Authors: Jenna Mittelmeier, Sylvie Lomer, Daian Huang

Research about the internationalization of higher education has expanded rapidly in recent decades with few attempts to map available evidence. This scoping review provides a synthesis of articles about how internationalization practices specifically impact students’ outcomes and experiences. We identified 967 articles in 21 thematic categories, spread across 493 journals and 27 disciplines. Of these, only 233 (22.8%) were categorized as ‘designed to highlight impacts on students’. We characterize research as scattered and primarily descriptive, with limited efforts to build on previous research. However, we have synthesized five key principles that underpin practice with the most demonstrable impact on students: (1) embedding internationalization holistically across the institution; (2) centering inclusion and connection; (3) developing active and creative learning approaches; (4) providing opportunities for reflection and personal connection; and (5) explicitly scaffolding intercultural skills. We call for researchers to design more research that builds on this maturing subfield, centering evidence to inform critical practice.

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