The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Internationalization of Higher Education in the Global South 1350139246, 9781350139244

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THE BLOOMSBURY HANDBOOK OF THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

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Also available from Bloomsbury The Bloomsbury Handbook of Global Education and Learning Edited by Douglas Bourn The Bloomsbury Handbook of Theory in Comparative and International Education Edited by Tavis D. Jules, Robin Shields and Matthew A.M. Thomas The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Education in the Global South Edited by Yonah H. Matemba and Bruce Collet

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THE BLOOMSBURY HANDBOOK OF THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

Edited by Juliet Thondhlana, Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe, Hans de Wit, Jocelyne Gacel-Ávila, Futao Huang, and Wondwosen Tamrat

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BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2021 Copyright © Juliet Thondhlana, Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe, Hans de Wit, Jocelyne Gacel-Ávila, Futao Huang, Wondwosen Tamrat, and contributors, 2021 Juliet Thondhlana, Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe, Hans de Wit, Jocelyne Gacel-Ávila, Futao Huang, and Wondwosen Tamrat have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Editors of this work. Cover design: Charlotte James Cover image © NiseriN / iStock All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Thondhlana, Juliet, editor. Title: The Bloomsbury handbook of the internationalization of higher education in the global South / edited by Juliet Thondhlana, Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe, Hans de Wit, Jocelyne Gacel-Ávila, Futao Huang, and Wondwosen Tamrat. Other titles: Handbook of the internationalization of higher education in the global South Description: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020036918 (print) | LCCN 2020036919 (ebook) | ISBN 9781350139244 (hardback) | ISBN 9781350139251 (ebook) | ISBN 9781350139268 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Education, Higher–Developing countries. | Education and globalization–Developing countries. Classification: LCC LC2610 .B56 2021 (print) | LCC LC2610 (ebook) | DDC 378.009172/4—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020036918 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020036919 ISBN: HB: 978-1-3501-3924-4 ePDF: 978-1-3501-3925-1 eBook: 978-1-3501-3926-8 Series: Bloomsbury Handbooks Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters. iv

CONTENTS

L IST OF F IGURES

ix

L IST OF T ABLES

xii

1

Introduction: Internationalization of Higher Education in the Global South: Setting the Scene Juliet Thondhlana, Evelyn C. Garwe, and Hans de Wit

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Thematic Chapters 2

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Internationalization in Higher Education: The Challenging Road from a Western Paradigm to a Global and Inclusive Concept Hans de Wit International Mapping of National Tertiary Education Internationalization Strategies and Plans (NTEISPs) Hans de Wit, Laura E. Rumbley, Daniela Cra˘ciun, Georgiana Mihut, and Ayenachew Woldegiyorgis

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Section I: Asia Pacific 4

Introduction to Asia Pacific Chapters Futao Huang and Anthony R. Welch

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Internationalization in China’s Higher Education: Trends, Achievements, and Challenges Xiao Han and Wenqin Shen

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Internationalization of Japan’s Higher Education Futao Huang

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Internationalization of Korean Higher Education (1945–2018): A Success Story Sunwoong Kim

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Internationalization as a Mechanism of Higher Education Modernization in Kazakhstan Aliya Kuzhabekova

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48

64

79

100

v

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CONTENTS

The Rhetoric and Reality of Malaysian Higher Education Internationalization Policy and Its Strategic Initiatives Norzaini Azman and Chang Da Wan

115

10 Internationalization of Indian Higher Education: Aligning with the Mission of Knowledge Enhancement Julie Vardhan

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11 Conclusion: The Shift to the East, and the Changing Face of Internationalization Anthony R. Welch

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Section II: Latin America and the Caribbean 12 Introduction: Higher Education, Internationalization, and Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean Jocelyne Gacel-Ávila

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13 Internationalization of Higher Education in Brazil Renée Zicman

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14 Internationalization of Higher Education in the Caribbean Annette Insanally and Luz Inmaculada Madera

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15 Internationalization of Chilean Higher Education: Research, Innovation, and Human Capital Formation in a Globalized Era Javier González, Andrés Bernasconi, and Francisca Puyol

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16 Colombian Higher Education Internationalization and Social Sustainable Development: From Meaning to Practice Giovanni Anzola-Pardo

244

17 Internationalization of Higher Education in Mexico: An Unfinished Agenda Francisco Marmolejo 18 Conclusion: Latin America and the Caribbean Internationalization Process: Main Achievements and Shortcomings Jocelyne Gacel-Ávila

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Section III: North Africa and the Middle East 19 Introduction to MENA Chapters Wondwosen Tamrat 20 Internationalization of Higher Education in the GCC Region: Emerging Patterns and Challenges Wondwosen Tamrat

299

311

CONTENTS

21 Higher Education in Jordan: At the Confluence of Nationalization and Internationalization Aref Al Attari 22 Internationalization and Globalization in Libyan Higher Education Salem Melood Abodher

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327

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23 Internationalization of Higher Education in Morocco: Current Processes, Practices, and Challenges Abdellah Benahnia

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24 Internationalization of Higher Education in Egypt: Modalities and Policy Provisions Teklu Abate Bekele and Bola Ibrahim

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25 The Internationalization of Higher Education in Tunisia: Bridging Gaps and Cross-border Cooperation Mohamed Salah Harzallah

403

26 Internationalization of Higher Education in Palestine Kamel Mansi 27 Conclusion: Enhancing Outcomes through Internationalization: An Overview of the Higher Education Sector in the MENA Region Julie Vardhan

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Section IV: Sub-Saharan Africa 28 Introduction: Internationalization of Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa Evelyn C. Garwe and Juliet Thondhlana 29 Internationalization of Higher Education in Ethiopia: From a Fragmented Dispensation to a Cohesive Path Wondwosen Tamrat

