SGHE Summit – Plenary The Global Campus – Higher Education goes International
IAU - International Association of Universities
New: Internationalizations Strategies Advisory Service (ISAS)
Key Concepts
- Diversity – national (regional) and institutional, contexts, resources, goals/rationales
- Shared Definition of internationalizations prevails – a multidimentional and comprehensive process to introduce international and intercultural dimensions into learning, research, services and deliver of higher education
- Multiplicity of implementation approaches
Principles
- proactive effort
- cooperation and partnerships among equals
- ethical behaviour, mutual respect and shared benefits
- priority to academic rationales and to models that safeguard or improve quality and accessibility
- promotion of geographically balanced and contextually relevant approaches by identifying and minimizing risks
3rd IAU Global Survey
Methodology
- an international task force
- online questionnaire in 5 languages
- continuity of questions from 2003 and 2005
n=745 – majority of responses from Europe 44%
Why Internationalize?
- improve student preparedness for international studies
- internationalize curriculum
- enhance international profile
- Africa and Middle East reason strengthen research and knowledge capacity
- Europe reason increase profile
Increase in importance in 3 years of internationalization up by 80%
Only 67% of institutions had a policy for internationalization, 72% have a budget attached, but monitoring frameworks (QA) down to 48%
Bologna Process – Europe striving to be the most attractive higher education location for international students but Africa, Latin America and the Middle East see themselves as the most important source of international students
Barriers – External Obstacles
- difficulties of recognition for credits and courses
- language barrier
- Visa restrictions also limit options
- #1 obstacle – funding and cost to the student
Conclusions
- primary focus is on student’s preparedness
- congruence between rationales and expected benefits but regional differences
- student mobility opportunities are important but the impact is different
- international research collaboration is important
- growth of importance of internationalization as a policy area with budgets being allocated
- linkage between prestige and internationalization but has related risks by limiting collaboration
- disaggregation of data and regional analysis shows divergence on many aspects
- Middle East and Africa are challenging areas because they are only focusing on their own region
- Europe is the most popular region
- funding is the most important obstacle
- problems of credit and course recognition persist
- Key Challenges
- finding funds = main barrier to increased HEI internationalization (can the private sector step up as employers)
- overcoming visa restrictions and process bureaucracy for student and faculty
- pursing efforts to ease recognition of credits and credentials
- respecting different interest of partners
