How important is the local when thinking global?

Internationalisation at a research led university

Ian WillisResearch Seminar28 October 2009

‘Local’ - key emergent theme• Journey

– Local was NOT starting place– 2nd beginning was on rationales, drivers and

restrainers for internationalisation • University is NW & research led!

– Confidential– Major changes underway

• Internationalisation & globalisation: brief• Theoretical focus• Local considerations

– emerged as a strong theme in analysis

Inter-connected Inter-actingNested

• Global• International• (Europe)• National • University• (Departmental)• Individual

Levels

Globalisation – what on earth is it?

Globalisation in terms of:•Ethnicity•Ideas•Media•Finance•TechnologyKey notions:Flows Global events induce local responses

Appadurai 1996

GlobalThe existence of global economic, political, cultural and environmental interconnections and flows that make many of the existing borders and boundaries irrelevant

Steger 2003

Note: ComplexInter-relations, flows, dynamicBeyond statesEconomic dimension inescapable but much more going on

BUT: states remain very powerful including in education

Globalisation and internationalisation Related and interconnected but not the same

Internationalisation is one of the responses that HEIs are making through their strategies, policies and activities (UNESCO 2004, Altbach & Knight 2007)

Responses will be local, situated and prescribed by the realities of individual HEIs

Internationalisation

The process of integrating an international, intercultural and/or global dimension into the goals, functions (teaching/learning, research, services) and delivery of higher education

(Knight 2005)

This is very commonly cited

•Note: integration

Rationales – why bother?Rationales Constituent elements or focus

Social and cultural

Intercultural understanding, Citizenship, Social and community development

Economic Economic competitiveness, Labour market, Income generation

Academic International dimension to research and teaching, Institution-building, Profile and status, Enhancement of quality and curriculum, Collaborations

Competitive International branding and positioning, Strategic alliances, Knowledge production & exchange

Developmental Student and staff development, Institutional learning and exchange, Capacity building

Question: Is it a......

1. Theoretical framework

2. Conceptual framework

3. Organising framework

4. Plain old framework

Force field analysis Lewin

Social Practice Theory Trowler

Transformative globalisation Held et al, Tikly, Appadurai

Internationalisation rationales Knight, Middlehurst & Woodfield

‘Glonacal-agency’ heuristic Marginson & Rhoades

Organisational Isomorphism/Allomorphism

Vaira

Structure/Agency Giddens, Archer, Bhaskar

‘Philosophy of Higher Education’ Barnett

Organising the level & complexity

• Lewin’s Force field analysis– Driving and restraining forces for change

• Social Practice Theory: Trowler– ‘Situates’ change

• Transformative globalisation– Emphasises local responses to global flows/forces

Forces potentially acting to restrain internationalisation

GlobalRejection of globalisation discourse, credit crunch

InstitutionalConflicting university agendas and priorities

Existing positions and interests

IndividualLocally based research, commitment to local concernsQuestioning of globalisation discourse & marketisation

Views on ‘purpose’ of universityExisting positions and interests

Forces: potential to drive internationalisation

GlobalNeo-liberal economics, trade agreements

New markets, competition, demand

Global research, Global challenges

ICT, English worldwide, staff & student mobility

National policiesEconomic view of internationalisation

Relative reduction in funding

More Forces: potential to drive

InstitutionalEconomic pressure, competition

‘Global University’, Reputation (research led)International league tables

Existing traditions & international collaborationsEducational drive for international dimension

IndividualInternational research interestsAcceptance of market discourseExisting positions and interests

‘Glonacal-agency’ heuristic

• Global - National – Local– All important

• Agency: looking at how individuals act/influence at all levels

• ‘Layers and conditions’–Changes mediated by local histories

and aims Marginson & Rhoades

Structure/Agency

• Argued that each level creates a structure within which level below acts agentially

• Global forces create context that calls for a university response– Often meaning internationalisation

• University’s internationalisation creates context: individual response

These responses can in turn influence ‘up’

Structure/Agency

• Provides an explanation of how individual interests (projects) are the locus of concern/action

• Shows agential action can shape structures– Over time

• Theoretical argument– Why to engage with individual interests– Supported in the findings

University / Individual

• University linking internationalisation aims to individual ‘projects’ can be a key to successful development

• Doing it just for the money won’t work• Need for a nuanced message• Monash require any internationalisation

activity to explicitly serve an academic function

Back to the Framework

What is it.........?Theoretical, ConceptualOrganising or Plain old?

Ask the audience!

• Does it work OK?• Questions/comments

• Thank you

Bonus slides follow

How new is it ?Debated – here’s one viewFour major cycles:1. 1492 - Spain and Portugal colonise S America etc. World (oceanic) trade

established

2. Late 17th Cent – 2nd European colonisation, slave trade, trade gives over to conquest

3. Late 19th Cent – huge increase in trade, mass migration to Americas. Last colonies fought for. Ends with 1930s depression

4. Post WW2 – trade liberalisation, intensifies 1967 – 1980s

• Initial gains unequally distributed, but eventually trickle down (?) • Greater gains overall to those that globalised. Often caused great suffering• ‘Elites’ have more in common with elites in other countries than with own people

National messages & pressures• HE as a business is very important to UK economy

– Income: ~ £17bn, Economic impact: £42.5bn, – 1.2% of workforce: 330,000 direct (600,000 total

impact)• Most UK national messages are economic• Knowledge economy is accepted • Most governments want mass education and

spending contained– These are real pressures for HEIs– Leads to mix of public/private income– 61% public, 27% private, 12% ‘export’

Figures from Universities UK for 2003-4

Globalisation:ContestedDifferent viewsDifferent assumptions

Hyperglobalist: Triumph of global capitalismDemise of nation state Sceptical: Just regionalismPolarisation: developed and developingNation state now more important in managing

crisis in capitalismEducation is national Transformational: Interconnectedness; both integration and

fragmentation. Some enmeshed in global order others

marginalisedRelationships cross national boundariesNations retain power but transformed by ideas

of international governance and law

3 broad approaches - each contains plurality of views

Globalisation – summary notesFlows, Intensity, SpeedHomogenisation & localisationEconomics (neo-liberal) as major driver

Knowledge Economy, Competition, GATs

Education: a product and part of globalising process WW educational (credentialing) system, English, Staff & Student mobility

Global challengesGlobal research collaboration