first instance through inclusive approaches to informal and formal curricula, learning, teaching and support.

Opportunities for synergy Key findings: Joint areas of responsibility were identified in synergies in learning and teaching practice and formal and informal curriculum development Other areas of synergy were identified in terms of promoting respect for others and global citizenship.

Student experience Key findings: Integrating diverse groups of students through events, mentoring schemes and training are all areas where internationalisation and equality draw strength from one another The area of learning, teaching and curriculum development offers potential overlap between E&D and internationalisation under the banner of ‘inclusivity’.

Student Experience i-graduate’s (www.i-graduate.org) International Student Barometer and Broadening Our Horizons (2004; UKCOSA, now UKCISA) indicates that international students are often less than satisfied with their accommodation and catering provision on campus, usually in connection with religious and cultural observances.

Xenophobia Xenophobia can be understood as "an attitudinal orientation of hostility against non-natives in a given population“ Xenophobia can be defined as the "attitudes, prejudices and behaviour that reject, exclude and often vilify persons, based on the perception that they are outsiders or foreigners to the community, society or national identity.“ Nationality is a protected characteristic under Equalities law.

York Survey - 2014 1 in 4 respondents from outside the EU say they have felt discriminated against because of their race More than 1 in 6 from inside the EU say they have felt discriminated against because of their race 50 per cent of the affected people who said they had felt discriminated against admitted to seeing others facing discriminatory treatment on-campus incidents tend to revolve around students stereotyping other students based on their nationality, skin colour and command of English language as well as other indicators

Discrimination on nationality - Examples Employers are not allowed to prohibit anyone from applying for positions based on their nationality. This includes those they may not be able to sponsor for a visa. A complaint was made about a student being told by other students they should not run in an election because they could not represent English students. People targeted on a train and being told to “go home”

What to do about xenophobic behaviour? Important that people understand what xenophobia is and why it is not acceptable. Institutions and students unions need to uphold the equalities law – and emphasize that nationality, regardless of race, is it’s own category. Is xenophobia covered in your disciplinary procedures? It can be difficult to challenge behaviour when the media often perpetuates xenophobia.

Hate Crime From the NUS Hate Crime Briefing: It was evident from our data that international or overseas respondents were more likely than home students to experience race hate incidents. Twenty-two per cent of international or overseas students stated they had experienced at least one racially motivated incident, compared with eight per cent of EU students and six per cent UK-domiciled (home) students. The highest reporting group of international students were Chinese; of those Chinese respondents who had experienced a race-related incident, 61 per cent were international students. The second highest were Asian or Asian British students of whom 33 per cent of those who had experienced a race- related incident were international students. Interestingly, more than half (57 per cent) of ‘white other’ respondents who reported being a victim of a hate incident were either EU or international students, suggesting that perception of nationality is also a motivating, or intersecting, factor in the occurrence of hate incidents.

Hate Crime Do International Students know what a hate crime is? Do they know that they can report hate crime?

Further work: what needs to be done?   Institutional commitment An investigation into examples of effective structures linking E&D and internationalisation policies, structures and activities within a sample of institutions. Also identifying detailed case studies of diverse institutions, comparing staff and student awareness and understanding, external communications. International staff Investigating initiatives for dealing with xenophobia hate crimes and other complaints and grievances reported by international staff and students. Monitoring and understanding staff progression, retention and staff experiences according to nationality/domicile. Student and Internationalisation Investigating the impact of community cohesion and global citizenship agendas in schools (see www.teachernet.gov.uk); demonstrating the benefits of international experience on students admitted through the widening participation programme (www.hefce.ac.uk/widen); and exploring patterns of perception and interaction between students with shared ethnicity but diverse upbringing (e.g. UK-based students and international population students).

Discussion Are there examples of good practice of aligning the equality and internationalisation agendas on your campus and how can these be used to ensure institutional commitment? Are the strategies for dealing with xenophobia, hate crime and discrimination adequate on your campus in the context of growing internationalisation? Are there examples of how your institution and students’ union have used global citizenship or inclusivity to link internalisation? How can these be replicated nationally?