ACQUIRING COMPETENCIES FOR GLOBALISED SOCIETIES: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDENTS IN A MULTICULTURAL CLASSROOM

Nowadays Higher Education is facing new challenges arising from the constraints of the Bologna Process. The goal is to achieve an inclusive and constructive educational model, adapted to the needs and demands of an increasingly globalized society. In this new model, students should not only be trained at an academic level but also acquire skills, attitudes and values that would allow them to adapt to today's rapidly changing environment. Their ability to incorporate these skills in their profile will determine their future careers. This paper focuses on the evolution of several courses offered by the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Alicante, framed within the International Business Programme. The enrolment of Spanish students in this programme would enable them to acquire knowledge from intercultural interaction. The results demonstrate, on the one hand, the large increase in the number of nationalities represented in this program, and on the other, the low rate of Spanish students in total enrollment. Throughout this paper authors will analyze the reasons that explain the apparent lack of interest of Spanish students to attend such courses which will undoubtedly complement their extracurricular training.