A review of collaboration through intercultural competencies in higher education

Abstract

Intercultural competencies are crucial when collaborating effectively with people in different contexts to solve shared problems. This systematic literature review analyzed the content of scientific evidence from 2016 to 2023 of the publications in the Web of Science and Scopus databases on intercultural competency development and international collaboration in higher education. First, a systematic mapping study was carried out, and then selection criteria were applied to choose the articles to be fully reviewed, leaving a remainder of 50 studies. The analysis focused on three main components: intercultural competencies, collaboration, and internationalization. The evidenced results highlight that the following predominate: (a) qualitative studies, especially case study designs in the pedagogical area; (b) the topics of intercultural competencies and collaborative learning; (c) findings related to intercultural awareness and motivation; (d) the objective of intercultural competencies to prepare the students for intercultural interactions; and (e) attitude as the leading indicator measured in the studies. This study aims to be of value to academic and scientific communities interested in internationalization, collaboration, globalization, and educational innovation.