Global trends in internationalisation have influenced the mix of students traditionally occupying classrooms and clinical laboratories in nursing. Nursing faculties are faced with an increased mix of students that represent a diversity of cultures; this presents challenges for students and nurse academics in the resulting transcultural encounters. This paper documents the findings of a systematic literature review exploring the implications of cultural diversity in academia across a number of countries and disciplines. Many research studies have focused on university experiences of indigenous students, local students from non-English speaking backgrounds and international students, and have proposed methods and skills that could assist educators. This review has examined both research and descriptive papers to present a broad range of ideas. Discussion includes the implications for teaching and learning strategies for enhancing educational experiences of students and their educators in the academic settings.