Abstract:

Higher education internationalisation (HEI) has become a significant priority to policy makers and education providers around the globe. As an eminent feature of higher education (HE) and motivated by globalisation, HEI has become politically strategic and economically promising for nations, governments and universities to position themselves in a competitive global market. In many countries, the growing importance of HEI has moved from the periphery to a focal position for governments and has furthermore translated into the improvement of policies, approaches, programmes, projects and infrastructure at all spheres of HE governance. The principle of HEI is to create social and cultural networks, improve economic development, share knowledge, and contribute to an inclusive, caring, affluent and multinational world. Nevertheless, current research are primarily done by occasional researching practitioners and applied HE researchers focusing on practical, rather than methodological research issues. Numerous countries are struggling towards a HE framework that is nationally responsive and globally competitive. In particular, global competitiveness of developing countries requires a HE framework that leads social change by being receptive to the diverse and numerous needs of the economy and society and in addition should be aligned with the distinct changes and rapid transformation of HE globally. This research is situated within the second HE framework requirement, namely to stay relevant in the global arena aligned with distinct changes and rapid transformation of HE globally. The aim of this paper is to provide a multiphase mixed method approach to asses internationalisation of higher education policies based on the transformative force (i.e. adjustment of change, learning, shared knowledge, internationalisation, globalisation an institutionalised memory) of HEI. The interpretivist paradigm constitute the primary research approach of this research. Multiphase mixed methods is employed to collect, analyse and integrate quantitative and qualitative data and allow for a more complete and synergistic usage of data than separate quantitative and qualitative methodology. The multiphase mixed methods design include numerous phases that come together to answer the focal question. In this investigation, the three phases answer the overall research question and are addressed through content analysis (Phase I), in-depth interviews (Phase II) and surveys (Phase III). The significance of this research is aimed at arousing a better understanding of HE policy issues in developing countries from a transformation perspective. This research will contribute to theory with respect to how internationalisation and globalisation influence HE and the position of HE in economic and social development. Furthermore, this research may also have practical significance for HE policy and practice in developing countries and other comparatively positioned countries. It might expand knowledge and awareness of how internationalisation influences the unique circumstances and challenges of HE education reform in developing countries, especially countries in search of positioning itself in a globalised knowledge economy.

Keywords:

Higher Education Internationalisation (HEI), Multiphase Mixed Methods, Transformative Forces, Reformative Framework, Internationalisation.