Despite changes in perceptions, there was no evidence in these interviews that once students had been involved in a successful mixed group experience, they would seek further intercultural encounters. The typical view, coming from both groups, was that they may not avoid mixing but they would 'not go out of their way' to deliberately look for it. The finding that both local and international students were reluctant to seek out future opportunities to work with peers from other cultures, even after a successful cross-cultural experience, delivers a particularly strong message. This is repeated in statistics about the very small number of Australian students participating in exchange or study abroad programmes and attests to the lack of importance given to cross-cultural experiences for personal and professional development. While individuals can be blamed in part for preferring monocultural programmes, and for preferring to interact with their own people in class, the responsibility of institutions and academics to design learning environments which foster the development of students' intercultural adaptability is clear.
Global education implies preparing students for global citizenship.
Few students and still too few academics seem to have taken that challenge seriously. One of the Australian campuses where interaction and social cohesion seems strongest is Bond University where Don Smart recently undertook some interviews with staff and students. If you have any information worthy of inclusion as case studies for this project the research team would be very interested to hear from you. Higher Education Research and Development , Vol.