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Abstract

Many international business studies aim to develop their students’ intercultural skills by offering modules on culture theory and a semester abroad. The Trade Management Asia programme of the Rotterdam University for Applied Sciences (Hogeschool Rotterdam) implemented a unique, comprehensive approach that goes beyond just that, combining several insights obtained from literature on effective elements for development of intercultural competence. Over the complete four-year duration of their bachelor study, students are guided through a track of regular interventions to have them reflect on their intercultural interactions and skills, using various activities, ranging from written assignments and small group discussions to one-on-one sessions with their lecturer-coach. With this approach students hone their intercultural development, through increased awareness of their individual attitudes, skills and thoughts on intercultural interactions, utilizing the cultural diversity present within the university. A study on the effects of this track, using qualitative and quantitative methods, shows that this approach is successful in enhancing the students’ intercultural competence. Not only did students score higher on Intercultural Readiness Checks in comparison to students who had not taken this comprehensive track, but students who participated in only the first two years of this track also already outperformed fourth-year students who had not participated in the track and spent a year of study and internship in Asia. In other words, the effect of this continuous and individualized approach has proven to be conducive to more development even before sending students abroad.

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Most cited references 35

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Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments.

J. Krüger, D Dunning (1999)

People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities.