Internationalization of Higher Education: A Stakeholder Approach

Abstract

Internationalization in higher education has been catching up as a trend receiving attention more recently than before. Academia, institutions, scholars, parents, host nations, and home countries all constitute a vicious circle of stakeholders who play a role in internationalization. Each of them has something to take and something to give, and all of them stand to benefit from it. Internationalization is achieved through various means. By opening up their border for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in higher education, countries navigate their opportunities to connect with foreign universities. However, this is limited by political decisions. Moreover, all of what constitutes a learning environment cannot be cloned and eventually miss out on the real experience that you get there. The alternative is to further the educational ‘migration’, cost and affordability notwithstanding. In both the former and the latter, the stakeholders are key instruments in the process. Therefore, any attempt to study internationalization should take into account a stakeholder perspective to examine the advantages and benefits which might accrue to them, more so the constraints and disadvantages. This would necessitate a systemic analysis of both types of supporting systems that favour internationalization. This paper aims to narrate a stakeholder perspective. An attempt is made to examine the key stakeholder issues and critical constituent elements that need to be addressed to facilitate internationalization. Internationalization as a global ranking parameter for educational institutions and its relation with gross enrolment ratio (GER) is also discussed.