What Counts as Internationalization? Deconstructing the Internationalization Imperative

Abstract

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.

Exploring the Internationalization of Zimbabwe’s Higher Education Institutions Through a Decolonial Lens: Postcolonial Continuities and Disruptions

“…The leading authors in the field of the internationalisation of higher education have long stressed that there is no simple, all-encompassing definition of internationalisation. Rather, different definitions of internationalisation embody diverse emphases and various approaches (e.g., Knight & de Wit, 1995;Buckner & Stein, 2019). The literature also stresses the need to recognise this diversity through contextual studies and there is increasing publication of nonmetropolitan cases (e.g., Caruana, 2010;Mertkan et al, 2016).…”

A Systematic Review of International Higher Education Scholarships for Students From the Global South

“…Over a million of these students pursued higher education in the United States, with approximately 20% receiving scholarship funding (Institute of International Education, n.d.). Concurrently, research related to international students is flourishing with quality insights in the fields of international education (Dolby & Rahman, 2008), internationalization of higher education (Buckner & Stein, 2020), and global student mobility trends (UIS, n.d.-a).…”

Strategic Benefits, Symbolic Commitments: How Canadian Colleges and Universities Frame Internationalization

“…Importantly, we also find that many important ideas are noticeably absent from our sample of existing strategies, namely those we classify as anti-oppressive. For example, even while colleges and universities in Canada face calls to decolonize and indigenize not only their student bodies, but also their knowledge bases, internationalization is rarely linked in these documents to these parallel calls to decolonize or indigenize the academy or to deconstruct the Eurocentrism within global higher education (Buckner & Stein, 2020;Stein, 2017). Institutions seem to be more comfortable with couching discussions of internationalization in discourses for diversity and quality, than equity or equality.…”

“…Internationalization is most commonly defined as a pro-cess of integrating international, intercultural, global, and cross-cultural perspectives into the purpose, functions, or delivery of post-secondary education (Knight, 2004). This broad conceptualization groups together a wide variety of organizational activities, including recruiting international students, supporting outbound mobility, promoting international research partnerships, and undertaking curricular reform (Buckner & Stein, 2020).…”