1. Globalization Setting a New Agenda for
Internationalisation of Higher education
Nico Jooste
AIU- November 2012

2. Introduction
• Should we – the developing world re-think Higher
education internationalisation?
• Why this topic given the current levels of
internationalisation
– 80% of Institutions in Africa don't participate in more than
on-campus internationalisation
– What is the norm in the developed world?
• Africa needs new solutions to old problems.
– The problems that exist in the world today cannot be
solved by the level of thinking that created them

3. The current situation
• Africa and NAFSA and the EAIE
• Other Developing Countries.
• IEASA
Brazil Conference 2012:
We don't want all universities to be all the same—we don't want to be like
them," Sonia Laus, who researches the internationalization of higher
education at the State University of Santa Catarina, said to loud applause
during the first plenary debate on internationalization and mobility.
Fernando Leon, rector of the Sistema CETYS University in northern Mexico,
said that as the populations of developed countries are shrinking, the
population in developing countries continues to grow.
That means the rich nations will look to the poorer ones for labor.

4. The Developing World Cont.
• Uneven levels of higher education access.
• Can Internationalisation of Higher
Education be a focus?
• Is re-thinking thus a relevant question for
those that are just beginning to
participate?

5. Setting the Agenda
• The real question is thus what should the developing
world be doing differently.
• The practices vs. the globalisation drives.
• The question about the future of Higher Education
Internationalisation should be firstly to ask the
fundamental questions around what would lead to a
more just society in a world that is so unevenly
developed.
Question – What would be the most appropriate social contract
between university and society as well as the responsible ‘matching’
of international collaboration.

6. Setting the Agenda
• How do we bring the benefits of internationalisation to
the broader community in a society that carries all the
injustices of the past. This should be an integral part of
the Internationalisation Agenda of the future? How?
– Curriculum instead of focussing on global citizenship from a
multi-cultural point of view, should it not include a process of
cultural awakening that address an appropriate social contract
that is driven by the developing world. What would the rankings
look like if this carries more weight?
– Mobility focused on the developing world - can we use the same
philosophies when we determine reciprocity?
– The concept of distributive justice in a globalised world should
be an underlying philosophy when we set the new agenda.

7. Setting the Agenda
• Naude (2004):
• “ Without distributive justice a double impoverishment
occur: Those in economically advantaged positions will
merely reflect the negative aspect of global capitalism
and affirm the widening economic gap instead of
providing some constructive remedy. Where knowledge
systems remain closed to outsiders, everybody is
impoverished and ignorance sets in despite the guise of
the information age.”
• What does this mean in setting the agenda for the future
internationalisation?

8. The Future
A core reality that distinguishes current discussion
and action from that of the past is :
• the scale and scope of what internationalization
encompasses—
• the breadth of clientele served, the outcomes intended,
and
• a reshaping of institutional ethos.
There is a growing sense that inter-nationalization is an
institutional imperative, not just a desirable possibility

9. The Future
Challenges.
• Institutions need to connect to a variety of
global networks.
– Can only connect to the knowledge society through
comprehensive internationalisation strategies.
– Needs to be driven by strong institutional leadership
informed by the latest practices in internationalisation
– It still require strong leadership

10. The Future
• A word of caution – it will not be easy. It cannot be a
quick fix.
• The external factors influencing the future agenda,
especially the fluidity in the global geo-political
environment, will make it complex and challenging. I
don’t think we will soon agree on a final agenda, it will
probably remain a draft agenda for a long time. By 2025
others will still be finalising the agenda. This is the
nature of higher education internationalisation, we will
not reach a finalised agenda.
.

11. How do we move forward?
• Now what?
– The future of Internationalisation of higher Education
should not be seen in ‘strict Higher Education speak’.
Thus focussing first on those issues that can be
defined as the micro matters, the how do we do
teaching and research as well as the international
relations activities.
– The critical ingredient would be to first set the ground
rules. It should be an inclusive process where all
participate as equals and not as mere invitees.
– A global dialogue arranged where those that were
excluded from the debate plays a real role as equals
in the setting of the future agenda.

12. Conclusion
• The ceiling won’t stay when the room is no
longer there.
– Universities should stop removing ceilings whose
rooms have long disappeared.
Universities need to create the capacity to connect to
the knowledge society if they do not want to be
accused of addressing an audience that is not in the
room.
However, in setting the agenda we all should strive to
be more inclusive and the notion of participative
democracy should be the guiding principle.
A Global Dialogue - 2014