Developing Cultural Intelligence through Collaborative Online Intercultural Learning (COIL): The impact of Diversity Climate and Communication Channels.

Higher Education Institutions increasingly adopt internationalization-at-home initiatives like Collaborative Online Intercultural Learning (COIL) to enhance students’ cultural intelligence. COIL enables students worldwide to collaborate virtually, addressing challenges of traditional mobility programs. Despite its potential, challenges persist, and COIL is not always effective in reaching intended outcomes. This study examines the degree to which COIL projects among students (n = 210) enrolled in university programs in the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, and Mexico, improved their cultural intelligence (CQ). Furthermore, it examines the role of diversity climate and communication channels on the development of CQ. Our results show that participants scored higher on Cognitive and Behavioral CQ after participating in the COIL project. Students who report a strong diversity climate in their COIL group (meaning there was openness and appreciation for diversity) show significantly higher improvement in CQ scores. Finally, the use of collaboration software during the COIL project (e.g. google docs) improved the development of Cognitive CQ, and using instant messaging improved the development of Behavioral CQ.