Busitema University proudly celebrates the academic achievement of Dr. Elizabeth Birabwa, a dedicated staff member under the Directorate of Gender Mainstreaming, who has successfully earned her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Educational Management from Makerere University. Her doctoral journey culminated in groundbreaking research that reimagines how universities can expand international and multicultural learning opportunities for students who may never set foot abroad.

Her study, “Faculty Engagement with Strategies for Internationalization at Home in Makerere University,” shines a spotlight on the concept of Internationalization at Home (IaH). Unlike traditional exchange programmes, which remain out of reach for many students in developing countries, IaH embeds global perspectives directly into teaching, research, and institutional practices. It ensures that every student, regardless of mobility, acquires the competencies needed to thrive in an interconnected world.

Dr. Birabwa’s research was driven by a pressing reality. while international mobility programmes exist, they benefit only a small fraction of students. To bridge this gap, she adopted a qualitative case study approach at Makerere University, gathering insights from sixteen faculty members through in-depth interviews and supplementing them with document analysis. This methodology allowed her to capture both the lived experiences of academic staff and the institutional frameworks shaping internationalization efforts.

Her findings revealed four thematic areas that define faculty engagement with IaH strategies. First, the institutional environment plays a pivotal role, with structures such as quality assurance frameworks, human resource policies, leadership, and the International Relations Office providing the scaffolding for international collaborations. Second, faculty members themselves invest in human resource-oriented initiatives from foreign language training to professional development equipping them to weave global perspectives into their teaching. Third, student-oriented initiatives emerged as a powerful tool, with lecturers integrating international case studies, comparative perspectives, and modern teaching technologies to connect learners with global knowledge networks. Finally, research and collaboration initiatives stood out, as faculty members partnered with international scholars, contributed to globally recognized journals, and aligned their work with international standards, thereby enriching both institutional capacity and student exposure.

The study concludes that internationalization at home thrives when institutional frameworks and individual faculty efforts converge. Policies and structures provide the foundation, but it is the creativity and commitment of academic staff that bring these strategies to life in classrooms and research projects. To strengthen this synergy, Dr. Birabwa recommends a comprehensive internationalization policy, enhanced coordination through the International Relations Office, and targeted capacity-building programmes to empower staff in embedding multicultural and global competencies across their work.

Her contribution is a call to action for African universities to rethink how they deliver international learning. By demonstrating that internationalization does not depend solely on physical mobility, her work opens doors for inclusive, equitable access to global education.

For more on Dr. Birabwa's Study