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30 Two Decades of Internationalizing Higher Education in South Africa Chika T. Sehoole and Rakgadi Phatlane

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31 Internationalization of Higher Education in Zimbabwe Evelyn C. Garwe, Juliet Thondhlana, and Simon McGrath

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32 Internationalizing Higher Education: An Exploratory Analysis of Policy Frameworks, Challenges, and Opportunities Gifty Oforiwaa Gyamera 33 Accounting for Internationalization in Kenya’s Higher Education System Ibrahim Ogachi Oanda

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550

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34 The Internationalization of Higher Education in Nigeria Olusola Bandele Oyewole 35 Conclusion: The State of Internationalization of Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa Hadiza Kere Abdulrahman, Evelyn C. Garwe, Juliet Thondhlana, and Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni

CONTENTS

571

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36 Salient Issues in the Internationalization of Higher Education in The Global South: Concluding Observations Juliet Thondhlana, Evelyn C. Garwe, and Hans de Wit

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N OTES ON C ONTRIBUTORS

610

I NDEX

619

FIGURES

CHAPTER ONE 1.1

Top ten fastest growing economies in the world

13

CHAPTER FIVE 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4

Number of newly approved TNHE activities Institutional strategy for internationalization Percentage of teachers with an international PhD degree at universities in Projects 985 and 211 and in other HEIs Percentage of English-taught curricula at universities in Projects 985 and 211 and in other HEIs

51 54 55 56

CHAPTER SIX 6.1 6.2 6.3

Changes in the ranking of Japanese universities in 2004–2014 Trends in number of international students Changes in the proportion of full-time international faculty at Japanese universities

69 72 73

CHAPTER SEVEN 7.1

Higher education eco-system

82

CHAPTER NINE 9.1 9.2 9.3

Student enrollment in Malaysian higher education institutions International academic staff in Malaysian higher education institutions International student enrollment in public and private higher education institutions

116 116 119

CHAPTER TEN 10.1 Student enrolment in the higher education sector 10.2 Foreign student distribution by top ten countries in India

137 141

CHAPTER FIFTEEN 15.1 Student mobility in Chile: Inbound by country of origin 15.2 Student mobility in Chile: Outbound by country of destination

224 226 ix

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LIST OF FIGURES

15.3 Expenditure in R & D as percentage of GDP (2017) 15.4 Investment in R & D when countries had the same GDP per capita (US$17,000) 15.5 Total researchers (FTE) per thousand total employees (2017). Countries with current similar GDP per capita 15.6 International collaboration in research (2018) 15.7 New international scholarships awarded per year

227 228 228 229 234

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 17.1 Internationalization of higher education in Mexico. Stages of development

271

CHAPTER TWENTY 20.1 Educational participation at all levels in GCC

314

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 22.1 Structure of the education system in Libya

349

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5

Number of inbound international students in select Arab countries in 2016 Number of international students in Egypt across years Sources of international students in Egypt in 2016 Number of outbound international students in the Arab states in 2017 Destinations of degree-seeking Egyptian students abroad in 2016

390 390 391 392 392

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 25.1 Erasmus+ capacity building higher education projects 2015–2017

409

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX 26.1 Students in Palestinian universities, 1995–2016 26.2 Students graduated from the Palestinian universities, 1995–2010

428 429

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN 27.1 Gross enrollment ratio—MENA 27.2 Employment to population ratio (2019) 27.3 Number of trademarks and scientific and technical journal articles in MENA (2016) 27.4 International mobility of students from some MENA countries.

446 448 449 452

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 28.1 Positioning of SSA in the African continent

462

LIST OF FIGURES

xi

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE 29.1 Foreign students in Ethiopian HEIs by field of studies (2015–16) 29.2 Foreign staff in Ethiopian HEIs (2002/03–2017/18)

477 479

CHAPTER THIRTY 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5

Students enrolled in South African universities from the rest of the world Enrollment of students from other African countries but not the SADC Students from the SADC region excluding South Africa Foreign students who did not specify their country of origin Comparative analysis of international students versus South African students 30.6 Comparative analysis of the origin of students in South African universities by numbers 30.7 Comparative analysis of the percentages of students’ origins in South African universities

500 502 503 504 505 506 506

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE 31.1 IHE theory of change 31.2 Participants at the all-stakeholder workshop, inclusive of Minister and Permanent Secretary 31.3 Registrars at a taskforce meeting at the Chinhoyi University Hotel

521 523 524

TABLES

CHAPTER THREE 3.1

Mapping national internationalization strategies

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CHAPTER SIX 6.1

Change in the number and proportion of international students in Japanese universities

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CHAPTER SEVEN 7.1 7.2 7.3

Trends in GDP per capita (current USD) and enrollments (in thousands) Trend of degree-seeking foreign students (2000–2018) Number of foreign students by country and purpose (2018)

83 91 91

CHAPTER NINE 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4

Relevant entry point project for education hub Top 10 sending countries (2016–2018) Summary of Malaysia’s Global Reach programmes Comparative review of employment opportunities among five countries

118 120 121 129

CHAPTER TEN 10.1 Major university types and number of universities

139

CHAPTER ELEVEN 11.1 Japan, origin of international students 11.2 Australia’s collaborative publications and citations 2000–2011, by country

151 154

CHAPTER FOURTEEN 14.1 Participants HEIs, country, and type

202

CHAPTER FIFTEEN 15.1 THE World international ranking—Latin America international outlook 15.2 Outbound and inbound students 15.3 CONICYT: Funding targeted to internationalization xii

