Despite the significant increase in the number and type of international
activities – from branch campuses to MOOCs and aggressive international
student recruitment – many institutional efforts appear to be launched
without a clear idea of best practices or how specific activities might
be productive and meaningful for a particular institution.
Empirical knowledge of how and why institutions expand these activities,
and whether they are successful, remains largely anecdotal.
Why do universities embark on new projects and activities that engage
the institution outside of its national boundaries? What motivates
individuals and their institutions to include transnational relations
among their core strategic interests and concerns when considering the
future path for success? Why are more foreign students and faculty
recruited and why are curricula and research agendas more international
and global in scope?
The motivation of institutions, and their leaders, appears to be
multiple and complex. As part of our larger effort to generate a
taxonomy of different kinds of international engagement by universities,
and reflecting a recent
research paper
published as part of a larger project based at the University of
California, Berkeley, we offer here an exploration of possible
institutional logics and rationales used to justify what are sometimes
significant financial and institutional commitments.
1. Pedagogical and curricular logics
International activities that involve student learning and experience in
collaboration with foreign partners commonly have curricular or
pedagogical rationales.
This is clearly true with dual, double or joint degree programmes, for
example. They can also apply to efforts in individual courses or
seminars to integrate peers in other countries through various learning
technologies or through punctual meetings or events.
Mobility and exchange programmes, as well as group study abroad, are
perhaps the most common expressions of pedagogical and curricular logics
that include international experience as a key element of learning.
Some colleges and universities have set goals for increasing the number
of students participating in mobility programmes, to recognise the
pedagogical value of international experience in their curriculum. Cost,
however, is a limiting factor as it is often more expensive to go
abroad than to remain at home for study.
For advanced postgraduate students, the pedagogical issue is different
and more individualised. Faculty member collaboration must be central to
placements or projects of postgraduate students at a partner
institution abroad. Issues of mentorship and research activity become
crucial to integrating foreign experiences into the academic programme.
2. Research, data access and expertise logics
As research and discovery of new knowledge is a primary function of the
university, there can be no boundaries or limits to where the scholar or
scientist may find the natural, physical, human, social or cultural
phenomenon that they study.
Certain disciplines, fields and areas of study depend on the collection
of data, specimens and samples that require direct access to natural and
social-cultural sources to successfully pursue their research or
inquiry.
Epidemiology, anthropology, foreign language and culture, astronomy,
biosciences and environmental sciences are examples of disciplines
requiring access to sources and data beyond national boundaries. It is
increasingly difficult to identify any area of study that does not in
some way require international if not global relationships and
connections.
Establishment of relations between individual scholars and scientists in
other countries has been a reality both informally and formally for
generations. As institutions adopt more proactive and formal policies
and initiatives to establish connections abroad, the logic of research
needs, data access and research collaboration are often rationales for
these initiatives.
It is a compelling logic because it supports a fundamental mission of
the university and is often led by faculty members and departments.
3. Network development logics
In many respects, the telecommunications and internet revolution
resulted from a logic of the power of networks. The notion that networks
of many kinds – social, professional, institutional and electronic –
can overcome geographic, cultural, time zone and national boundaries
underpins much of what constitutes the phenomenon of globalisation.
It is not surprising that institutions draw upon a network logic as a rationale for more international initiatives.
Institutional efforts to establish relations with universities abroad
are often based on the logic of constructing a global network of
partners that will somehow increase the probability that faculty,
students and alumni will have access to individuals and institutions in
nations and regions that they may not otherwise obtain.
European universities have perhaps the most developed and sophisticated
network structures and processes as a result of their geographic
proximity and push for greater regional integration. Institutions in
other nations and regions are increasingly active in network building
because it has become such a fundamental element of organisational and
professional life everywhere.
This makes the network logic very flexible and adaptable to many
contexts, objectives and strategies. If there is no other logic or
rationale for engagement across national borders, the assumed necessity
of networking is often sufficient.
4. Competitive logics
Universities and other higher education institutions compete with one
another in many ways. Competition for students, faculty, funding and the
Holy Grail of prestige pervades institutional actions of all sorts.
International initiatives necessarily include competitive logics as
well.
