Changing Rationales for Internationalisation of Higher

Education in a new Global Area

Dr. Hans de Wit, Director The Hague Forum for Judicial Expertise

International Higher Education Consultant

Editor Journal of Studies in International EducationSAGE / ASIE

Trieste, September 15, 2006

Content

Meanings of Internationalisation of Higher Education Rationales Current and Comparative Trends in Internationalisation:

The Global context The ESMU Benchmarking Experience on

Internationalisation Individual and Group Exercise

Internationalisation of Higher Education

MeaningsDiversity of Related Terms to Internationalisation of Higher Education

• These terms are either used as:• ‘pars pro toto’• synonym

Most frequently used synonym:• International education

• Other terms used:1. Curriculum related:International studies, global studies, multicultural education, intercultural education, peace education, etc.

2. Mobility related:Study abroad, education abroad, academic mobility, etc.

New: cross border delivery of education related

- borderless education - education across borders or cross-border

educationGlobal educationOffshore educationInternational trade of educational services

Definitionat the institutional level

Internationalisation of Higher Education is The Process of Integrating an

International/Cultural Dimension into the Teaching, Research and Service

Function of the Institution

Rationales Rationales can be described as

Motivations for Integrating anInternational / Intercultural dimension into

Higher Education

Rationales address the “Why”of Internationalisation

We identify four Categories of Rationales

Political Economic Social / Cultural Academic Rationales

Political Rationales• Foreign Policy• National Security• Technical Assistance• Peace and Mutual Understanding• National Identity• Regional Identity

Economic Rationales

• Economic Growth and Competitiveness• The labour Markets• National Educational Demand• Financial Incentives for Institutions and

Governments: trade

Social / Cultural Rationales

• Cultural Rationales

• Social Rationales

Academic Rationales

• Providing an International / Intercultural Dimension to Research and Teaching

• Extension of the Academic Horizon• Institution-Building• Profile / Status• Enhancement of Quality• International Academic Standards

Global Context: Impact of Globalisation on Higher Education

Higher Education is both

Actor, and

Re-actor

to Globalisation

Internationalisation of higher education is one of the ways a country/institution responds to the impact of globalisation

Internationalisation of higher education is also an agent of globalisation

Globalisation and its link to Higher Education (1)

Increasing Unmet Demand for Higher Education

• Demographic Trends• Degree and Diploma Programmes• Lifelong Learning

Globalisation and its link to Higher Education (2)

Growth in Numbers and Types of new Providers

• Corporate Universities• For-profit private institutions• Media Companies• Education Brokers

Globalisation and its link to Higher Education (3)

Innovative Delivery Methods• Distance and e-learning• Franchises• Satellite Campuses• Twinning / Joint Degree programmes

GATS reflects the growing emphasis on trade and

competition as increasingly driving rationales for the

internationalisation of higher education

We see

• “A shift in paradigms of internationalisation from cooperation to competition” (Van der Wende, 2001)

But

Although this trend seems to be quite commonly spread among different regions in the world, many - in particular developing - countries play a dependent role in this development, resulting in brain drain and weakening of their own knowledge potential

And

It does not imply that:

All institutions of higher education play the same active competitive role, and that

It happens always at the cost of the more common approach to international cooperation and exchange

Other emerging rationales

• Status and profile»ranking

• Standards

• Strategic alliances

• National Security (9/11)

Implications for Internationalisation

• Internationalisation can be seen as to consist of two components:

Internationalisation at Home: activities that help students develop international understanding and intercultural skills

Internationalisation Abroad: all forms of education crossing borders, mobility of students, teachers, scholars, programmes, courses, curriculum, projects

(Knight, 2006)

The Internationalisation Abroad is dealt with by GATS, the Internationalisation at home not

Implications for Internationalisation(2)

• These developments imply a stronger involvement at all levels and by all different stakeholders than before

• It implies also a trend towards mainstreaming of internationalisation at the institutional level and in the national and international admosphere.

Implications for Internationalisation(3)

1. The more important Internationalisation of Higher Education becomes, the more important it is to address the Quality Assessment and Assurance of The International Dimension of Higher Education

2. The more important it becomes to include the International Dimension as a Key Component in the general Academic and Institutional Quality Review Systems Operational at the Institutional or System level

ESMU Benchmarking on University Management

• A self – improvement tool for universities focused on successful governance, leadership and strategic development.

• ESMU has been successfully operating a European Benchmarking Programme on university management since 1999. The programme was originally managed by ESMU in co-operation with ACU.

• The Benchmarking Programme offers an opportunity for

participating universities to compare their key management processes with those of other universities. This helps identify areas for change and assists in setting targets for improvement.

www.esmu.be

Internationalisation Benchmarking

• ESMU had internationalisation in 2006 as one of its key themes

• Five universities took part in this exercise• The IQR guidelines of IMHE/OECD were used as

the basis for an updated questionnaire• The Benchmarking did include a self assessment,

but not a peer review and external visit. The external review was done by an external assessor

The five universities represented:

• Different countries and regions: two Southern European, three Northern European, of which two Scandinavian and one English speaking

• Different sizes and collections of disciplines

• Different approaches and strategies to internationalisation

• Four out of the five are comprehensive universities, one is more specialized • Two are old universities with a long history, two are around 100 years old, and one

is only 15 years old.

These factors have their impact on the internationalisation strategy of each university.

A profile of the five universities with respect to internationalisation

• A strong focus on Europe in all of them, with two universities having also a strong global perspective and the others a second regional focus.

• An emphasis on student mobility in all five, three primarily on an exchange basis , one primarily on a recruitment basis and one in a mix.

• Research cooperation, faculty mobility, and development of joint and double degrees are other elements of the international strategy.

• A divide between cooperative and competitive approach to internationalisation, with the Southern European universities more cooperative and the Northern European moving into the direction of a more competitive approach.

Profile 2

• Three of the universities see themselves nationally and internationally as prominent universities and want to be key global players; the two other universities have a slightly more modest focus and see themselves as national players with an international dimension.

• The Bologna Process and the Lisbon Strategy are important factors in the strategic development of the five universities and they are actively implementing the Bologna objectives.

Profile 3

• Mainstreaming of internationalisation is related to this: internationalisation is a transversal activity, involving all administrative services and academic units, as one university puts it.

• All five universities present a mix of central and decentral strategies and policies, trying to create a balance between an institutional strategy and acknowledgement of department and discipline specific approaches and activities.

• The support mechanisms are well developed in each of the five universities.

Future Challenges• The Bologna Process

• The Lisbon Strategy

• The increasingly more competitive higher education environment, and

• The survival of a small language in an international environment (for four of the five universities, for 2 not relevant) are seen as a challenge.

Future Challenges (2)The way to deal with these challenges:

• Development of strategic alliances

• Development of a corporate image

• Providing better quality of education and research

• Development of a diversified funding base and

• Improvement of facilities and human resources are mentioned by all five as

Financial obstacles are seen as the most important ones to realise these challenges.

Exercise I: Individual• Identify what are the main rationales for

internationalisation at the national level and at your institution at present

• Identify if your institution is more working within the cooperative or the competitive approach to internationalisation or a combination of the two

• Identify if you see a trend to a shift in strategy and why

Exercise II: Group

• Discuss similarities and differences in national and institutional rationales within the group

• Discuss similarities and differences in approaches to internationalisation

• Discuss similarities and differences in trends

• Identify main conclusions on these three issues