223 225 231

LIST OF TABLES

15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9

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International cooperation: Quality assurance system Cross country comparison of program size Average BCP benefits THE ranking—International outlook for Chilean universities QS ranking—International research network Institutional internationalization strategies

232 233 236 239 239 240

CHAPTER SIXTEEN 16.1 The IHE: National ideological context and trends: an overview

251

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 17.1 Main characteristics of the Mexican higher education system by subsystem

266

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6

LAC higher education access, 2018 LAC percentage of faculty with a doctoral degree, 2017 Outbound and inbound mobility ratios by regions, 2017 LAC international outbound and inbound mobility ratios, 2017 LAC knowledge production, 2018 LAC International collaboration in research

280 282 288 288 290 290

CHAPTER TWENTY 20.1 Outbound and inbound mobility in the GCC region

317

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4

Universities in Jordan 2019 Internationalization in the official literature of some Jordanian universities Higher education in Jordan: Number of universities, students, and staff Expatriate students by nationality

331 335 336 337

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6

Public universities in Libya (2019) Private universities in Libya (2019) Table of distinctions between globalization and internationalization Table of implications of globalization for internationalization Number of Libyan students studying abroad at the state’s expense (2009) Table of agreements between Libyan universities and European universities

349 350 350 351 358 359

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 25.1 Research projects in Tunisia

416

xiv

LIST OF TABLES

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX 26.1 Projects funded by the European Commission in the West Bank and Gaza Strip 26.2 Leadership 26.3 Policy and strategy 26.4 People 26.5 Partnership and resources 26.6 Processes 26.7 People results

433 435 436 437 438 438 438

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 28.1 Examples of the colonial origins of higher education in SSA

463

CHAPTER THIRTY 30.1 Origins of international staff in South African universities in 2000, 2005, 2010 30.2 Permanent academic staff in South African universities 30.3 Total enrollments of international students from continents other than Africa 30.4 Number of students from Africa, who are not from the SADC region 30.5 Enrollments in South African universities from the SADC region, excluding South Africa 30.6 Foreign students in South African universities who did not mention their countries of origin 30.7 Comparative analysis of the numbers of international students and South African students

499 499 500 501 502 504 505

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE 31.1 Internationalization of higher education understandings, strategies, and rationales

517

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE 33.1 Summary of internationalization vision and strategies of four large public universities in Kenya 33.2 Support from development partners to university education in Kenya, 2014 33.3 University of Nairobi; research, publication and production status 2007/08–2011/12 33.4 Important sources of innovation for Kenyan Firms, 2008–2011 33.5 Academic staff by qualification and university category

558 561 563 564 565

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR 34.1 Outlook of tertiary institutions in Nigeria

572

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX 36.1 Mapping national internationalization strategies for the Global South

600

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction Internationalization of Higher Education in the Global South: Setting the Scene JULIET THONDHLANA , EVELYN C. GARWE , AND HANS DE WIT

RATIONALE This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the chapters to follow. This edited handbook, compiled by a unique team of established and emerging experts, gives a comprehensive account of internationalization of higher education (IHE) in the Global South, including some virgin contexts not commonly found in the literature. It responds to the urgent and emerging call for solutions on sustainable internationalization of higher education (IHE) that go beyond the traditional Western models (e.g., de Wit, Gacel-Ávila, Jones, and Jooste, 2017; Proctor and Rumbley, 2018). Internationalization per se is not a completely new concept, but as a strategic dimension (De Wit, 1995, 2015; Delgado-Márquez, Hurtado-Torres, and Bondar, 2011; Vavrus and Pekol, 2015) it has taken the higher education fraternity by storm while gaining recognition as a critical tool for fostering sustainable national and international development through producing quality globally competent human capital (Hunter et al., 2006). Internationalization has varying socio-economic, cultural, and technological impacts depending on context (Maringe, Foskett, and Woodfield, 2013), as well as political, economic, social-cultural, and academic rationales (de Wit, 2002). This way it has effectively transformed its conceptual framework, scope, magnitude, and significance, and redefined international relationships (Alemu, 2014). Accordingly, the ability of a higher education institution (HEI) to internationalize its campuses, curriculum, and activities has become a key measure of the institution’s success and competitiveness locally and globally (Green and Schoenberg, 2006). Within the context of the Global South, it can be said that this supposedly “new” IHE concept is in actual fact as old as its dominant higher education systems. “International” characteristics have always been evident in higher education since the Middle Ages (de Wit, 2002; Zeleza, 2005) in terms of intellectual mobility and its local genesis, and one of the key characteristics has been the export of higher education systems from the North to the colonies in the South. As a result, the tension or duality between local and international is even more evident in nations that have a history of colonialism, some of which are subjects of study in the handbook. In response to this tension, De Wit (2013) argues that while it is true that universities have always been international, operating within a broader 1

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HANDBOOK OF THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

international community of HEIs, academics, and research, the realities of the twentyfirst century have brought internationalization to the fore, in the Global North but increasingly also in the Global South context. This handbook therefore sheds more light on IHE developments and trends from multiple perspectives focusing on a wider range of contexts from the four Global South regions, namely: Asia Pacific; Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC); North Africa and the Middle East; and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In addition to focusing on the understandings, puzzles, policies, agendas, challenges, strategies, specific activities, processes, and outcomes of IHE, the authors also critically explore the broader historical and socio-political contexts, methodological developments, and forces shaping internationalization in the context of theoretical as well as regional and international IHE developments and frameworks. This is premised on the fact that such contexts influence the opportunities available for students’ and faculties’ participation in international programs and the development of internationalization strategies and policies (Vavrus and Pekol, 2015). It will make it possible to draw informative comparisons across regions and nations as well as the Global North in a way that enables a more holistic understanding of the complexities driving as well as generated by internationalization. It will also provide a roadmap for future direction in this context.

