Becoming “Global” in higher education: positioning and agency in young people’s language biographies

Abstract

This article focuses on the discursive construction of a “global persona” made by undergraduates ending an internationalised degree. By means of two case studies, we analyse their positioning regarding the university’s diverse definitions of “globality” and “global personae” as they emerge in institutional webpages. We look into how students’ (mis)alignments with those definitions are shaped by academic expectations and choices, and the material conditions they enjoy. Multilingualism plays an important role in these definitions, along with features assigned to neoliberal subjectivities. Results indicate that there are many ways of “being global.” While one of the participants orientates herself towards a “global persona” as internationally mobile, the other aspires to remain locally while being able to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds. Results may prove useful in informing internationalised universities and degrees in Europe in terms of images projected to prospective students and how internationalisation is experienced by undergraduates.