6533b7d8fe1ef96bd126b6c3
RESEARCH PRODUCT
The internationality imperative in academia. The ascent of internationality as an academic virtue
Julian HamannLena M. Zimmersubject
050402 sociologyVirtueHigher educationbusiness.industrymedia_common.quotation_subjectDiscourse analysis05 social sciences050301 educationEducationEpistemologyInternationalizationEducational researchAscription0504 sociologySociologyComparative educationbusiness0503 educationDisciplinemedia_commondescription
ABSTRACTThe paper investigates internationality as an academic virtue that is highly relevant for research biographies. The discursive trajectory of this virtue is assessed by comparing ascriptions of internationality in 216 academic obituaries from the US, UK and Germany, from physics, sociology and history, and from the 1960s, 1980s and 2000s. Our analysis reveals that internationality as a virtue is more prevalent in German than in US obituaries, that it plays a greater role in physics than in history obituaries, and that, independent from national and disciplinary contexts, the ascription of internationality increases over time. The results are relevant for research on academic values and on the internationalization of academia. By drawing on obituaries, the analysis conveys how ‘internationality’ developed as a discursive construct, and how it turned into an imperative that academics increasingly have to comply with in order to be deemed honorable.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-05-14 | Higher Education Research & Development |