Ulrich Teichler

The Changing Debate on Internationalisation of Higher Education.

Abstract“Internationalisation”, the growing border-crossing activities between national systems of higher education is losing ground to “globalisation”, increasing border-crossing activities of blurred national systems which is often employed to depict world-wide trends and growing global competition. This article addresses recent issues of knowledge transfer. It points out tensions between increasing diversity in higher education and efforts to facilitate recognition of prior studies on student mobility. It shows the diversity of steering and management policies with respect to internationalisation and globalisation. Finally, it asks whether globalisation of higher education has to be viewed as a manifestation of “turbo-capitalism” or could be viewed instead as a move towards “global understanding”.

Research on Internationalisation in Higher Education

This contribution provides an overview of the developments of research undertaken since the mid-1990s on international higher education. The general state of research is characterised by an increase of theoretically and methodologically ambitious studies without a dominant disciplinary, conceptual, or methodological “home.” The main topics of research on internationalisation in higher education reach from mobility, mutual influence of higher education systems, and internationalisation of the substance of teaching and learning to institutional strategies, knowledge transfer, cooperation and competition, and national and supranational policies. The modes of inquiry are varied but have not changed much over time. A brief localisation of the role of the Journal of Studies in International Education in the context of research about internationalisation in higher education is followed by conclusions emphasising a certain amount of continuity but also a broadening of the field with an increasing number of ambitious studies. The contribution closes with a few proposals for future research.

Internationalization and Exchanges in a Globalized University

Internationalization in higher education is an inevitable result of the globalized and knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. Other trends affecting the universities, including diversification, expansion, privatization, and so on, also have implications for the international role of academic institutions. The intersection of the logic of globalization and other pressures facing universities make a reconsideration of international programs and strategies necessary. Exchanges, university linkages, patterns of mobility, and international and regional arrangements among universities are all changing.

Comparative higher education: potentials and limits

Research on higher education is an object-focussed area based on a broad range of disciplines. The institutional base is often shaky and diverse. Various characteristics, notably the blurred distinction between the scholar and the reflective practitioner, contribute to considerable tensions, though research on higher education enjoys substantial public attention.Interest in comparative research on higher education grew in recent years and was reinforced by the community of higher education researchers in Europe. As it can be conceptually and methodologically demanding and fruitful, the growing interest could serve as a stimulus for enhancing a common identity and a growing quality. However, few comparative research designs represent the ideal type of setting a research agenda of clearly defined hypotheses to be tested, and if they do so, the study mostly turns out to be too simplistic due to disregard of the complex context. Rather, most comparative projects are exploratory and most productive in providing unexpected insight.In addition, comparative research faces many problems of a practical nature. Costly research seems to be granted sufficient funds only if it addresses issues of current political concern. Language barriers and limits of field knowledge often lead to a poor provision of information. International collaborative research teams tend to be vulnerable due to, among others, a heterogeneity of schools of thoughts, spiralling costs and different work styles.The author argues that comparative studies on higher education are most fruitful in destroying conceptual reasoning based on narrow experience; they are a gold mine for the early stages of conceptual restructuring. They are indispensible for understanding a reality shaped by common international trends, reforms based on comparative observation, growing trans-national activities and partial supra-national integration in higher education. Comparative projects can be regarded as theoretically and methodologically most promising if they are based on a semi-structured research design, whereby the strengths of various conceptual approaches in explaining the phenomena are analysed and the researchers systematically deal with the fact that the project is likely to generate surprising information requiring to restructure the initial conceptual framework.

Internationalisation as a challenge for higher education in Europe

Abstract ‘Internationalisation’ became a key theme in the 1990s both in higher education policy debates and in higher education research. Starting off from a heterogeneous set of phenomena, internationalisation does not merely mean varying border‐crossing activities on the rise anymore, but rather substantial changes: first, from a predominantly ‘vertical’ pattern of cooperation and mobility towards the dominance of international relationships on equal terms; second, from casuistic action towards systematic policies of internationalisation; third, from disconnection of specific international activities on the one hand and on the other internationalisation of the core activities towards an integrated internationalisation of higher education. Though higher education policy remains predominantly shaped on a national level and tends to underscore specific traditions and conditions of individual countries, the responsibility of individual institutions of higher education in Europe for their own future grows in...

