Title:
Comprehensive Internationalization in the Pursuit of ‘World-Class’ Status: A Cross-Case Analysis of Singapore’s Two Flagship Universities
Author:
Justin S. Sanders
Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Suita, Japan
Published:
Higher Education Policy, Volume 33, pp. 753-775 (December 2020)
Abstract:
This paper uses John Hudzik’s (2015) Comprehensive Internationalization as a conceptual framework to examine how two Singaporean universities, the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), leverage internationalization as a means to achieving ‘world-class’ status. Document analysis, semi-structured interviews and campus observations are used to provide a cross-case analysis of the universities’ strategies related to partnerships, student and staff mobility, and internationalization of the curriculum. This analysis is placed against the backdrop of wider state policy to explore the relationship between institutional approach and national context. Overall, the findings suggest that a global frame of reference is embedded in the two universities’ visions, and internationalization activities are aggressively pursued to achieve those visions. Factors related to each university’s approach to comprehensive internationalization are explored in the discussion section.