A BRIEF UNPACKING OF THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION Internationalization refers to the symbiotic inter-relationships that exist amongst nations towards the achievement of quality in higher education. There is generally no consensus on the definition of internationalization with different people, describing it in differing ways depending on their contexts (e.g., van der Wende, 2001). The various definitions are based on activity, competency, ethos, and process perspectives. Knight (2004) used five lenses to define IHE, namely: programs, rationales, ad hoc, policies, and strategy approaches. Most IHE literature uses this definition by Knight (2004: 11), which sees internationalization occurring abroad or at home as “the process of integrating an international, intercultural, and global dimension into the purpose, functions (teaching, research and service) and the delivery of higher education.” Internationalization involves cross-border physical and virtual interactions between academics, students, academic programs and providers; partnerships and collaborative ventures for teaching, learning, and research in the following domains: 1. Outbound and inbound student mobility 2. Academic staff mobility 3. International collaborative research, conferences, and journals 4. Institutional linkages 5. International presence/Cross border education/International branch campus 6. Internationalization at home and of the curriculum 7. Regional and local connectivity 8. Ranking 9. National policies for internationalization 10. Curriculum/educational program.

INTRODUCTION

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Internationalization is also viewed as a transformative phenomenon which is moving key stakeholders including academic institutions and policymakers to adjust their frames of references and policies in response to the demands of the phenomenon. This is evidenced in the preoccupation with incorporating internationalization elements into policy and strategic documents at various levels including institutional, national, and regional (Rumbley, Altbach, and Reisberg, 2012). The motivations behind IHE for institutions and nations also vary widely (de Wit, 2002; Knight, 2004) and have been reported to change with the passage of time (LuijtenLub, 2007) but largely fall into interconnected variations of academic, socio-economic, political, and cultural intentions (de Wit, 2002; Knight, 2004). Existing literature, largely from the Global North, mentions rationales relating to inter alia: international academic standards of research and teaching, institutional and national human resource development, strategic alliances, technical assistance, resource mobilization, socioeconomic growth, and competitiveness (Knight, 2008). Studies have noted, though, that these understandings are not always put into practice. While internationalization may now highly feature as a priority on strategies of HEIs that may also have elaborate internationalization strategies and structures in place, these may not always translate into practice (Warwick and Moogan, 2013). There is, however, a clear acknowledgement that internationalization extends beyond mere student recruitment; it is a complex and continuous process, which includes curriculum development, staff capacitation, teaching and learning, teaching and research collaborations, staff–student exchanges, support services, and much more. The focus in some contexts of the Global North, for example, seems to continue to be very much on student recruitment (Warwick and Moogan, 2013). In their study of UK institutions, Warwick and Moogan (2013) observed that few universities have attempted to internationalize their curricula to match discourses of international experiences and student mobility. While some universities may sell internationalization on their websites and with other marketing tools, their staff may have no idea about their institutional strategy and what their responsibilities and obligations will be in the implementation of the strategy. In addition, institutions themselves may lack the necessary resources to develop their staff for the purpose, and the funding to provide appropriate support for the increasing international student numbers (e.g., language support). Internationalization of the curriculum expert, Betty Leask (2015), has argued that what is needed is not a globalized curriculum (which privileges dominant knowledges and groups), but one that would enable the development in all students (both foreign and home), of the critical attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to empower them to effectively make a living as well as contribute to development in a fast changing and increasingly complex and interconnected global community. This buttresses Knight’s (2008) claim that how this is achieved will differ depending on particular features of diverse contexts including disciplinary, institutional, regional, national, and other contexts in which students may find themselves (Leask, 2015). These considerations show that internationalization is fraught with challenges and complexities that require particular understandings, appropriate strategic approaches, and commitment at all relevant levels. In this handbook our understanding of internationalization of higher education, including its definition, genesis, and evolution as a concept is aptly discussed by Hans de Wit in Chapter 2 and will thus not be explored in much detail here. In that thematic chapter, de Wit importantly observes that more countries across the globe are increasingly

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HANDBOOK OF THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

