Internationalising Higher Education

There are a number of barriers to staff mobility and possible solutions for the Faculty of Telecommunication and e-Business at Turku University of Applied Sciences. Staff exchanges are an essential part of achieving and supporting the internationalisation of the faculty. While a small number of staff members are active in exchange, a much larger number are not willing to take part. In autumn 2008, staff members were surveyed about the barriers to exchange and possible solutions. 77 staff members answered the survey. The results identified 115 barriers to staff exchange and 78 possible solutions to support and increase staff exchanges. The barriers were classified in seven different categories: family and friends, language skills, work responsibilities at home university, lack of information, personal insecurity, too much work needed for an exchange period and finance. Almost half of staff members who responded to the survey named family and friends as the main barrier for not taking part in exchange. Other significant barriers related to work responsibilities at home university and personal insecurity. Possible solutions were classified in the following categories: yearly working plan, language trainings, exchange implementation, share experiences, why go to exchange?, concrete support, and curriculum changes. This poster will discuss the problems and challenges relating to these identified barriers and the proposed solutions while introducing a detailed plan to increase international staff mobility in the faculty