A Victim of Their Own Success? Employment and Working Conditions of Academic Staff in Comparative Perspective.

Interest in the status and functions, the potential and thevulnerability of the academic profession has grown in recent times.International comparison is of special interest in this context: are theproblems experienced more or less universal, or are there options andconditions in individual countries which might suggest solutions for thefuture? The paper analyses some findings and implications of the‘International Survey of the Academic Profession’ with a special focus onthe various subgroups of academics in the European countries involved inthis empirical study. The analyses focuses on the employment and workingconditions, as well as the way academics handle their various professionaltasks and functions. Considerable differences between the universityprofessoriate, middle-rank and junior staff at universities and staff atother institutions of higher education are noted. At least in the majorityof European countries surveyed, one would hesitate to consider them part ofthe same profession. By and large, however, the relatively independentnature of their jobs allows most academics to find areas of professionalactivity which are the source of professional attachment andsatisfaction.

Higher education policy and the world of work: changing conditions and challenges

At the end of the 20th century, the connections between higher education and the world of work are again among the key issues of debate whenever challenges for innovation in higher education are at stake. Job prospects for recent graduates are not consistently viewed as negative. Information on graduate employment and work is scarce and there are no indisputable criteria for assessing graduate employment. Signals from the employment system are more blurred and ambivalent than ever before. This notwithstanding, many experts and key actors agree on the main directions in which higher education must head in response to the changing challenges from the world of work, e.g. devote greater attention to generic competencies, social skills and personality development, prepare students for the growing globalization and internationalization, and serve students through an increasing variety of means beyond classroom teaching and learning.Most experts agree that higher education must be well-informed of expectations from the outside world in order to adopt the necessary proactive role and thus respond to the need to prepare students for indeterminate future job tasks, new employment patterns and contributions to innovation in society.

Higher Education Research

Higher education research is a small field as compared to the size of the higher education system. As a theme-based field, it is expected to strive both for academic quality and practical relevance. Many scholars involved address this area only occasionally, and more research is linked to administrations or external stakeholders than based on academics. The borderlines are fuzzy between researchers and practitioners active in gathering information as a basis of reflection and improvement. It is a growing field, though uneven across countries, with a widening thematic scope: Notably, comparative studies got momentum and internationalization became a major theme.

THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH

Higher education research is closely linked to the debates on higher educa- tion policy and practice. It provides the information basis for decisions about the future of higher education. As the themes of the public debate on problems and reform needs in higher education change quickly, higher education research has to anticipate future prob- lems and themes of debates in order to develop concepts and to generate knowledge well in advance. Future-conscious higher education research might aim to identify likely future changes in thematic areas which are already in the limelight of public attention, as trends in the areas of expansion of higher education, diversification of structures of the higher education system, system steering and institutional management as well as international- isation and globalisation suggest. Moreover, future-conscious higher education research should try to identify thematic areas not frequently discussed at present but likely to be major issues in the future. For example, professionalisation of higher education in terms of the emergence and expansion of new administrative and service professions in higher education institutions might have far-reaching implications in the future and is worth to be paid attention by higher education researchers.

The Professional Value of Temporary Study in Another European Country: Employment and Work of Former ERASMUS Students.

Temporary study in another European country supported by the ERASMUS programmes spread from a few thousand participants in the late 1980s to about 150,000 annually in recent years. Such a study period is not only viewed as academically, culturally, and linguistically valuable but is also expected to have a positive impact on subsequent employment and work. Three major studies of former ERASMUS students underscore in many respects the professional value of temporary study in another European country. But former ERASMUS students do not believe that they excel in income and social status during their early career. Moreover, the distinct professional value of temporary study in another country is declining over time. However, temporary study in another European country has remained an exceptional and professionally highly rewarded experience for students from Central and Eastern European countries.