Competitive logics underpin international activities that seek to gain
access to new sources of students and faculty or offer alternative
revenue sources. Universities always seek to have partnerships or
agreements with foreign institutions that they believe have at least the
same level of prestige or recognition as them. If a partnership can be
developed with an institution of higher prestige, that is even better.
Marketing and branding logics are motivated by competition. Perhaps more
prevalent in the United States because the culture is permeated by
philosophies and beliefs rooted in the supposed superiority of free
market capitalism, universities have increasingly sophisticated
communications, marketing and public relations units that work to put
every university initiative or action in the most positive light
possible.
The signing of an exchange agreement or collaboration with a foreign
institution is always an opportunity to call a press conference and
highlight the university’s international focus and global connection.
Little matter whether or not the agreement in question involves core
activities and significant resources or simply the possibility of
student or faculty exchange.
In an increasingly globalised world, it is important to build an image
or brand that somehow demonstrates relevance of teaching and learning
and connections to international and global realities.
5. Market access and regional integration logics
Recently, the dean of Yale School of Management announced a new
international strategy to create a network of partner business schools
in countries with rapid economic growth and new business investments.
These relationships, it is hoped, will provide opportunities for
students and faculty to engage with their international counterparts to
create professional networks that provide learning and research
experiences as well as potential business opportunities in the future.
The global economy is increasingly linked to emergent economies such as
Brazil, Russia, India and China. It is not surprising that numerous
universities in Europe and North America appear to have targeted these
countries as high priority locations for the development of
relationships, activities and programmes.
The logic seems to be that these countries will increasingly be
influential in world affairs, and thus establishing relations with local
institutions and professional peers will create long-term benefits for
attracting students and faculty as well as pursuing research agendas and
fundraising opportunities.
In Europe, the Bologna reforms and other initiatives that encourage
greater integration of education and research systems stimulated the
creation of numerous partnerships, alliances, consortia and networks of
universities between and among European institutions.
Bologna’s creation of common degree structures and common academic
credit and records systems go a long way towards the creation of a
region-wide education space that can contribute to the construction of
the regional economy as well as political and social networks that cross
national boundaries.
Recent efforts to develop common quality, accreditation, qualification
and professional licensing standards are also linked to a desire for
further integration of national systems and the creation of greater
mobility in labour markets.
The logic of regional and transnational integration coming out of
Bologna appears to underpin many of the international projects and
initiatives of European universities across a broad range of countries.
One can also observe regional and market access logics in other areas of
the world.
The ASEAN University Network, or AUN, functions as a vehicle for
inter-university collaboration and regional higher education
integration. In addition to regular meetings of rectors of member
universities, AUN has activities related to credit transfer regimes,
quality assurance processes and academic programmes in South East Asian
Studies.
It also serves as coordinating body for mobility agreements and
scholarships with countries and regions outside South East Asia – for
example, the Erasmus Mundus programme of the European Union and a
Chinese government scholarship programme.
East Asia has significant student mobility in the region driven, by
geographic and cultural proximity. Increasingly, large numbers of
students from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are attending universities
in China and
vice versa.
Australian universities are among the most active in recruiting
international students from Asia and in establishing partnerships and
satellite operations in the region. A regional and market access logic
appears to underpin many Australian initiatives in the Asian Pacific
region.
6. Institution building, technology transfer, development
A significant number of international projects at universities are
related to efforts aimed at helping less economically developed nations
create or improve programmes and practices and enable institutions to
contribute to economic and social development in their countries.
Government agencies responsible for foreign assistance and some
philanthropic foundations contract with universities to undertake
‘capacity building’, joint research and training activities in places
like Africa, Latin America and South and South East Asia.
Agriculture, health and education sectors are often the focus of such
projects. Institutions can make use of these institution-building and
technology-transfer projects as vehicles for building partnerships and
opportunities for teaching and research activity abroad.
The issue of who benefits more from these endeavours remains an open
question because host country institutions have historically suffered
from ‘brain drain’ and a lack of sufficient resources to sustain
activities over time.
7. Revenue and resource-driven logics
As the demand for higher education, advanced research capacity and elite
university status increases globally, the relative scarcity of student
places, talented researchers and scholars and prestigious institutions
increases the monetary and financial value of whatever services that
leading universities are able to offer or provide.
