Navigating Challenges and Mitigating Stereotypes in Digital, Interdisciplinary, and International Student Teams: "It’s Like Being Stuck in the Mud"

Since the COVID- 19 pandemic, digital and international student collaboration has become increasingly important in higher education. However, joint digital teaching formats between universities remain underresearched. This study investigates how learning about achieving team effectiveness occurs in virtual student collaboration, considering different contextual diversity factors. It analyzes a digital course jointly implemented by three universities, comparing intra- and cross- university teamwork. The analysis of qualitative data is based on Hackman’s model of team effectiveness and integrates Gaisch and Aichinger’s diversity framework tailored to higher education contexts. Results demonstrate that team effectiveness is achieved when students develop context- sensitive strategies to foster collaboration across institutional and disciplinary boundaries. In doing so, they disrupt homogeneous learning patterns and create academic and social learning processes. The study shows an inclusive, future- oriented teaching design.