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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how working in culturally diverse teams influences team-level cultural intelligence (CQ) development and how team-level CQ influences performance. The use of culturally diverse work teams continues to grow within organizations, however, their relationships with team-level CQ are not well understood. CQ is a set of knowledge, skills and abilities that assist in adapting to new and unfamiliar cultural environments and when interacting in culturally diverse situations. At the individual-level, CQ has been demonstrated to positively impact multicultural teams but team-level CQ has rarely been examined to understand how it is developed and whether it impacts team performance.

This research uses a quantitative methodology and a longitudinal research design to test two sets of hypotheses. Set 1 of the hypothesis tested the development of team-level CQ after working in culturally diverse teams, and Set 2 tested the influence of team-level CQ on team performance.

Data from 23 teams (86 individual participants) support the hypothesis that working in culturally diverse teams develops team-level CQ. In addition, partial support for the hypotheses that team CQ will positively influence academic performance is demonstrated.

The research contributes to the CQ literature by lifting the level of analysis from the individual to a team-level to consider team-level effects. The authors conclude that working in culturally diverse teams develops team-level CQ overtime. Once team-level CQ has been developed, the authors demonstrated a positive relationship between the motivational facet and team academic performance. Thus, when considering the influence of team-level CQ on performance, it is important to consider the relationship with each of the CQ facets. Few studies have considered how team-level CQ impacts team performance outcomes, and based on the results the authors would suggest additional research that continues to unpack the CQ construct into its constituent parts.

The results have important practical implications with respect to the development of team-level CQ. Based on the results, the authors support the use of highly culturally diverse teams in business schools for the development of skills because they provide the opportunity for team members to learn from each other. The use of CQ, CQ development and performance relationships provides important insights into how individuals, particularly students, can learn from each other when working in culturally diverse teams about other cultures and then bring this knowledge with them when working in academic teams.

As an important practical social implication, an opportunity to work in cross-cultural teams during international business studies could be considered as an “equalizer” for students who cannot afford to study abroad given the time consuming and costs aspects. So, cross-cultural teamwork could be considered in a wider extent by different business schools worldwide. Additionally, cross-cultural teamwork exposes students to intense interactions with different races and cultures during their study period and makes graduates significantly more work-ready.

This research contributes to the CQ literature by lifting the level of analysis to consider team-level effects and has important implications for the development and outcomes of team-level CQ.

This study contributes to the conversation on international career development and its antecedents. Drawing on experiential learning theory and social cognitive theory, the current comparative study investigates the extent to which students' pre-existing international experience (IE) drives their cultural intelligence (CQ) development and influences global career intention for human resource planning purposes.

This study has a comparative nature and adopts quantitative research methodology, which includes survey measures of CQ index, IE and intention to work abroad variables. Quantitative data are collected from a sample of more than 400 business students of leading Australian and Russian universities.

This study showed that IE variables are positively related to the level of CQ facets; the authors showed that Motivational CQ is the strongest predictor for the Intention to work abroad for both countries; the authors proved that students' IE is positively related to an Intention to work abroad for both countries and is partially mediated by CQ for Australia; and study showed that geographical isolation facilitates higher intention to work abroad than political isolation.

Deeper understanding of students' international career intentions and its antecedents will allow practitioners to provide better preparation for local/global careers and will allow students to make more informed and decisions. Companies would benefit from the ability to predict applicants' intention to work abroad. Stronger awareness of own preferences and available trajectories will allow students to select the best fit for them.

This study extends the conversation on international career development and its antecedents in the students' domain by strengthening measurements of IE and advancing the understanding of relationship between previous IE and individual facets of CQ. An empirical data from isolated locations – Russia (politically) and Australia (geographically) – bring a new timely contribution about a role of the isolation in shaping international career intentions.

This paper aims to contribute to international business research by critically analyzing and evaluating the use of the “international experience” (IE) construct within the specific context of developing cultural intelligence (CQ).

Based on 30 studies selected through a systematic literature review, the IE construct is critically analyzed and evaluated with respect to the terminology, definitions, conceptualizations and measurements used.

Findings indicate that the existing body of knowledge on the construct of IE is fragmented, uses inconsistent terminology, does not uniformly rely on any underlying conceptual frameworks and uses a variety of measures for investigating IE. Additionally, scholars have largely relied on quantitative measures of IE to explain the development of CQ, despite theoretical arguments specifying conditions and circumstances that must occur for learning and development to take place.

To move forward with using the IE construct, the authors emphasize the critical need for scholars to pay greater attention to and explicate how they define, conceptualize and measure it. Based on the identified issues, recommendations to improve future research are provided.

Although IE is frequently assumed to influence the development of CQ, contrary to conventional wisdom and some theoretical arguments, research evidence has demonstrated that the impact of IE on CQ is suggestive rather than conclusive. To understand why this may be the case, the use of the IE construct within previous research is critically analyzed and evaluated.

The purpose of this paper is to serve as a comprehensive review of short-term study abroad (STSA) outcomes to help guide future STSA and study abroad (SA) scholars and practitioners in the further development of the field.

This paper is the first comprehensive and systematic review of all outcomes of STSA programs within the SA body of research based on 156 papers.

The study provides the first comprehensive classification of all previously studied STSA outcomes (85) into six categories: cross-cultural outcomes, STSA pedagogy outcomes, personal and professional outcomes; language outcomes; teacher and faculty outcomes; and other outcomes. Distinct sub-categories are identified that provide insights on the current landscape of STSA and related research.

This study makes a significant contribution to the theory and practice of SA, and among the key contributions are a systematic understanding of the scale and scope of STSA outcomes; insights on the most efficient design of future STSA programs; and an expanded understanding of the role and importance of STSA programs in international education. Furthermore, a comprehensive STSA outcomes map develops an extensive research agenda.

While the COVID-19 pandemic currently limits the opportunities for STSA, given its previous popularity, the authors envisage a strong return in the coming years of this form of affordable and valuable global learning. STSA programs have become an important component of higher education and which require considerable resources from participants and educational institutions alike. Therefore, further research is needed to understand the impacts of STSA programs and to further improve program design. Such research will serve to better inform both academic understanding of the phenomenon and educational practice.

The study provides the first comprehensive classification of all studied STSA outcomes.