Governing Cross-Border Higher Education

219 Pages·2014·1.598 MB·English

by  Christopher Ziguras, Grant McBurnie

Governing Cross-Border Higher
Education
Governing Cross-Border Higher Education examines the role of governments in
relation to three key aspects of international education: student mobility; migra-
tion of international students; and transnational provision through collaboration
or branch campuses. The research for this book is informed by interviews with
key stakeholders in ten countries and extensive engagement with policy makers
and international agencies. It analyses the ways in which governments are able
to direct or at least influence these cross-border movements in higher education.
The book explores key issues that national governments are invariably required
to contend with in an increasingly globalized higher education market, as well
as the policy options available to them in such a climate. Alongside this, there is
analysis into why states adopt particular approaches, with critical assessment of
their varying success. Key topics include:
• the political economy of international higher education;
• recruiting students;
• promoting and regulating transnational provision;
• student migration;
• governing educational imports;
• managing the outflow of students;
• the regulated market.
This book will be a valuable and insightful resource for those involved in higher
education policy and interested in the globalization of the higher education market.
Christopher Ziguras is Deputy Dean, International in the School of Global,
Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
Grant McBurnie is an Associate in the School of Global, Urban and Social
Studies at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
Internationalization in Higher Education
Series Editor: Elspeth Jones
This series addresses key themes in the development of internationalization within
Higher Education. Up to the minute and international in both appeal and scope,
books in the series focus on delivering contributions from a wide range of con-
texts and provide both theoretical perspectives and practical examples. Written
by some of the leading experts in the field, they are vital guides that discuss and
build upon evidence-based practice and provide a clear evaluation of outcomes.
Titles in the series:
Tools for Teaching in an Educationally Mobile World
Jude Carroll
Developing the Global Student
Higher education in an era of globalisation
David Killick
Governing Cross-Border Higher Education
Christopher Ziguras and Grant McBurnie
Governing Cross-Border
Higher Education
Christopher Ziguras and
Grant McBurnie
First published 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Christopher Ziguras and Grant McBurnie
The right of Christopher Ziguras and Grant McBurnie to be identified
as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Ziguras, Christopher.
Governing cross-border higher education / Christopher Ziguras and
Grant McBurnie.
pages cm.—(Internationalization in higher education series)
1. Transnational education—Government policy. 2. Education and
globalization. I. McBurnie, Grant, 1960– II. Title.
LC1095.Z54 2014
378.1′75—dc23 2014010147
ISBN: 978-0-415-73487-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-73488-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-76401-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by Book Now Ltd, London
Contents
List of tables vii
Series editor’s foreword ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction xv
1 Global policy prescriptions: Trade, protection and
competitiveness 1
2 The entrepreneurial state: Recruiting students 25
3 Managing the outflow of self-funded and sponsored
students 50
4 Even the best laid plans: Student migration policy
and its unintended consequences 81
5 Outgoing student migration: Steering the circulation
of brains 99
6 Offshoring higher education: Regulating and
promoting overseas provision 128
7 Regulation and quality assurance of foreign providers 148
Conclusion 179
Index 187
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Tables
2.1 Major host countries of internationally mobile degree
students, 2011 28
2.2 Tuition fee policies of major education exporters 37
2.3 Work rights for international students in selected host countries 40
3.1 Students in Singaporean tertiary education institutions, 2005 54
3.2 Singapore students in onshore Australian higher education
and vocational education and training 56
3.3 GATS commitments for consumption abroad 63
4.1 International students in higher education in Australia:
completions, permanent residency and enrolment growth 88
5.1 Outbound student mobility and emigration rates 103
6.1 Foreign students enrolled in British and Australian transnational
programmes 129
6.2 Proportion of international students in Australian universities
enrolled offshore, by country of birth, 2010 130
7.1 Students in Singaporean tertiary education institutions, 2005 148
7.2 McNamara’s transnational education policy environment
framework 157
7.3 Scoring regulatory environments for transnational providers 158
7.4 Business regulation and quality assurance in selected countries 159
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Series editor’s foreword
This series addresses the rapidly changing and highly topical field of internationaliza-
tion in higher education. Arising from the notion of international education, which
had essentially a curricular focus on international themes such as development stud-
ies and comparative education, use of the term ‘internationalization’ began more
recently, during the latter part of the twentieth century. Since that time attention
to the international dimension of higher education has become increasingly visible
in institutional strategies as well as national and international agendas. Early distinc-
tions were established between, on the one hand, market-driven interests in the
recruitment of international students and, on the other, practitioners who see trans-
formational potential through internationalization activities as a means of enhancing
personal and professional development.
While those themes continue to be of importance, the intervening years
have seen a more nuanced range of interests bridging that divide. Informed by
diverse disciplines including anthropology, languages & communication, busi-
ness & marketing, environmental studies, strategic leadership and pedagogy,
internationalization is now high on the priority list for universities around
the world. This is, in part, as a response to changing global environments but
also in reaction to globalization itself with its potential for homogenization if
taken to extremes. The many dimensions of contemporary internationalization
require institutions to adjust and define the concept for their own purposes,
adding to the richness of our understanding of the ‘meta-discipline’ in practice.
This is perhaps most evident in countries where institutional and curricular
internationalization is a more recent development, and traditional ‘western’ inter-
nationalization practice requires further exploration for appropriacy in local
contexts. Development and implementation of the concept in such new environments
will add to our understanding of the benefits and challenges of internationali-
zation practice over the coming years.
The answer to the question ‘what is internationalization?’ will thus vary from
one university to another and indeed by subject discipline within that institution.
Reframing the question as ‘what is internationalization for this university, in this
particular context, and for this discipline within it?’ begins to reflect more accu-
rately the diversity and complexity of this growing field.