Barriers to internationalisation of library science education identified by faculties in China

Abstract

In today's globalized world, international communications and collaborations have increased, so it is imperative to nurture individuals equipped with a global mindset and cross-cultural communication skill. However, poorly understood about difficulties and challenges associated with implementing internationalisation plan in library science education (LSE). The study aims to identify and categorize the barriers to internationalisation of LSE (ILSE) in China, recognise connections among them, and establish a comprehensive framework that can serve as a reference for designing internationally applicable tools. The study conducted a semi-structured interview with 18 faculties from library science programs in China and applied grounded theory to analyse interview records, integrating the data to develop a conceptual model. The study identified 30 barriers to ILSE in five themes: internationalisation environment; internationalisation participation willingness; internationalisation participation ability; international intelligibility; internationalisation sustainability. The barriers to ILSE are complex and can be distributed in four dimensions: environmental factors, social and structural factors, institutional factors, and individual factors. These four dimensions of factors interact and intersect with each other, resulting in decreased motivation and willingness to participate in internationalisation. Moreover, institutions of LSE are crucial for overcoming these obstacles.