INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION: INTERNATIONAL VECTORS OF UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Abstract

Internationalization of higher education is entering a new phase. There is a shift from external internationalization with a strong focus on a small elite of mobile students, faculty, and programs to internal internationalization open to all members of the academic community. The purpose of the work is to determine the current trends in the internationalization of higher education in European countries, to examine in detail the aspects of the University of Bologna's activities in the development and implementation of the internationalization strategy, and to identify factors that contribute to its successful implementation OR restrain this process. The article examines the peculiarities of the implementation of the policy of internationalization of higher education in Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Poland. The European experience of implementing internationalization strategies is considered using the example of the University of Economics and Humanities in Warsaw (AEH) (Poland). The main documents regulating the process of internationalization at the interstate level have been analyzed. The author substantiated concepts that determine the internationalization of higher education in various discourses and the concept of internationalization in the field of higher education in international practice. The mechanism of internationalization of higher education is determined, the prerequisites for its implementation are revealed. Particular attention is paid to the consideration of the specifics of implementing internationalization of higher education in the EU countries (including Poland) in the context of globalization. In the course of the work, the main changes in the process of internationalization in Europe that took place in recent decades were highlighted and described. It was concluded that the process of internationalization, the main goal of which is to improve the quality of education and research activities, is becoming a strategic direction of higher education institutions; close attention begins to be paid to ensuring the conditions for the formation of intercultural competences in all students. The results of the empirical research indicate that the key directions of the university's activity regarding the development of this process are the development of academic mobility of students, the opening of joint educational programs with foreign universities, the development of international research activities. One of the factors stimulating these processes is the development and monitoring of implementing the internationalization strategy. Difficulties in the implementation of this strategy, as before, are of a financial nature, and are also associated with a low level of foreign language proficiency and insufficient motivation of both students and teachers to participate in academic mobility programs and international research projects. The material presented in the article can be useful to employees of international departments of higher education institutions and persons engaged in theoretical and practical research in the field of internationalization development. The results of the study can become the basis for the development and implementation of the strategy of internationalization in domestic universities.