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Intercultural competence (IC) has shown to be a critical asset for university graduates to appropriately and effectively perform in work- related settings that have become increasingly more diverse and intercultural. Therefore, it is fundamental to understand what constitutes effective IC development in higher education (HE). Within IC development, a more holistic understanding of IC assessment is needed. Thus, it is essential to comprehend how IC assessments work effectively, and their role in IC development. By reviewing empirical studies on IC development between 2000 and 2022, the particularities of IC assessments concerning administration, methods, and assessed competencies have been examined. Based on 31 papers, this literature review reveals the inconsistency of IC assessments in HE and proposes a holistic approach to IC assessments to bring more clarity to research and practice.

Due to the growing globalisation of business and Higher Education (HE), intercultural competence (IC) plays a crucial role in internationalisation strategies of universities. Many joint and double-degree programs have been established during the last years; at the same time, universities focus on “Internationalisation at home”. Yet, little is known about how IC is developed in double-degree programs and how this development can be made visible. Consequently, institutions of HE lack important knowledge about which measures really foster intercultural competence. It is often assumed, for example, that a stay abroad automatically leads to a higher intercultural competence. However, the contact itself is not enough: literature suggests that it should be supported and organised. Our action research project follows a dialectic action research spiral and focuses on two main questions: 1) How does the intercultural competence of students enrolled in double-degree programs develop over time? 2) How should double degree programs be designed for IC development? We focus on the development of intercultural competence of German undergraduate students who take part in the double-degree program CALA (German-Latin American Business Administration). The authors apply Deardorff´s Process Model of intercultural competence development as a theoretical framework. Based on semi-structured interviews and group discussions with students, the authors derive first findings concerning the structure of that double-degree program and IC development. We will present learning outcomes