Abstract:

Measuring internationalization of Higher Education Institutions is a complex process as many parameters have to be taken into consideration apart from the mere compilation of data. This article focuses on how to construct a composite indicator for measuring internationalization performance. A Composite Indicator (CI) is defined as the compilation of individual indicators into a single index in order to measure multi-dimensional concepts, which cannot be captured by a single indicator. The main objective of a CI is to quantify and simplify information of a set of simple indicators so that the understanding of the subject being analyzed both stakeholders and the general public to be transmitted. In this study, the aggregation of different indicators carefully selected and aligned with the institution’s internal policy, finally constitutes an Index for the Evaluation of Internationalization Activity. In particular, this study explains the stages in the process of creating the Index: which indicators can be taken into consideration according to different criteria, why they are chosen, how they can be aligned. This Index has been tested at a higher education institution and it has been being implemented for the last five years at the internationalization units or offices of a public University in Spain: the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia (UPV). It is also being used as a performance indicator to reward the units accordingly.

Keywords:

Higher Education, internationalization, composite indicator.