Hi Rakesh
I have been leading University of Leicester’s response to the
Internationalisation agenda and have been exploring UoLs interpretation of
the term.
You may find the following helpful:
One of the most commonly used definitions of internationalisation is that
it is ‘process of integrating an international, intercultural or global
dimension’ (Knight 2004). However this definition does not explain
the ‘rationale’ for internationalising and it is this that I believe is
the crux of your question.
De Wit and Knight (1997) identified 4 rationales in higher education that
might explain why an institution may wish to internationalise. These are
Social/Cultural, political, economic and academic. These rationales are
inter-dependent but an ‘institution’ may feel that one takes precedent
over the others. Interestingly, in a survey carried out by the IAU, non-
EU members noted that the EU members emphasized the economic rationale of
internationalisation - this perhaps explains why for many years UK HEIs
equated internationalisation with international students recruitment.
This emphasis is beginning to change (Knight, 2006; Middlehurst 2006). At
an institutional level (if not at national level) the Social/Cultural
rationale is emerging with a particular emphasis on ‘mutual support and
understanding’ with the other rationales growing out of this value. This
may be because of the ESD agenda and employability agenda as well as the
United Nations commitment to ensuring that HE contributes to meeting the
Millennium Development Goals.
Ultimately, an institution needs to agree its rationale – and this
refreshingly means that the sector has to engage ALL OF ITS PEOPLE in
dialogue about the values that underpin their practice.
I hope this helps.
If you, or others would like to know more about the work here at Leicester
then please get in touch.
Kindest regards
Liz
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