International Strategy for Higher Education Institutions
Posted on by Vicky Lewis
The theme of the European Association for International Education’s (EAIE) Winter Forum magazine is ‘Internationalisation for All: Distributed leadership in international education’. It includes a range of great articles exploring different aspects of inclusive internationalisation and the kind of leadership needed (at all levels) to realise this.
I contributed the opening article to the magazine, entitled ‘Fresh Perspectives and Inclusive Models’. It’s based on my 2021 research into the international strategies of UK universities and encourages those of us working in international education to challenge our assumptions about leadership and delivery and to look beyond the pandemic to a future model of more distributed and empowering internationalisation.
This is about more than simply involving staff outside the international office. We need to invite different perspectives that will challenge the mindset, approaches and terminology adopted in the Global North. We also need to spread a global ethos throughout the institution and broaden ownership. This has implications for international office operations. A move towards a less colonialist, less carbon-heavy model may see a higher proportion of staff based in the regions with which the university seeks to engage.
An inclusive approach to internationalisation means actively drawing on the expertise and insights of colleagues and other diverse stakeholders wherever in the world they are located.
Here’s a link to a pdf version of my article (along with the contents page and editorial of the Winter 2021 Forum magazine – see pages 6-8 for my piece). The rest of the magazine can be downloaded by EAIE members from the Association’s website.
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