Incorporating domestic students returning from international educational experiences into internationalization at home: Challenges and opportunities

While domestic student—international student interactions have received attention in the literature as a means of advancing internationalization at home (IaH), the potential contributions of domestic students who return from international educational experiences (IEEs) have been noted but remain largely unexplored. This article seeks to initiate a conversation on this topic by identifying mechanisms through which such knowledge transfer might happen, barriers it might face, and possible approaches to facilitate greater knowledge transfer. The article’s analysis draws upon three antecedent bodies of literature to reflect upon findings from 20 original interviews with domestic returnee alumni of a comprehensive university in Ontario, Canada. The bodies of literature concern (1) foreign international students and IaH, (2) the experiences of domestic returnees, and (3) repatriate knowledge transfer (RKT) in business settings. The article finds that domestic returnees and their knowledge can make useful contributions to institutional efforts to promote IaH. It also identifies challenges, obstacles, and opportunities associated with domestic returnees as knowledge sources and nonmobile domestic students as knowledge recipients. Key findings include that returnees are less likely to share if they fear being the stereotypical student who only wants to talk about their IEE, but they tend to enjoy sharing in balanced conversations where their interlocutor has similar knowledge to share in return. The article applies its findings by proposing examples of intentional institutional efforts to incorporate returnees into IaH, including modifications to pre-departure and re-entry workshops and approaches to selecting and designing IaH events focused on domestic returnees’ experiences.