This article examines how internationalization is defined by three leading higher education professional associations: NAFSA, the International Association of Universities, and the European Association of International Education. We examine key publications to understand which activities, topics, and constituencies are included in conceptualizations of internationalization and, conversely, which are absent. We find that all three rely on similar definitions that emphasize international students, student and scholarly mobility, and curricular change. We argue that current definitions are largely de-politicized and de-historicized, while internationalization is often assumed to mean more and better coverage of the globe. Little attention is given to the ethics of international engagement, particularly across unequal relations of power. We conclude with numerous questions for administrators and faculty engaged in internationalization that seek to deepen conversations about this work. In particular, we emphasize the importance of identifying enduring patterns of global inequality, recognizing ethical responsibilities, and enabling alternative possibilities.
This article investigates cross-national patterns of public and private higher education institution (HEI) foundings from 1960 to 2006. It argues that in addition to national demographic and economic factors, patterns of HEI foundings also reflect world-level models about how nations should structure their higher education systems. Findings document a rapid, recent rise in new private HEIs and point to supranational normative, mimetic, and coercive pressures that have encouraged nations to expand private higher education, including international development aid trends in peer nations, and linkages to intergovernmental organizations. I argue that while the public-sector HEI has been a long-standing and globally legitimated model for national development, private higher education has historically been associated with some world regions but not others. However, over the past two decades, supranational actors and ideas helped legitimate the private HEI as an acceptable model, spreading it even in regions that previously eschewed private higher education.
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