Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemInternationalisation of higher education in Russia: looking East( 2019)Internationalisation has become central on the agendas of higher education institutions and national governments across the world. Despite the increasing number of countries engaged in the process of internationalisation, to date, most of the research on this phenomenon has been dominated by developed Anglophone nations. Higher education institutions in these countries act as global knowledge centres and are arguably well-placed to advance their internationalisation goals (Altbach, Reisberg, & Rumbley, 2009; Klemenčič, 2017), whereas higher education institutions situated in the academic periphery, face numerous challenges in internationalising their institutions. While there has been a slowly growing body of research on internationalisation of higher education in emerging economies, few studies have examined factors influencing the internationalisation process of universities located in the academic periphery. Considering that internationalisation is influenced by the local contexts in which higher education institutions are situated, examining the internationalisation process of universities in peripheral regions can provide different perspectives and contribute to existing understandings of higher education internationalisation more broadly. This study investigated internationalisation of higher education in a less explored context of the Eastern part of Russia, more specifically Siberia and the Far East. Drawing upon Klemenčič’s framework for internationalisation of higher education institutions in the periphery, the study examined factors influencing internationalisation in all seven leading universities in this region that were identified by the Russian government as part of the state initiatives to modernise national higher education sector. Through document analysis of institutional strategic development plans and a series of semi-structured interviews with administrative leaders engaged in the international activities, the study sought to provide insights into how internationalisation is framed at the institutional level in response to government policies and what factors influence how internationalisation goals are realised in regional universities. The study found that inherited factors such as geographic location, history, culture and tradition influence how internationalisation plays out in higher education institutions. The findings highlight the need for more diverse policies on higher education internationalisation that recognise specific regional factors, as well as long-term institutional strategies that help create a culture supportive of internationalisation. For universities in the academic periphery, the findings suggest that more attention needs to be paid to developing their international profile and strategic international collaborations. More specifically, the study argues that rather than continuing to focus on the European West, Russian universities would benefit from ‘looking East’ and pursuing opportunities to collaborate with universities in the Asia-Pacific region.