Abstract

Cross-cultural cooperation among universities

Equity and inclusion in developing international campuses: a discussion of cultural responsive leadership in the university alliance SEA-EU

What happens when several universities, from different cultures, come together to develop higher education?

The mandates of the European university alliances are to enhance transdisciplinary collaboration, internationalization and mobility, and develop competence.

In practice, however, this is far easier said than done.

In this session, we share and invite discussion around:
- experiences and insights of both challenges and potential solutions for cross-cultural collaborations and
- culturally responsive leadership in developing international campuses.

Background:
• Europe has 50 European university alliances involving more than 430 higher education institutions in both capital cities and remote regions of 35 countries.
• The European University of the Seas - SEA-EU is a European university alliance that aims to strengthen cooperation in education and research across national borders in Europe. Motto: «Living sustainably, by, from and with the sea».
• SEA-EU started in 2019 with six European universities. In 2022 the alliance expanded to include three new universities.
• We have all observed the dynamic nature of cooperation within an international campus, especially regarding the variations in cultural leadership styles. Our objective is to delve deeper into this subject by conducting research to expand our understanding and identify practical strategies
• Central questions concerning the governance are:
- How could the European Universities take advantage of their cross cultural work for joint governance improvement?
- How can we navigate through the complex policy, legal framework of higher European institutions spread across several countries and find solutions for decentralised, collaborative management?
• In the session we will provide experiences and insights, both personal and research-based.
• At the session we will involve the participants in the discussion about: are the same challenges elsewhere? What happens when 50 university alliances come together to develop something new? Can we by enhancing collaboration across cultures ensure sustainability of the alliances?

Take away messages:

After attending this session, participants will have the ability to:
• Identify fundamental challenges encountered when university alliances collaborate across diverse cultures.
• Distinguish cultural variations and disparities.
• Apply the acquired knowledge to their respective university and cultural contexts.

References:
• Bosley, D. S. (2009). Cross‐cultural collaboration: Whose culture is it, anyway? Technical Communication Quarterly, 2(1), 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572259309364523
• CohenMiller, A. S., Faucher, C., Hernández-Torrano, D., & Brown Hajdukova, E. (2017). Practical steps for using interdisciplinary educational research to enhance cultural awareness. International Journal of Research and Method in Education, 40(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2017.1310834
• Jensen, K. R. (2020). Cross-Cultural Collaboration Mechanisms that Facilitate Global Innovation Success for MNCs. Transcending Cultural Frontiers, 107–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4454-5_7
• Snaebjornsson, I. M., Edvardsson, I. R., Zydziunaite, V., & Vaiman, V. (2015). Cross-Cultural Leadership: Expectations on Gendered Leaders’ Behavior. SAGE Open, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015579727
• Taras, V., Baack, D., Caprar, D., Jiménez, A., Froese, F. (2021). How cultural differences can impact global teams (news post) https://hbr.org/2021/06/research-how-cultural-differences-can-impact-global-teams [15.9.2023]
• Tsai, C. J. (2022). Cross-cultural leadership behavior adjustment and leader effectiveness: a framework and implications. International Studies of Management and Organization, 52(3–4). https://doi.org/10.1080/00208825.2022.2131232