The present study aims to present the origin, phases, characteristics, adjustments, and future perspectives of an inter-institutional program of international academic mobility and complementary training for engineering undergraduate degree, the 3I Engineer Program. This is a qualitative study that, due to the technical procedure adopted, is characterized as a documentary. The data collected was submitted to the content analysis technique. The 3i Program, designed by the Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR) and the University of Technology of Compiègne (UTC), refers to the training of an engineer oriented to industry (productive sector), innovation, and interculturality. The proposal for international student mobility reflects the efforts of the two institutions to advance the teaching of engineering. It is concluded that the three i of the programs appear as an important reference for thinking about the becoming of the engineer profession in a borderless world.
TopIntroduction
“The world of education is facing challenges in the increasing requirement for student preparedness in economic, environmental, and social changes, for jobs, demand that is still unknown, for technologies that are still undiscovered, and to solve social problems that are still unrevealed” (Ghani et al., 2022, page. 1). “Universities are central players and important economic actors in many regions and understanding the potential role that universities can play could help address global challenges” (Castro & Barbosa, 2021, page. 1). In this context, universities seek to internationalize for the expansion of research capacity, knowledge and intercultural understanding, without losing regional and local ties, cultural and historical diversity and the political formation of the subject (Cechin et al., 2021; Vázquez, 2021).
Higher education is neither neutral nor alien to the international context of globalization. There is widespread demand, both economic and social, for the facilitation of the process of international mobility in the Graduated. From the point of view of the world of work, companies are increasingly globalized, they are inserted in chains of inputs, technologies and international goods and services. It is not uncommon in some industrial sectors, such as automotive, for example, for engineering and development teams to interact, almost daily, with others that are in other countries and even other countries. In moments of expansion or modernization of production lines, internationalization and interculturality are also experienced in an intense way. They are production technologies acquired in different countries that, at a given moment, demand the intercultural competence of people so that the transfer process happens satisfactorily.
Santos (2008) defends alternatives of research, training, extension, and organization as a specific contribution of the university as a public good, at the service of the collective definition and solution of social, national and global problems. Santos (2008) points out as a counter-hegemonic solution the implementation of a national project that values and considers education as a public good used in the students’ training for the construction of a sustainable and fair society. The university that provides this training cannot be homogeneous or standardized, and higher education internationalization is an important possibility.
For Marginson and Rhoades (2002), higher education internationalization represents the globalization of this level of education that occurs with the development of integrated educational systems and university relations beyond the nation. The practice of university internationalization occurs when: there is international mobility of professors, students and leaders; there is a network of joint works and publications in partnership; double-diplomacy agreements are signed; there are established interinstitutional programs and when human resource training programs occur (Lima & Maranhão, 2009). In this context, the challenge of the internationalization practice of a HEI is “[...] promote the development of intercultural communication skills, learn about the cultures of other countries, improve skills to work in multicultural environments, and become international people, prepared for the challenges of the future.” (Stallivieri, 2017, page 18). “It is no denying that international student flow is an efficient way of attracting future needed talents, and countries aiming to attract talents from other countries can benefit from offering education for international students” (Castro & Barbosa, 2021, page 2).
The universities internationalization strategies are still a very recent topic, with systematicity dating from the last decade of the last century and the first of this. Among the most mentioned studies of the universities internationalization, those of Altbach and Teichler (2001), Ayoubi and Massoud (2007), Bartell (2003), Horta (2009), Mok (2007), Stromquis (2007) stand out. In common, the studies present the strategies adopted.