Intercultural Communication And Professional Practice...
Title: Intercultural Communication And Professional Practice
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Submission Deadline: 31/08/2025
Review results: 31/09/2025
Deadline for revision: 30/10/2025
Notification of final Decision: 30/11/2025
Publication date: 30/12/2025
Background: Intercultural communication is essential in today’s globalized world, where professionals increasingly interact across cultural and linguistic boundaries. As workplaces become more diverse due to migration, international collaboration, and digitalization, effective intercultural communication is a key competency in fields such as healthcare, education, business, and public services.
Research in this area has traditionally focused on intercultural competence, adaptation, and miscommunication, often emphasizing theoretical models. However, there is a growing need for applied research that explores how intercultural communication functions within professional settings, where power dynamics, institutional structures, and contextual factors shape interactions.
This special issue builds on insights from the 30th Nordic Intercultural Communication (NIC) Conference to examine emerging challenges and best practices in intercultural communication in workplace settings. By integrating perspectives from multiple disciplines, it aims to advance both theoretical and practical understandings of how intercultural communication informs professional practice in an increasingly interconnected world.
Goal: While intercultural communication is widely recognized as crucial in professional settings, much of the existing research remains either theoretical or limited to specific domains such as education and business. There is a lack of comprehensive studies exploring how intercultural communication operates as a professional competency across diverse fields, particularly in high-stakes environments like healthcare, law enforcement, and public administration. Moreover, traditional models often overlook institutional constraints, power dynamics, and the evolving impact of digital communication and artificial intelligence.
This special issue will promote interdisciplinary research that examines intercultural communication across professional contexts. Recent advances in digital communication, remote work, and global mobility have reshaped professional interactions, requiring new frameworks for understanding intercultural competence.
The goal is to integrate empirical studies with theoretical reflections and practical applications to address the compartmentalization of this field of study. This special issue will contribute to the development of more nuanced and context-sensitive approaches to intercultural communication in professional practice, fostering both academic and practical advancements in the field.
Scope and information for authors
The special issue explores intercultural communication and professional practice, focusing on how intercultural competence is applied, developed, and challenged in various professional contexts. We invite contributions that examine intercultural interactions in diverse workplaces, addressing both opportunities and constraints.
Key themes include, but are not restricted to:
- Intercultural Competence in Professional Settings – Development, assessment, and application across industries.
- Institutional and Power Dynamics – How workplace hierarchies and organizational culture shape intercultural interactions.
- Digital and AI-Driven Intercultural Communication – The impact of virtual teams, remote work, and automation.
- Crisis Management and High-Stakes Intercultural Communication – Interactions in healthcare, law enforcement, and humanitarian work. Ethical and Social Challenges – Navigating cultural misunderstandings, bias, and inclusion in professional environments.
Keywords: Intercultural Competence, Professional Communications, Workplace Diversity, Applied Intercultural Research, Globalization and Professional Practice
We welcome empirical studies, theoretical discussions, and practical case studies that advance knowledge of intercultural communication as a professional competency.
All Items
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Developing Intercultural Competence in International Education: A Qualitative Study of Training Needs in Spanish SMEs
Abstract: The international education sector requires professionals to collaborate daily with culturally diverse colleagues, clients, and partner institutions. While this diversity enriches organizational practice, it also generates recurring communication challenges that demand strong intercultural competence. In many Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), however, such competence is developed informally, without systematic training or... [...] Read more
Intercultural Competence of Social Service Professionals Working with Migrants: Voices from Poland
Abstract: Growing migration to Poland over the past decade has heightened the need for social service professionals to work effectively with culturally diverse populations. Although intercultural competence has been widely theorised in Western contexts, its application within Central and Eastern European institutional settings remains underexplored. This study seeks to examine how intercultural competence is understood and enacted by Polish social... [...] Read more
Interpersonal Intercultural Adaptation Orientations: A Qualitative Study of Engineering Professionals
Abstract: Professionals in engineering and many other fields are often expected to work on global teams, setting the stage for frequent interpersonal interactions that span cultural boundaries. To further investigate the nature of such experiences, the findings presented in this paper are based on data collected via interviews and focus groups with 23 technical professionals who had varying levels of exposure to intercultural teamwork. Using an... [...] Read more
Knowing Otherwise: Affective Actions In Intercultural Communication And Professional Practice
Abstract: Reflexivity, the critical self-examination of one’s role in the research process, has become increasingly central as researchers navigate positionality, power, and methodological bias when working across diverse sociocultural and linguistic contexts. Yet, intercultural research often overlooks the affective, relational, and embodied dimensions of collaboration that shape how knowledge is produced. This paper examines how transnational,... [...] Read more
The Development of International Students’ Career Competencies Through Language Learning
Abstract: A large number of international students consider pursuing a career in Norway after completing their studies in the country. This study investigated the significance of learning Norwegian for international business school students’ career competencies in relation to working in Norway. A qualitative approach was employed, using semi-structured individual interviews and thematic analysis. The sample comprised 15 first-year international... [...] Read more
The Importance of Being Understood: Intercultural Communication in Social Professions as a Tightrope Walking
Abstract: Global migration continues to reshape demographic and societal landscapes, requiring close attention to refugee integration and the intercultural communication it demands. This study aims to understand how social professionals navigate intercultural encounters with refugee families in the context of family education and counselling. Using a qualitative longitudinal design, we conducted repeated expert interviews with professionals from 33... [...] Read more