Higher education and internationalization

Lex Borghans

Maastricht University

Trends

1. European universities are changing rapidly– And in the USA they fear this development

2. These trends are difficult to document and effects are hard to measure, due to a lack of data

3. National governments (at least the Dutch) neglect this trend and still think about higher education in the same way as about primary education

European universities are changing rapidly

• There are clear trends that European universities get stronger

• In the USA they fear the consequences

Enrollment grows

Relatively fewer students go to the USA

US students come more often to Europe

Research in Europe becomes international

Language of Dutch PhD theses

Research in Europe becomes international

Language of journals

Why this trend?

• Balance between costs and benefits shifts

These trends are difficult to document

• Most data sources are national

• Non-response among students who go abroad is high

• Identification is difficult due to selectivity

Questions

• What are the effects for students when they study abroad?

• What are the effects for students who stay in their own country who experience a larger share of international students?

• What are the effects for the quality of universities?

• What are the spill-over effects for the local economy?

CHEERS as an exampleStudents living abroad

Living abroad for work or study

Secondary education

abroad Before study During study After study

Italy 0.5 7.4 21.4 1.2

Spain 4.8 0.3 13.8 1.0

France 6.7 7.2 21.7 4.6

Austria 6.1 10.0 29.2 5.5

Germany 1.9 5.7 19.9 6.4

Netherlands 4.7 9.0 30.0 1.7

UK 10.7 10.0 25.9 8.6

Finland 3.6 18.6 27.5 3.8

Sweden 5.8 32.5 29.6 4.9

Norway 4.6 19.4 0.5

International aspects of work

Traveled abroadCommunication with

people abroad International context

Italy 15.4 71.2 32.0

Spain 8.9 92.0 25.0

France 13.6 80.1 36.6

Austria 38.5 83.5 56.8

Germany 23.2 83.4 52.9

Netherlands 23.0 70.2 53.4

UK 18.4 70.3 46.4

Finland 39.4 82.6 57.4

Sweden 37.1 45.5

Norway 84.3

International experience during the study and after

• Students with international experience during the study:– 4 x more likely to work abroad– 2 x more likely to travel internationally– Equally likely to communicate with people

abroad– 1.5 x more likely to have work in an

international context

Who goes abroad during the study?

• Women are more likely to go abroad before or during the study

• Work orientations:– Varied social life and personal development

have strong positive effect– Family/home has strong negative effect– Work and career has no effect during the

study, and positive effect after the study

Effects of international experience during the study

OLS

Monthly income .044 *** (.008)

Hourly income .032 *** (.008)

Hours of work .485 *** (.128)

Job satisfaction .099 *** (.017)

Career satisf. .102 *** (.016)

Personal devel. .047 *** (.014)

English .379 *** (.019)

French .360 *** (.018)

German .303 *** (.016)

Italian .271 (.171)

Spanish .147 *** (.026)

Empirical strategy

• Individual participation might be selective

• Instrument: Average participation in international activities during study in field of study within countries.

Effects of international experience during the study

OLS 2SLS

Monthly income .044 *** (.008) .172 *** (.060)

Hourly income .032 *** (.008) .043 (.056)

Hours of work .485 *** (.128) 4.018 *** (.919)

Job satisfaction .099 *** (.017) .497 *** (.121)

Career satisf. .102 *** (.016) .623 *** (.117)

Personal devel. .047 *** (.014) .221 *** (.104)

English .379 *** (.019) .697 *** (.145)

French .360 *** (.018) .490 *** (.138)

German .303 *** (.016) .346 *** (.114)

Italian .271 (.171) .293 (2.060)

Spanish .147 *** (.026) -.322 (.246)

Response of the national government

The example of the Dutch government• Essentially they think about universities as a

closed Dutch system– A recent report about the future of Dutch higher

education almost ignores the European context– While more than 50% of all masters at universities are

in English the government raises the question whether it should be legal not to teach in Dutch

– The parliament wants to know whether we gain more from foreign students than they costs (do they buy enough in local stores to recover the government spending?)

What are the best policies?

• What are the key features to promote internationalization?– Internationalisation is a trend that governments can

not stop– The challenge is to use this trend to build strong

universities• Which policies best promote

internationalization? – Policies that acknowledge this trend rather than

policies that try to keep things as they are– The key question for each country is: Do you want to

become the Massachusetts or the Kentucky of Europe?