Challenges and strategies for the internationalization of higher education in low-income East African countries [Scholarly Article - Higher education, January 2023]

Title:

Challenges and strategies for the internationalization of higher education in low-income East African countries

 

Authors:

Mohammad Moshtari

Faculty of Management and Business, Industrial Engineering and Management, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

& 

Alireza Safarpour

Sharif Policy Research Institute, Tehran, Iran

 

Published:

Higher Education, 23 January 2023 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-023-00994-1

 

Abstract:

As it becomes more crucial to push the boundaries of science to develop new technologies and important global initiatives, internationalization can be instrumental in helping underdeveloped countries overcome challenges such as poverty, climate change, and educational inequalities. Higher education institutions have always faced challenges in the process of internationalization, which have occupied scholarly attention in recent decades, but little research has been conducted on the internationalization of higher education in less developed African countries. This qualitative study aims to shed light on the challenges of internationalization of higher education in low-income countries in East Africa. After reviewing the literature and interviewing academics, the obtained data were thematically analyzed. The results suggested 12 main challenges, which were classified into four major categories. The challenges include a lack of clear policies and guidelines; the inefficiency of the organizational structure of internationalization; financial, infrastructure, and equipment problems; weaknesses in scientific, skill, and language competences; cultural differences; non-reciprocal relationships; and a brain drain. Finally, strategies for responding to these challenges with regard to the internal and external environments of higher education institutions were proposed. Among the internal strategies of higher education institutions are the development of clear policies and visions, planning for the development of human resources, and sustainable budgeting for internationalization programs. External strategies emphasize the development of national policies and laws based on contextual and environmental conditions, as well as interaction and participation in international meetings to expand communication and use the scientific and economic capacities of international agencies and institutions.

 

“There is a hell and heaven difference among faculties who are from quota and those who are non-quota”: under the veneer of the “New Middle Class” production of Indian public universities [Scholarly Article - Higher Education, September 2022]

Title:

“There is a hell and heaven difference among faculties who are from quota and those who are non-quota”: under the veneer of the “New Middle Class” production of Indian public universities

 

Authors:

Nandita Banerjee Dhawan, Dina Zoe Belluigi & Grace Ese-Osa Idahosa 

 

Published:

Higher Education, 28 September 2022

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-022-00932-7

 

Abstract:

The university is a highly politicized and fractious realm for students and academics. Amidst trade-offs between the processes of massification, democratization, commodification, and globalization, the question of transformation for sustainability has become crucial to the social good(s) of higher education. This paper considers academic citizenry within Indian public higher education — a context where the increase in the enrollment of first-generation students and female students, due to affirmative action policies, has not substantially translated into altering the composition of academic staff. Informed by a mixed-method study conducted in 2019 with the participation of academics and those in leadership positions at four higher education institutions, we found that the enactment of such policies was operationalized for the production of the “New Middle Class” by universities. Of concern is that neither the representation nor the participation of academics who are women, “lower” castes, or minorities meets the mark of just, inclusive institutions. Despite the rhetoric of inclusiveness and development, the implementation of related policies clothe subalterns with the veneer of the intellectual class, permitting access on condition that sociocultural identities are concealed, and the hegemonic status quo maintained. Terms such as “quality” and “equality” function as tools for social control rather than serving social justice, where assertions of caste identity and resistance are simultaneously repudiated and misrecognized.

 

GERMANY - DAAD says collaboration for sustainability is priority [University World News, June 2021]

Title:

GERMANY - DAAD says collaboration for sustainability is priority 

 

Author:

Michael Gardner  

 

Published:

University World News, 29 June 2021 

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210629114434259

 

From the article:

With German federal elections coming up in September, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has presented a discussion paper outlining its chief activities in the coming years. The paper highlights the significance of international academic collaboration in tackling global challenges and achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.