engaging in internationalizing their academic practices, leading to the emergence of new voices and perspectives of the concept as new players come onto the scene. He calls for the revisiting of internationalization as a concept to accommodate emerging and new understandings of the concept and suggests that a more inclusive updated definition might be: The intentional process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions and delivery of post-secondary education, in order to enhance the quality of education and research for all students and staff and to make a meaningful contribution to society. —de Wit, Hunter, Howard, and Egron Polak, 2015: 29 In Chapter 3, de Wit et al. highlight the critical need to go beyond seeing internationalization as a by-product of globalization but rather as a planned activity requiring national involvement in steering the process. This is more aptly demonstrated in the findings of Cr˘aciun’s (2018) National Tertiary Education Internationalization Strategies and Policies (NTEISPs) survey, presented by de Wit et al. As shown, the typology of NTEISPs is drawn from case studies and can form the basis of harmonization at various levels including institutional, national, regional, and global. Not surprisingly the issue of national policy is an important subject for some of the chapters in this handbook. However a more inclusive typology requires the study and inclusion of diverse case types. The NTEISPs typology presented by de Wit et al. presents a good starting point that future studies can continue to build on. What clearly emerges is that the need for a more global understanding of internationalization including the nature of South–South and North–South collaborations cannot be emphasized enough. Internationalization of higher education literature reveals that, although there exists great variation with respect to the drivers, mix of activities, and extent of engagement across institutions globally, the impact of internationalization is increasingly becoming more noticeable at the local level. Internationalization activities are dominated by international mobility of students, staff, and programs, but internationalization at home also continues to gain momentum as a key aspect of practice. Research highlights the diversity in internationalization understandings, motives, strategies, activities mix, and level of engagement across higher education institutions and its strategic positioning within nations, resulting from the different contextual complexities faced by different nations and higher education institutions (Caruana, 2010; Cr˘aciun, 2018). In this regard, internationalization literature (e.g., Chapman, Pekol, and Wilson, 2014; Vavrus and Pekol, 2015) has begun to look at ways in which institutions in the Global North and Global South are differentially positioned within the global political economy. It is argued that this understanding is underpinned by the view that “individuals and institutions in the Global South experience internationalization differently, and sometimes only marginally” (Vavrus and Pekol, 2015: 7). The dominant Anglocentric, “Western” conceptualizations and theorizations of internationalization are now being challenged and revisited to make them more applicable to “non-Western” contexts (Trahar, Green, de Wit, and Whitsed, 2015; Trahar and Hylund, 2011). For example, there are reportedly concerted moves to dispense with Anglo-American framed internationalization to domesticize internationalization of higher education in order to meet local needs. Trahar et al. (2015: 31) give examples of Asian contexts (e.g., Japan and Malaysia) where internationalization is “conceptualised as a way of promoting the context to the international community and inculcating a sense of

INTRODUCTION

5

nationalism” with internationalization being used to develop a sense of national pride and graduates being positioned as ambassadors for their contexts. Inward student mobility, for example, may be used to raise the status of the institution internationally. However in countries where the impact of hegemonic colonial practices may still strongly linger (e.g., some African countries) there may be skepticism over the meaning of internationalization, especially in the context of debates around the unequal distribution of knowledge production between developed and developing countries. In this regard, the contextual challenges and imperatives may demand the development of creative and flexible approaches to internationalization. Writing on the South African context, Cross, Mhlanga, and Ojo (2011: 82) ask: “How can South African universities be asked to incorporate an international dimension in their business when most of it has already been “international” and had very little local?” However, the literature that highlights South–South collaborations is showing how some developing countries are becoming sources of knowledge and manpower developers for other developing countries, thereby effectively taking over this role from the developed world (Cross, Sehoole, Mhlanga, Byars-Ameguide, Inglis, and Koen, 2011). In Cross et al.’s (2011: 82–86) study, their subjects conceptualized internationalization as “relocalisation” (“think locally first so as to gain internationality”), “Africanisation” (“engagement with Africa” in terms of knowledge production, privileging indigenous knowledges in teaching and learning and representation of African students), and “diversification of academic staff and students” (“global engagement”). Some studies (e.g., Whitsed and Green, 2013) have resultantly supported the contestations around definitions of the internationalization construct as this reflects its fluidity over time and context. Responding to these complexities, there are calls to look at internationalization in Global South contexts not only focusing on the understandings, specific activities, processes, and outcomes of IHE but also critically exploring the broader historical and socio-political contexts, dimensions, and forces shaping internationalization in specific contexts. Such issues help to understand the ability of HEIs in diverse contexts to exercise agency in initiating and managing varied forms of internationalization as well as in their interactions with institutions in other regions (both North and South). This is premised on the fact that such contexts influence the opportunities available for students and faculties to participate in international programs and the development of internationalization strategies and policies (Vavrus and Pekol, 2015). While considerable work has been done on IHE in the United States and Europe (e.g., de Wit, 2002; de Wit et al., 2015; Teichler, 2009), not much is known about IHE in Global South contexts. Certainly, no cohesive study of similar magnitude has been conducted that provides an overview of internationalization activity in the regions, which reveals the complexities noted above, given the diversities in the political economies within these contexts and in comparison with Global North contexts. Literature is however emerging (as noted by de Wit et al. in Chapter 3) that seeks to explore alternative internationalization perspectives, looking at internationalization activity in contexts not commonly found in the literature such as those in the Global South (e.g., de Wit et al., 2017; Proctor and Rumbley, 2018). As observed by Leask (2015), mentioned earlier, these new developments will extend our understanding of the complexities of internationalization practice while also gaining insight into its many continually evolving benefits and challenges. As argued by Trahar et al. (2015: 36), this constant and rapid change means that our understandings of internationalization of higher education will continue to be “emergent, contingent and necessarily situated.”

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HANDBOOK OF THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

