�����������Eurasian higher education and its Internationalisation in a time of global turmoil���

HANS DE WIT, PROFESSOR EMERITUS AND DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION (CIHE), BOSTON COLLEGE

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

Key themes

• The different perceptions and meanings of internationalization in and of higher education, and what are key shifting paradigms?

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• What have been and are the main trends, rationales and drivers for internationalization over the past decades?

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• What might be the future directions of internationalization in response to current drastically changing global contexts and developments in higher education?

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• What might be the challenges and opportunities for higher education in Eurasia?

CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

The different phases of Internationalisation

• After WW II and During the Cold War:
• - South-North mobility of a small elite
• - Development cooperation/aid
• - national security
• - soft power

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• After the Cold War, 1980s-1990s:
• - A period of Hope (EU/US mainly)
• - A shift from aid to trade (UK/Australia

• At the turn of the Century-2010s:
• - From cooperation to competition
• - From Western Dominance to emerging global internationalisation
• - A counter reaction from abroad to at home (although more in theory than in practice)

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• 2020s - :
• - Inward looking
• - Knowledge security: from social towards political responsibility

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

Over the past half century, internationalization in and of higher education has evolved:

• - From a marginal and ad hoc range of activities to more comprehensive and central processes and policies.

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• - It has become a key strategic agenda for universities but also national and local governments around the globe.

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• - It is driven by a diverse range of rationales, organizational and program strategies, and includes the involvement of a broad range of stakeholders, internal and external to the system

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• - But at the same time has resulted in many different approaches and actions.

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

Internationalization: A multifaceted and evolving concept

• Two dimensions, multifaceted and evolving, are key characteristics of the internationalization of higher education; �
• Internationalization is not one model that fits all, its diversity is institutional, local, national and regional defined, and has changed and evolved over time in response to changing contexts and challenges.

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

A problematic sloppiness, mixing and confusing

the ‘why’ (the rationales for internationalization)

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the ‘what’ (its programs and actions)

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the ‘how’ (its organization)

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• the ‘impact’ (its outcomes)

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• the ‘whom’ (partnerships) and

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the ‘where’ (its context).

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

Looking Back to Internationalization

Education abroad in all its forms is more driving the agenda than internationalization at home

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Increasing focus on international rankings are the rules, and favor some over others.

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The divide between the high income countries in the global North and other countries and between those universities classified as top world-class universities and the “Others” persists.

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• Internationalization has become more synonym to competition and marketization than to its traditional values (cooperation, exchange and service to society).
• Inequality and exclusiveness increased nationally and internationally, in part due to elitist approaches to internationalization.

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

A counter reaction: from competition back to cooperation?�

• As a counter reaction to the exclusive focus on mobility, movements like ‘Internationalization at Home’ (Beelen and Jones, 2015), ‘Internationalization of the Curriculum’ (Leask, 2015) and ‘Comprehensive Internationalization’ (Hudzik, 2015) have emerged around the turn of the century, trying to shift the focus on internationalization for all students, not exclusively the small percentage of mobile ones.
• Recently, also a critique on ‘internationalization as a Western paradigm’ (Jones and de Wit) and a call for ‘decolonization’ (Stein and others) are present.

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• Also the rather exclusive focus on only one of the three missions of universities, education, has been challenged with an appeal to more specific attention to internationalization of research (Woldegiyorgis et al, 2018) and internationalization of higher education for society (Jones et al, 2021).

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

A changing paradigm?

• Appeals for change resonate in words.
• But in practice the focus continues to be on internationalization abroad, mobility.
• De Wit and Rumbley (2017) speak of rhetoric more than concrete action, and Leask, Jones and de Wit (2018) of a struggle to move beyond good intentions and isolated examples of good practice.

• “Equality, diversity and inclusion, social justice, decolonization, global power relations and geopolitics, human rights, anti-racism, gender identity and equality, ethics, multiculturalism, and sustainability are just some of the related elements which all have a role to play in broadening our understanding of internationalization” (Jones, 2022: iv).

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

In response, Directing Internationalization of Higher Education for the Future

Reflects increased awareness that

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• IoHE must become more inclusive and less elitist

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• Mobility must become an integral part of the internationalized curriculum that ensures internationalisation for all

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Re-emphasises that

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• Internationalization is not a goal in itself, but a means to enhance quality

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• Should not focus solely on economic rationales

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

A direction for the future

• 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

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(de Wit et al, 2015, European Parliament Study)

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

A changing global landscape

• Key challenges
• Geopolitical developments and tensions
• Health concerns
• Sustainability/environment and other SDGs
• Increased competition for global talent
• Nationalism
• Racism
• and other factors

• Key questions
• How will internationalization be shaped by this global landscape?

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• How will those working in internationalization respond to the challenges they face?

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• And how will they therefore contribute to shaping the future?

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CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

Some key points of attention for Higher Education in Eurasia

• Make the third mission of HE, service to society, a more central concern of internationalisation and Europeanisation, focusing on inclusivity, social responsibility and solidarity, rather than exclusionary practice
• - Do not consider local and global as opposite but as related points of focus and attention.
• Place greater emphasis on interculturalisation within internationalised curricula, engaging diverse local communities as well as developing global mindsets.
• -Strengthen the link between internationalisation and fundamental academic values: academic freedom, institutional autonomy, academic integrity, responsibility for and of higher education.

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• - Respond to the climate crisis, reducing the focus on study abroad by incorporating virtual exchange and collaborative online international learning as an integral part of the internationalisation process
• - Maintain support for both top-down and bottom-up initiatives in international policies and actions.
• - Create a balance between the need for ongoing collaboration and recognition of security concerns.
• Public and private universities are not only each other competitors, but also partners in global cooperation.
• The increase in number of international students and of foreign branch campuses and other TNE models is an opportunity but can become a challenge when they are too dominant and lack quality control.
• See regional cooperation not as a limitation but as an opportunity for global engagement.

CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025

Thank you

DEWITJ@BC.EDU

CENTRAL ASIA RECTORS' CLUB SEPTEMBER 26 2025