Barriers to Faculty Engagement in Curriculum Internationalization: A Mixed-Methods Study of Chinese-Foreign Joint Education

Internationalization of Curriculum (IoC) has been identified as a significant strategy to training graduates with awareness, skills and knowledge required to thrive as global citizens. In China, Chinese-foreign Cooperation in Running Schools (CFCRS) represents one of the most prominent and policy-supported education for advancing IoC. But even so, faculty engagement in curriculum internationalization is inadequate, which raise concerns about the sustainability and high-quality development of CFCRS. Drawing on Leask’s Blockers theory, this study adopts an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design to investigate the barriers that hinder faculty participation. A survey involving 442 faculty members from 14 CFCRS-hosting universities in Jiangsu Province, China, revealed significant difference in perceived blockers across academic fields and professional titles. Cultural and institutional blockers emerged as the dominant categories of obstacles, with disciplinary mindsets difference and perceptions of educational marketization representing the most influential factors within each category. Interviews with 20 faculty members suggested disciplinary dispositions, intercultural understanding, and interdisciplinary knowledge underpinning disciplinary mindsets difference, while revenue-driven enrolment policies and shift in educational missions supporting perceptions of educational marketization, can hinder faculty engagement. Recommendations are proposed to mitigate these barriers, offering insights for policymakers to enhance faculty participation and advance IoC.