PROFILING THE GLOBAL SOUTH The “Global South” is a term favoured by scholars and development agencies, for example the World Bank, to classify countries that are poorer or less advanced in terms of stage of development, wealth, politics, technology, and demography, most of which are located either in the tropics or in the Southern Hemisphere. Todaro and Smith (2006) describe Global South economies as less developed, poorer, less democratic, technology receptors (less innovative), sometimes characterized by conflict, war, anarchy, tyranny, and rapid population growth when compared with the Global North. The Global South, also referred to as the “Third World” or “Developing World,” comprises those regions outside Europe and North America, inclusive of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean as well as some countries in the Middle East (Dados and Connell, 2012). Authors such as Mahler (2017) have debated the appropriateness, meaning, use, applicability, and analytical value of the term Global South, arguing that it reflects the existence of geopolitical relations of power. Several scholars (e.g., Hollington, Salverda, Schwarz, and Tappe, 2015; Mahler, 2018) have drawn attention to the widening gaps in wealth and power within countries, noting that “there are Souths in the geographic North and Norths in the geographic South” (Mahler, 2018: 32). Cases in point are those regarding the increasing competitiveness of emerging economies, for example Brazil, China, and India, over the longstanding industrialized powers of the Global North. Therefore it should be clearly spelt out that, in using this term, the editors and contributors of this handbook are cognizant of the fact that it lumps together very diverse socio-economic, cultural, and political experiences, perceptions, and perspectives. This edited handbook will add to this emerging focus and provide a comprehensive overview of Global South IHE trends from multiple perspectives, solely focusing on a wider range of contexts from four Global South regions: Asia Pacific; Latin America and the Caribbean; North Africa and the Middle East; and Sub-Saharan Africa. Each of these regions will be represented by specific cases, characteristic of each region, but reflecting specific and unique focus. Although each case has a unique structure and focus, they follow a common outline inclusive of a description of the higher education sector in terms of its genesis, structure, and developments to set the tone for exploring the understandings, agendas, challenges, strategies, theoretical and methodological developments, processes as well as policy developments at national and institutional levels. At the end of each region, a cross-cutting concluding chapter provides a regional analysis from the specific cases as well as from literature on other countries in the region in order to highlight the emerging trends and areas of focus. To enhance comparability across institutions, countries, and regions, the handbook will explore the functional aspects of internationalization, type, stage, and process of internationalization activities, and the level of aggregation e.g., institutional, national, and regional. The handbook differs from other books on the same topic in that it is the first comprehensive account of IHE focusing on the four regions of the Global South. The handbook also presents a wealth of experience and expertise from the Global South by bringing together established and emerging scholars in the four regions. It will therefore be invaluable as a recommended and reference text for students, academics, practitioners, and policymakers, not only within these regions but beyond.

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THE REGIONS Asia Pacific Section I documents how the Asia-Pacific region has responded to the opportunities brought about by the surge in demand for higher education in the context of transnational education, business, research, and technology by promoting IHE. The six country cases (China, Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, and India) help to provide comparative perspectives on the status of IHE in each, inclusive of creating regional education hubs, student and staff mobility, and entrepreneurship that have been critical in transforming their higher education sector and enhancing their national competitiveness. The Asia-Pacific region is spread across forty countries and accounts for half of the world’s population. The region is characterized by enormous cultural, economic, geographical, and linguistic variations. Higher education in the region has been shaped by geography, history, politics, religion, language, economy, and regional linkages. Each chapter begins with a historical overview of the higher education sector in order to put the IHE development issues and trends in context. The chapters from the Asia-Pacific region reveal that IHE originated in the nineteenth century, when contemporary higher education systems where established. The strategy then was either to send students and academics abroad (mainly to Western countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as Australia) for advanced studies or research, or to invite foreign academics and professionals from different fields to introduce their modern knowledge and technology and work for the national governments. This resulted in the modeling of local higher education systems, even for those countries that had not been colonized (e.g., China and Japan) along foreign lines, particularly those of Western origin: All of the higher education systems considered here have Western roots and use basically Western models. In Asia, as in the rest of the world, the contemporary university is a basically Western institution, tracing their roots to the medieval European universities and shaped by the particular Western power that was the colonial ruler. In the case of Japan, China and Thailand, foreign influences were chosen with independence, but the models were foreign nonetheless. —Altbach and Selvaratnam, 1989: xii As was further expounded by Altbach and Selvaratnam (1989), the colonial legacy for those countries that were colonized, for example Malaysia, manifests in critical issues, notably the language of instruction, the lack of attention to science, and the importance of expatriate academics in HEIs. Another case in point is that of Hong Kong, whose internal and external reviews on quality assurance rely heavily on criteria from the West (Mok and Cheung, 2011). The dominant characteristics of IHE in the region are those of international benchmarking as a way of competing for the best-performing students and staff from a global pool of candidates (Hazelkorn, 2011) and countries are thus keen to improve their global ranking in order to attract these candidates. What is clear in the Asia-Pacific context, akin to that of SSA, are the potential pitfalls of internationalization, including the threat to local knowledge, traditions, and national interests as well as the looming danger of recolonization if the curriculum continues to borrow from the West with little or no focus on local needs. The need for all higher

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education stakeholders to redefine the mandate of HEIs in the internationalization process becomes critical wherein issues of indigenous knowledge, democracy, cultural value, social-economic priorities, and international tolerance are embedded. As Han and Shen note, in Chapter 5: Transplanting and modulating Western styles to cater to the needs of China, especially in the new era when the central government exhibits great enthusiasm in establishing tight connections to the external world, has gradually become a severe problem encountered by both researchers and university administrators. It remains an issue for further exploration of the practical strategies in internationalizing Chinese higher education (HE) and guiding its development work for the benefit of the nation and its citizens. The dominant IHE activities in the region have moved from mere student and staff mobility, as was the case in the 1990s, to also include internationalization of the university curriculum, promotion of cross-border higher education activities, adaptation of international standards for evaluating some educational programs, construction of “Centres of Excellence,” and establishment of bi-lateral cooperation between universities at both regional and international levels. In Chapter 7, Kim illustrates how with very few natural resources Korea leveraged IHE to achieve phenomenal success in building a globally competitive higher education system in such a short time. Korea now effectively competes with Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore for attracting Chinese and Southeast Asian out-bound students studying abroad. Korea’s HE market is much bigger than that of Hong Kong and Singapore so it has a capacity to absorb large Chinese demand. In this respect, Korea’s development is reminiscent of Say’s law in human resources, which propounds that the supply of human resource through education creates its own demand for it later. In the case of Korea, the rapid expansion of the primary school sector during the 1950s and 1960s provided abundant human resources for the rapid industrialization in the 1960s and 1970s, while the study abroad program and brain drain during the 1960s and 1970s provided an abundant pool of professional expatriates, who were educated and trained in developed nations. These became a valuable resource when Korea’s demand for highly skilled human resources later increased (Green, Ashton, James, and Sung, 1999). As is clearly stated by Kuzhabekova in Chapter 8 on Kazakhstan, notwithstanding the critical role of IHE in modernization of higher education in the region, the process of internationalization in most of the countries (with the exception of Malaysia for example), has never been planned as a separate item on the national education reform agenda. The Kazakhstani government has yet to adopt a separate internationalization strategy and, in fact, needs to clearly define the concept of internationalization (Jumakulov and Ashirbekov, 2016).

