Purpose

A growing body of scholarly research focuses on internal communication (IC), which, over the past decade, has become an important specialisation within the field of communication. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to IC education, resulting in a lack of academic knowledge about the state of IC education. This paper focuses on investigating IC education in communication studies curricula at Dutch universities of applied sciences.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a combination of content analysis of IC modules in Bachelor of Communication programmes (n = 19) and qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with IC educators (n = 8), this article sheds lights on the contours of IC education and its relationship with practice.

Findings

Education has become an integral part of the IC profession in the Netherlands. The analysis shows that while the modules address some important topics found in the literature on IC, there are some gaps. In regard to knowledge topics, the modules reflect broader trends in IC by addressing important topics like change management, internal branding and digitalisation. However, there is a gap in the competencies in the modules and what is considered important in the literature.

Practical implications

The findings can help educators improve the quality of their curriculum. For IC practitioners, professional associations in particular, this paper provides insight into the state of education of future IC professionals

Originality/value

Studies that look at the education of communication professionals have focused mainly on the field of public relations. This paper reports on the first empirical study to investigate the state of IC education in the context of higher education.

中文翻译：

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荷兰应用科学大学的内部交流教育

目的

越来越多的学术研究集中在内部沟通（IC）上，在过去的十年中，内部沟通已成为沟通领域的重要专业。但是，对IC教育的学术关注很少，导致缺乏关于IC教育状态的学术知识。本文重点研究荷兰应用科学大学的交流研究课程中的IC教育。

设计/方法/方法

结合传播学学士课程中IC模块的内容分析（n  = 19）和对IC教育者的半结构化访谈的定性分析（n  = 8），本文阐明了IC教育的轮廓及其与IC教育的关系。实践。

发现

教育已成为荷兰IC行业不可或缺的一部分。分析表明，尽管这些模块解决了一些有关IC文献的重要主题，但仍存在一些差距。关于知识主题，这些模块通过解决诸如变更管理，内部品牌和数字化等重要主题来反映IC的广泛趋势。但是，模块的能力和文献中认为重要的能力存在差距。

实际影响

这些发现可以帮助教育工作者提高课程质量。对于IC从业者，尤其是专业协会，本文提供了对未来IC专业人员的教育状况的见解。

创意/价值

研究传播专业人士教育的研究主要集中在公共关系领域。本文报告了第一项实证研究，以研究高等教育背景下的集成电路教育状况。