Multiculturalism in Higher Education

Abstract

Internationally, myriad policies and programs are designed to create a multicultural environment to encourage interactions between culturally different groups and promote international student engagement. Despite these efforts, social and cross-cultural integration remains hard to achieve, as there is a glass wall between cultural groups that prevent the progress of multiculturalism. Acknowledging that, this chapter critically reflects on the theoretical and practical development of multiculturalism with a special focus on higher education policies. Taking Australian universities as an example, it uses textual analysis to examine how the policies of prominent Australian universities address the issues of multiculturalism. It argues that while some achievements have been obtained, a more critical, inclusive mindset should be taken to further innovate the existing policies.