Latin America and the Caribbean Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a vibrant region of thirty-three sovereign countries and fifteen dependencies whose rich diverse political, socio-economic, historical and geographic dynamics are driving internationalization of higher education (IHE) in unique ways. Section II consists of six chapters and a conclusion. Two of the chapters give us an extensive overview of the region and its two main sub-regions; four provide case examples of the specific experiences of individual countries. These include: emerging

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international giant and BRICS member, Brazil; Chile, which in 2018 ranked 45th globally and 4th within the LAC region in terms of research publications; Colombia, which is in an emerging state; and Mexico, where there is increased awareness of the value of IHE but still limited activity. Finally, a cross-cutting concluding chapter summarizes key findings and trends in and characteristics of the internationalization process of the region as presented through the preceding chapters. The introductory chapter, Higher Education, Internationalization and Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean, by Jocelyne Gacel-Ávila (Chapter 12) and Annette Insanally and Luz Inmaculada Madera’s Caribbean chapter, Internationalization of Higher Education in the Caribbean (Chapter 14) together provide a comprehensive overview of IHE activity in the LAC region. It is however important to note that there is a paucity of IHE studies on the region particularly those focusing on specific contexts that would give us an in-depth look at the specific experiences of individual countries. The chapters in this handbook therefore add to the growing research interest in this important field in this region. The introductory chapter provides an extensive background to internationalization of higher education in the LAC region (albeit with a stronger focus on Latin America) looking at the relevant socio-economic and historical dynamics that account for the internationalization imperatives for the region. It also provides a good synopsis of some of the related higher education key works and internationalization studies in the region and importantly also draws some comparisons within the region and across other Global South as well as some Global North contexts thereby providing some helpful foundational work to an understanding of the region as a whole and the specific contexts covered in the handbook. The chapter shares highlights of internationalization trends in the different LAC countries as presented in a number of national reports with the important ones being: a publication commissioned by the World Bank (WB) (de Wit, Jaramillo, Knight, and Gacel-Ávila, 2005); some editions of the Global Survey on Internationalization Trends of the International Association of Universities (IAU) (e.g., Knight, 2006; Egron-Polak and Hudson, 2014); and the recent Regional Survey on Internationalization Trends in LAC conducted by the UNESCO Observatory on Internationalization and Networks (OBIRET) (Gacel-Ávila and Rodríguez-Rodríguez, 2017). The OBIRET survey is unique in having focused on the region as a whole and captured diverse patterns of the internationalization process in the region in the ten-year period following the WB study, and is also valuable in providing a comparison with the IAU Global Survey. Chapter 15 focuses on internationalization in the Caribbean. Considered one of the most diverse, pluri-racial and multi-cultural areas, the Caribbean integrates thirteen sovereign states and nineteen overseas departments and dependencies (including French Overseas Departments, the Dutch Antilles, British and American dependencies). Historically fragmented by colonial cultures, internationalization mobilization and harmonization through intraregional collaborations and networking are seen as facilitating regional integration and strengthening the sub-region’s global standing, particularly in pursuit of achieving goals of the 2030 Agenda through higher education (United Nations, 2015). Given that many of the countries are very small, this overview chapter is important in that it provides a close up of IHE activity across the region while exploring some of the critical issues for some individual countries. It is our hope that this important contribution will help generate interest among scholars to study IHE developments and patterns in each of the individual countries.

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Most of the Caribbean states (except Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic) are presented as having a different dynamic with respect to their peculiar geographical and linguistic characteristics due to their close ties to the United States, which make them attractive destinations internationally compared with the rest of LAC. The reported limited IHE activity may be due to education systems not strongly encouraging student mobility both within the region and abroad (IESALC, 2019). Further, the diversities also require mutual recognition of common accreditation systems and qualifications as well as language programs to facilitate student mobility and employability across the multilingual contexts. Put together, the overview and the individual country chapters present a rich array of topics on the internationalization of higher education at various levels including institutional, national, and regional, which are characterized by the “political, economic, socio-cultural and academic rationales” that drive IHE in its diverse forms within and across the nations. These include: ●

Opportunities, benefits, risks and challenges

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Plans and strategies of IHE; structures

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Regional and sub-regional integration and collaborations; bilateral cooperation programs; qualifications and common accreditation systems; research; teaching South–South and North–South collaborations Long-term exchange programs such as the Brazilian Exchange Program for Undergraduate Students (PEC-G) created in 1965

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Student mobility including exchange programs; inbound and outbound mobility

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Internationalization at home and internationalization of the curriculum

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Internationalization abroad; liaison offices and campuses abroad

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Internationalization of higher education national and institutional policies

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IHE financial resourcing

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Language programs

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Global university rankings

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Internationalization and social development.

Chapter 18, the concluding chapter, provides a helpful synopsis of key findings from all regional chapters noting commonalities and differences across the given contexts. Importantly, it notes some of the key barriers to effective internationalization with the lack of support at the national level in terms of national policies and funding to help facilitate the operationalization of strategies being common major limitations.

