europe-global
“The largest and most geographically representative study of its kind ever conducted in Europe” – this is how the first edition of the EAIE Barometer was described when it was published in 2015. At the time, the European Association for International Education (EAIE) wanted to carry out a first-of-its-kind research study that would examine in more detail the current state of internationalization of higher education in Europe as seen by experts directly involved in the study. Masu.
Earlier this month, the third edition of this barometer was published. This barometer once again provides a surprisingly comprehensive set of insights into the state of internationalization in European higher education today. As his third in an ongoing series (his second, his EAIE Barometer, was released in 2018), he suggests how views on some issues have evolved over the past decade. , signals new priorities and concerns.
But how did we arrive at this third edition? How has the Barometer evolved over time, and what changes have we seen in regions, respondents, and focus over the years? Is there something?
With over 2,800 responses from international higher education experts working in 46 countries and covering a fairly long and wide range of issues, there is a lot to report.
However, when it comes to change over time, some of the most notable developments are regional response trends, the evolution of the way responsibilities for internationalization are organized within organizations, and the influence of national and European level actors. It is related to a change in the way of thinking about
First, it helps to understand a little about what we were trying to prioritize in previous Barometer exercises and the current edition.
past and present
The first edition of the EAIE Barometer was published almost 10 years ago in 2015. In 2014, a then-innovative research exercise provided interesting insights into key developments and challenges in the international higher education sector, as well as specific skills. Needs of staff involved in internationalization. This data also enabled the publication of a spin-off of his report titled: international strategic partnershipwhich spoke to the clear interest in partnership issues at the time.
Another large-scale study followed in 2017, and the second edition of the Barometer was published in 2018. This barometer has built on the results of the first edition to detail changes and growth in the field and highlight trends.
This resulted in two spin-off reports: signpost of successwe delved into nine commonalities shared by institutions where practitioners are most confident about the current and future state of internationalization. money is importantIn this paper, we focused on the ways in which funding and financial considerations can be both enablers and obstacles to European internationalization.
Building on the knowledge gained from the previous EAIE Barometer survey, this current and third edition expands on the themes covered in previous exercises and the We are tackling new and contemporary issues.
The main questions this study aimed to investigate include: What is really happening on the ground in a time of rapid change? How do professionals in this field feel about their roles, their organizations, or the policy environment that affects their work? How confident are they in their institutions' or organizations' ability to achieve their internationalization goals or in their leadership's ability to direct?
regional shift
From its inception, the Barometer project has considered internationalization from the perspective of actors directly involved in international higher education: professionals working at the forefront of internationalization.
This group of respondents continues to be made up of people with all kinds of roles, from administrators and academic staff to heads of internationalization departments, etc., and who work in a variety of organizational contexts (from civil servants to civil servants). It hasn't changed over the years in that it's still there. from research universities to national institutions to private professional institutions), across approximately 12 different functional fields, with a full range of career tenures from less than 2 years of experience in the field to more than 15 years in the field. It represents.
Although there is no noticeable change in the types of respondents surveyed, there are changes when looking at the responses by region.
The latest Barometer exercise received responses from all regions of the European Higher Education Area, with Western Europe being the most represented in the data and Western Asia being the least represented.
This is largely consistent with past Barometer exercises, although there has been a slight increase in survey participation in Eastern and Western Europe. Most striking, however, is the notable decline in the representation of Northern Europe, including the UK, both in number of respondents and as a proportion of respondents since the first Barometer report.
Across the data, Scandinavia seems to be a bit of an outlier. The region is one of the least confident in its internationalization leadership, with fewer than average respondents believing they need to focus on international development and capacity-building projects, and national・They generally have a more pessimistic view of international developments. European level policy influence.
It would be enlightening to delve deeper into these findings, especially those related to the political pressures at work in some of these Nordic countries, as seen in other recent studies. university world news Articles on the EU project investigating the impact of nationalism on freedom in higher education, Hans de Witt's article 'Competing for students: the Global North relinquishes privileges', de Witt and Philipp Altbach's ' Includes reports such as “Student mobility?” After a political change, uncertainty prevails. ”
Significant changes in organization and influence
In addition to regional differences, signs of how internationalization is developing may also be discernible in two other key areas.
First, since the first iteration of the EAIE Barometer in 2015, there has been a noticeable and consistent decline in organizations responsible for internationalization with a single central office or single centralized team.
Only 24% of respondents reported this type of configuration in 2023, compared to 35% in 2018 and 51% in 2015. Half of all respondents in 2023 indicated that their internationalization responsibilities are now structured around “coordinated central and decentralized teams.”
Second, although still very important, the influence of actors at national and European level may be gradually weakening.
The majority of respondents believe that authorities at national (58%) and European level (53%) are “very influential” or “influential” when it comes to driving their institution’s internationalization goals. Masu. However, in 2015, 68% of respondents felt that the national policy level had a strong or relatively strong influence on their institutions' internationalization policies, and 66% felt that their EU-level They were equally aware of the impact.
This may be the result of increased autonomy, increased internationalization maturity, or a variety of factors. Moreover, there are real differences in the data between countries and regions in this regard, clearly reflecting the diversity of realities across Europe. We look forward to investigating this further.
Given Europe’s ever-changing political landscape and ambitious plans for economic competitiveness, digitalization, and other goals, how are organizational leaders, policymakers, and the field at large responding to these trends? It will be very interesting to see what the judge decides. The EAIE Barometer provides an overview of the internationalization of higher education in Europe from the front lines.
Jody Hoekstra-Selten is Director of Knowledge Development at the European Association for International Education and Dr Laura E Rumbley is Director of Knowledge Development and Research at the European Association for International Education (EAIE). click here Access the complete EAIE Barometer report or executive summary.
