International academic mobility in a time of security threats: Policies and institutional adaptations to maintain the benefits of an open academy – The Swedish case

Abstract

Increasingly, the extensive benefits of international academic networks, mobility and exchange have become linked with an awareness of the threats this also may imply. International student mobility has been a success story. The number of students has grown significantly in response to the globalisation of academic life. Generally, this has been seen as beneficial for the countries involved and especially for the cities where the students move. However, various attempts to get unauthorised access to critical sources and to knowledge, as well as to contest scientifically based conclusions with disinformation, have become a challenge for nations and higher education institutions (HEIs). In this study the increased number of international doctoral students in Sweden is examined, while we observe that the Swedish government, due to the rising conflict level in Europe and internationally, recently illustrated by the membership in NATO by Sweden, has initiated a review of its policies to enhance the awareness among HEIs of the risks that may be associated with international academic mobility. The US has long had an active policy involving various restrictions on academic immigration, so far this has not – at least not as an explicitly communicated policy – been the case in Sweden. Given this, the aim of the paper is to scrutinise the origin of doctoral students, identify countries from which the number of students has increased most and relate this to the risk profile those countries are given by the Swedish Security Service. Open and available data are retrieved from the Swedish Higher Education Authority. Our analysis of the ongoing transition in Sweden suggests that recruitment of international doctoral students will continue, since they are critical for the knowledge oriented small open economy, but it will increasingly be combined with a stronger focus on various security issues, as those have been identified by the government and communicated with the academic community and the managements of HEIs. Clearly, Sweden and its HEIs are in a phase of transition into a new environment. It will take time for the HEIs to find appropriate and reasonable measures, although other countries have discussed similar problems. We place the discussion regarding the benefits of international academic exchange in a context where HEIs also must consider the threats that may be associated with international academic mobility. We then highlight that sensitivity is needed in the choice of measures to reduce possible threats and risks.