North Africa and the Middle East Section III provides explorations of IHE in a selection of MENA countries, including the Gulf (GCC) region, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Palestine and Egypt. It also includes an introduction and a cross-cutting chapter, which provides an overview of some of the key internationalization themes from the region. MENA is an acronym for the Middle East and North Africa region which consists of about 19–21 countries. This small region (6 percent of the world’s population) is known

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for its rich oil reserves (60 percent of the world’s oil reserves; 14 Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations are within the MENA region) and natural gas reserves (45 percent of the world’s natural gas reserves), which make it an important source of global economic stability. The region’s geopolitical importance has increased following the Arab Spring anti-government uprisings and armed rebellions in the early 2010s, which saw the fall of some dictatorships. The more recent civil unrests in, for example, Libya and Syria have continued to draw international attention to the region. One of the outcomes of the Arab Spring is the demand by young people in MENA for more and better opportunities in terms of education, employment, international mobility, knowledge production, and entrepreneurship. “Higher education, migration, and labour mobility are key policy areas as MENA nations address the need for a strong skills base to underpin the economic and social development of the region’s disparate economies” (Jaramillo, Ruby, Henard, and Zaafrane, 2011: 1). The World Bank report (Jaramillo et al., 2011) notes that the MENA economies share an interest in the supply of and demand for higher education and are differentially involved in a range of internationalizationrelated activities, including: investing in higher education infrastructure to raise it to international standards and competitiveness; encouraging study abroad; and attracting international students. The report further notes the critical need for a systematic policy discussion on the internationalization of higher education to help MENA in terms of the formation of required skills and competencies, the acquisition of qualifications, and the application of the skills and competencies. The development of quality education, the recognition of qualifications in different countries, the role of international partners, and the incentives to study and work within the region and elsewhere are all important considerations for internationalization initiatives. Country level research is therefore critical to advance policy conversations at national and regional levels. The economic status of the region and its potential growth as well as its very strategic location in relation to Africa, Europe, and Asia as well as other parts of the world positions it well for boosting its internationalization of higher education efforts and global impact. Internationalization in the Arab world is regarded to be as old as the genesis of higher education (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries), as a tool for advancing national agendas, and as contributing to nation building (De Wit and Merkx, 2012). In its early years it took the form of outbound student mobility with students flocking to European destinations. In addition, local universities were built following Western models (Abyad, 2012). Recent massification of higher education has however led to the introduction of new forms of higher education including private universities, virtual learning, open universities, decentralized campuses, parallel education, franchised programs, and International Branch Campuses (IBCs) (Al-Agtash and Khadra, 2019; Al Attari, 2015). This has however been hampered by limited resources, which has had a negative impact on the quality of the education. Internationalization of higher education is therefore seen as helping to provide academic and cultural experiences that can generate quality education through innovation and best practices in learning and teaching, which in turn can enhance graduate employability in the international job marketplace. Internationalization is also seen as helping to structure existing internationalization practices (Al-Agtash and Khadra, 2019). Across the region IHE Internationalization is understood as occurring at the national, regional, and international levels; hence, terms such as nationalization, regionalization, and internationalization interact in official documents with the broader aims being “strengthening national loyalty” and “promoting the national heritage and international

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culture.” Regionalization in higher education relates to the Arab national identity and is evidenced by use of the Arabic language as the medium of instruction and publication and adherence to Islamic values while “maintaining the democratic approach and academic freedom” (Al-Agtash and Khadra, 2019). These practices, as well as mastering a foreign language and using English as a supporting language in the process of internationalization, are significant as they enhance relations with regional and international countries. Such a vision is aptly captured in the Jordanian national strategic plan of 2007–2012 as: “Having a high quality higher education system, capable of preparing highly-qualified human resources that are able to meet the current and future needs of society and compete at the Arab and international levels,” and “Improving and modernizing study plans and academic programs in line with the requirements of national and pan-Arab development, taking into account the scientific and technological developments at the global level.” Using diverse documentations (including commissioned reports, institutional and national documents) and empirical data, the chapters in this section explore indicators of the internationalization of higher education, looking at various topics including: ●

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Motivations, drivers, processes, opportunities, challenges, and strategies Academic Mobility: inbound and student mobility (regional and international); exchange programs e.g., Tempus and Erasmus+ ❍

mostly regional with a minority international students); not much focus on outbound student mobility in the literature highlighting the commercialization of student mobility; inbound and outbound staff mobility

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Intercultural competence

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Language programs; linguistic and cultural diversity

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Collaborations: regional and international

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Foreign campuses; international universities

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Research and publications

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Collaborations and partnerships

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Internationalization at home; internationalization of the curriculum

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Internationalization and the role of technology

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Quality assurance and IHE. Challenges include: ❍

absence of national IHE policy

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management and financial resources

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paucity of research

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attitudes towards internationalization due to cultural tensions, for example

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the impact of increasing globalization advances in global communication.

Sub-Saharan Africa Section IV commences with an introduction to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as a region that is still lagging behind other regions with respect to gross national product (GNP) growth, human development indicators, and higher education (Goujon, Haller, and Kmet, 2017; UNECA, 2014). However, it is encouraging to note that in 2018, according to the World

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FIGURE 1.1: Top ten fastest growing economies in the world (World Bank, 2018).

Bank, six of the world’s ten fastest growing economies were in SSA (see Figure 1.1). The section looks at two of these (Ghana and Ethiopia) as well as the two alternating giants of Africa (South Africa and Nigeria). The other two cases are Zimbabwe (representing countries whose once vibrant economies have taken a dip in recent years) and Kenya (a favourite with international development agencies). Although the focus of Section IV