The main trends of higher education internationalization strategies

Abstract

The importance of internationalization for higher education is difficult to overestimate. The increased number of strategies at European, national and institutional level aimed at enhancing higher education internationalization is a positive trend. The programmes, projects, institutions, national and regional policies and strategies is the subject of many governance discussions regarding the internationalization of higher education. There is no general applicable model of internationalization. Most national strategies in Europe and worldwide are focused on mobility, economic gains, recruitment of international students and enhancement of international visibility. The countries with high internationalization results incorporate these approaches into the comprehensive strategies, in which internationalization of the curriculum, digital learning and intercultural competencies as a means to enhance the quality of education and research receive more attention. There is a need to break down the barrier between internationalization of science and education. The interaction between the different stakeholders in higher education is essential for the development of internationalization strategy. It is important to give more autonomy to higher education institutions and governmental support in the development of higher education internationalization, in recognizing the importance of internationalization for the society, in building a dialogue among people of different nations and cultural backgrounds, and for the business sector through talent recruitment, research and commercialization of the innovations. The overview of the main trends in the internationalization strategies in five European Union countries (Finland, France, Italy, Romania and Spain) proved that cooperation in the quadrangle “education–government–business–civil society” provides internalization enforcement increasing the competitiveness of the higher education system at the global market.