Will higher education help develop intercultural competence? A systematic review in WoS and Scopus / ¿Ayudará la educación superior a desarrollar la competencia intercultural? Una revisión sistemática en WoS y Scopus

Abstract

The increasing demand for culturally competent professionals and a globalized labour market are pressures pushing for the internationalization of higher education institutions. International students and the development of intercultural competence (IC) are crucial in a polarized socioeconomic context, where nationalism and populist movements are on the rise. A systematic literature review was performed on the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases to understand the scholarly production on the development of intercultural competence in higher education and the perceptions of higher education stakeholders. The results point to an increase in scholarly articles on the topic and the need to identify and clearly insert intercultural competence within the curriculum, and to identify difficulties in intercultural encounters among unprepared stakeholders and the higher market return of interculturally competent professionals. The conclusions point to the need to further integrate IC in tertiary education, bearing in mind the obstacles and returns of developing this competence.