Intercultural Sensitivity as Condition of Academic Mobility Success

Abstract

In the modern education, the ties between universities get stronger, the opportunities to study abroad enlarge, the number of academic mobility programs increases exposing students to different cultures. The development of students' key competencies, including intercultural competence, is one of the principal goals of higher educational institutions. The issue of intercultural competence development as the ability to create a harmonious and productive relationship with the representatives of various cultures is getting more relevant since people have become more mobile than ever before. The authors focus on the features and critical stages of intercultural sensitivity development being one of the components of intercultural competence. Some methods based on M. Bennett's Development Model of Intercultural Sensitivity are suggested to enhance this personal characteristic. The authors argue that short-term educational programs abroad increase the intercultural sensitivity level. Intercultural Sensitivity Index and Likert scale used in the research helped to assess the changes in students' intercultural sensitivity development. The set of methods both qualitative and quantitative contributed to determining the features characteristic of the academic mobility students: willingness to enhance communicative skills, readiness to acquire different behavior patterns, respect for other cultural values, points of view and outlooks, the necessity to improve language proficiency.