At least this is the perspective of economists and business people. It
is also a view held by many governments and national policy-makers.
Increasingly, it appears that universities are adopting logics for
international-global projects that are pecuniary in nature. Obtaining
new sources of revenue has become a major motivation for seeking
international relationships and the recruitment of students and faculty
from abroad.
The rapidly growing market of international students during the past
decade combined with decreasing government funding for higher education
in numerous countries has led to aggressive policies of international
recruitment by institutions in Australia, the UK and New Zealand.
Continued growth in demand for places in universities and colleges from
abroad is leading more and more institutions to launch efforts to
increase the number of foreign students who typically pay higher fees
than their local counterparts.
Canada, China, Japan, France, Spain, The Netherlands and South Africa
have succeeded in attracting rapidly increasing numbers of foreign
students, often with strong support from government agencies. Fee-paying
degree students are not the only opportunity for sources of revenue
from abroad.
Institutions in the US and Europe recognised for their research
achievements and capacity have increasingly negotiated agreements with
national governments in South East Asia and the Middle East to fund
major scientific research projects and to assist in the creation of
local research capacity by helping in the development of new
research-oriented universities or advanced research centres.
Some prestigious institutions have agreed to create degree programmes
based in a host country in return for what appear to be significant
investments or donations to university endowments.
It should not be assumed that the generation of revenue is the sole
motivation for these endeavours. Even those projects that have large
financial inducements are also justified as being useful vehicles for
international exchanges of students and faculty, contributing to
curricular or pedagogical improvement or the creation of research
opportunities.
Financial incentives are, nonetheless, common rationales for a growing
number of colleges and universities, many with diminishing or
constrained funding.
8. Social responsibility logics
Some international activity at institutions of higher education is
motivated by students and faculty who want to assist individuals and
communities in poor countries by volunteering time, labour and
knowledge.
These activities may or may not be part of the formal curriculum and are
often funded by outside organisations such as NGOs, foundations and
individual donors.
Students volunteer time, labour and expertise to individuals and
communities by providing services such as improving water quality or
constructing or maintaining schools, hospitals and housing units.
Some universities in the US have faculty and students engaged with
‘social entrepreneurship’ activities. The idea is to use some basic
business and organisational techniques and an entrepreneurial or new
business philosophy to assist NGOs and community-based social or health
service organisations to become more effective and efficient and able to
generate revenue to support their activities.
The Talloires Network is an example of an international network of
universities with a shared interest in ‘civic or community engagement’.
It sponsors conferences, a newsletter and information sharing on
different programme models that provide opportunities for students to
become involved in communities locally, nationally and internationally.
9. National security logics
In the US, some universities receive research funds and postgraduate
student fellowships from the government to support the study of
languages and societies that are viewed as important to national
security. Most often these are ‘not commonly taught’ languages and the
countries are located in regions where there is the potential for
conflict.
Some government funding for research with international partners in
areas such as computer science and engineering are also justified on
national security grounds. Although some institutions and individuals
may not support the idea of a university assisting the government on
issues related to national security, these funds have sometimes been
used to support the broader international engagement of the institution.
National security logics do not appear to be very common outside the US,
although one might argue that there is some correlation between the
size of national security budgets and the likelihood that some state
funding of international initiatives is linked to security logics.
In countries such as China, Israel, India, Brazil, the UK, France,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, with sizeable
defence budgets, one might suspect that national security logics are
part of the rationale for investing in research and projects focused on
global and international issues and relations.
Conclusion
As international engagement has become more central to the life and
success of the university, we must expand our knowledge on the range and
variety of these engagements, and how and why institutions make the
choices they do, and determine the patterns of success and failure.
While universities have long been active internationally, many recent
initiatives are relatively untried and extremely entrepreneurial. This
calls for more and better empirical research at the level of individual
institutions.
We hope to contribute to this research agenda through our project
Research Universities Going Global
based at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at Berkeley and the
International Centre for Higher Education Research based at the
Universität Kassel.
*
Richard J Edelstein is a research associate and John Aubrey
Douglass a senior research fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher
Education, University of California, Berkeley.
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