The importance of teachers’ cultural intelligence for the internationalization process of higher education

Purpose: The main purpose of this article is to diagnose the level of cultural intelligence of academic teachers of public economic universities in Poland and identify factors related to this kind of intelligence. Design/methodology/approach: The tests carried out were quantitative. The following methods were used: analysis of the subject literature, surveys, and analysis of organizational documentation. Findings: The study showed that the level of cultural intelligence of teachers of economic universities in Poland is relatively high and slightly different between the surveyed universities. There was no correlation between the cultural intelligence level and such variables as gender and a scientific degree. On the other hand, the number of languages known at the communicative level and the number of countries in which the employee has stayed under international cooperation programs are positively correlated with the level of cultural intelligence. Research limitations/implications: The original plan was to carry out the survey at all five public universities of economics in Poland. Eventually, due to a small number of completed questionnaires, teachers from three public universities of economics were included in the study. Practical implications: This study may contribute to revealing the factors influencing the cultural intelligence level of academics and, consequently, the intercultural work environment and the wider internationalisation process of universities. Originality/value: This is pioneering research on the level of cultural intelligence of employees at Polish economic universities. Some of the findings are novel, such as the diagnosed correlation between a lecturer's academic degree and the level of cultural intelligence. The authors believe that their study may inspire researchers from other countries to conduct more in-depth research in the area of cultural intelligence of lecturers.