Beyond ‘export education’: aspiring to put students at the heart of a university’s internationalisation strategy

For many universities around the world, internationalisation means the recruitment of fee-paying international students (so-called export education) for primarily commercial reasons. For UK universities, international (non-European Union) students account for approximately 13% of their annual revenues, making them highly dependent on international student recruitment. This paper discusses the attempt by one UK university to change direction and develop a new approach to internationalisation which puts an international learning experience for all students at the heart of its new strategic plan. It discusses the obstacles to changing direction in this way and shares some of the lessons learned about how to roll out an alternative university-wide internationalisation strategy.     

Critical,multicultural education for remembering and reconciliation: A discussion of an interdisciplinary social science course for international students in Finland

In the autumn of 2004, an interdisciplinary social science course entitled Remembering, Forgetting and Forgiveness: Justice and Reconciliation from the National to the International was offered to undergraduate students at the University of Tampere, Finland. The course had 49 students from 10 different countries on three continents. A large portion of the students were on international exchange through the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS) programme. The objective of the course was to explore the role of social memory and justice in the process of reconciliation on many different levels. Learning activities aimed to initiate discussions on cross‐cultural understandings of how to overcome violations and forgive or forget. Among the cases explored were child abuse, the massacres in Kosovo, the South African truth commissions and the Finnish civil war. A variety of teaching methods were utilised in the course. Cooperative learning methods were emphasised. Students engaged in group work activities and discussions and listened to a wide range of guest lecturers from diverse disciplines. The evaluation of students was based on individual learning portfolios constructed by students.

This paper focuses on how a multicultural education was constructed through the pedagogy of the course, along with discussions with students who assessed their own learning process and perspectives. The theme of the course was judged by students to be very interesting and important, but the role of creative learning methods was viewed as equally significant. Exchange students, in particular, appeared willing to take greater risks in learning during their year abroad. The development of new approaches to learning could thus be an important element of internationalising efforts by universities. Finally, sensitive issues, such as contested collective social memory and complex reconciliation efforts, are best approached through cooperative learning methods that emphasise dialogue.     

Do Costs Differ Between For-Profit and Not-for-Profit Producers of Higher Education?

In theory, not-for-profit organizations will be characterized by higher production costs per unit of output than for-profit producers of otherwise-identical goods/services, since profit maximization implies cost minimization per unit of output; breaking even does not imply cost minimization and, indeed, may imply inflated costs. We explore the empirical validity of this hypothesis in the context of higher education. Using 1996 data, we estimate multiproduct cost functions for 1,450 public, 1,316 private, not-for-profit, and 176 private, for-profit institutions of higher education in the United States. We fail to find a statistically significant difference between for-profit and not-for-profit private providers, but do find a statistically significant difference between private, not-for-profit institutions and public institutions.     

全球学生流动的特点、影响因素与趋势

本文在联合国教科文组织、经合组织和美国国际教育协会2018年发布的全球学生流动数据基础上,结合相关文献,探究了全球学生流动的特点、影响因素与趋势。研究发现：全球学生流动呈现出流入流出区域较为集中、硕博层次流动比例高、STEM领域流动性强等特点;全球学生流动受到政策、经济和教育等方面因素的影响;其趋势表现为美英两国的国际学生增速放缓,加澳两国有望成为接收国际学生的新增长极,东亚和东非的学生流动性将有所提高。建议评估影响国际学生选择的可能因素,加快和扩大教育对外开放,建设留学教育强国。     

Globalisation,transnational academic mobility and the Chinese knowledge diaspora: an Australian case study

The master discourses of economic globalisation and the knowledge economy each cite knowledge diasporas as vital ‘trans-national human capital’. Based on a case study of a major Australian university, this article examines the potential to deploy China's large and highly-skilled diaspora in the service of Chinese and Australian scientific and technological development. It finds that at a time when much of the world is deeply mired in a global financial crisis, this treasured resource of highly-skilled intellectuals assumes even greater significance. Meanwhile, there are key challenges to be confronted to fully utilise China's overseas talent. It argues that the Chinese knowledge diaspora are a modern kind of cosmopolitan literati, and could contribute actively to higher education internationalisation in both Australia and China.     

Experimenting with internationalisation in troubled times: the critical case of Turkish higher education

ABSTRACT

For the last couple of years, Turkey has been experiencing difficult times resulting from the recent domestic coup attempt, refugee crisis and terrorist attacks from neighbouring countries, and the following political conflicts around these issues with the United States and Europe. This article investigates challenges and strategies of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Turkey with recent uncertainty in the free movement of students and academics in internationalisation process. Applying a qualitative critical case study, the research was carried out in four HEIs leading in internationalisation. The findings indicated that political instabilities both at the national and international levels brought several challenges for HEIs related with their internationalisation efforts in terms of security, image, and ethnic tension. Additionally, it is found that HEIs adapted to the new realities and developed several strategies to overcome these challenges such as marketisation and networking. Implications are made regarding neo-liberal influence and segmentation around class and religion.     

英国高校国际学生学费的变化及其对高等教育的影响

在全球化时代,高等院校学生的全球流动给国际学生输入国的政治、经济以及高等教育带来了重要影响。英国作为国际学生的主要接收国之一,其优质的高等教育吸引着来自世界各地的学生。在新自由主义意识形态、国际教育服务贸易理念与高等教育财政拨款投入制度的影响下,英国逐步向国际学生收取高额学费。英国高校国际学生学费的变化呈现出新的特点,影响着国际学生的来源结构、生源数量与质量,可能导致高校课程调整与师资流失。国际学生学费的变化引发了英国社会对高等教育市场化取向与国际学生公平教育权益的讨论,并实施了将国际学生学费与院校国际教育质量挂钩、以奖助学金形式平衡国际学生学费压力等具体改革举措。     

大学生国际流动对人力发展和全球理解的贡献

在高等教育国际化的进程中 ,大学生国际流动已经从无组织或自发的行为进入到有组织的形式 ,并且也已经成为各国经济竞争的一个重要方面。本文考察了全球范围内大学生流动的趋势 ,并重点以欧盟的依拉斯玛斯计划为例 ,分析了大学生国际流动的重要作用 ,以及阻碍大学生国际流动的因素与可能的解决方案。研究表明 ,大学生国际流动有助于人力的发展和全球的相互理解 ,应当进一步推动大学生的国际流动。     

The flow of international students from a macro perspective: a network analysis

This paper provides a network analysis of the international flow of students among 210 countries and the factors determining the structure of this flow. Among these factors, bilateral hyperlink connections between countries and the number of telephone minutes (communication variables) are the most important predictors of the flow’s structure, followed by trade, the physical distance between countries, a common border between countries and a common language between two countries. The USA is by far the most central country in the flow of international students, followed by China, the UK, France, Germany, Australia and India. These results are discussed in light of World-System Theory. Future research should examine how the network of international student flows changes over time and consider additional factors to provide a better understanding of the network as an international system.     

‘The degree is not enough’: students’ perceptions of the role of higher education credentials for graduate work and employability

The UK Government is calling upon higher education students to see their learning as an investment that will give them direct benefits in the labour market. At the same time, the relationship between educational credentials and their returns in labour market has been changing in recent times. Based on a qualitative study with 53 final‐year undergraduate students in a pre‐1992 university, this article examines the way higher education students understand the role of their educational credentials in relation to their future employability. It shows that students perceive their academic qualifications as having a declining role in shaping their employment outcomes in what is perceived to be a congested and competitive graduate labour market. While academic credentials are still seen as a significant dimension of their employability, students increasingly see the need to add value to them in order to gain an advantage in the labour market.     

趋同与趋异:全球化背景下高等教育重点建设政策比较——以中国、韩国、日本三国为例

在全球化的背景下,中国、韩国、日本相继实施了高等教育重点建设政策,本文对三国的重点建设政策进行了比较,并对其中的趋同与趋异现象进行了分析。