Neo-Liberalism and Configuring Global Citizenship in Higher Education: Outbound Mobility Programs

Abstract

This chapter examines one aspect of the ways in which universities are responding to the fluid and challenging conditions prompted by globalisation and the internationalisation of higher education in neo-liberal times. It addresses how Outbound Mobility Programs (OMPs) can serve as a means to secure global citizenship in higher education and meet university requirements to produce graduates for the global market place whist enabling immersion experiences that build pre-service teacher intercultural capabilities. Following a review of the literature, the chapter draws from a small empirical study that applied Nussbaum’s (Patriotism and cosmopolitanism. In: Nussbaum M, Cohen J (eds) For the love of country: debating the limits of patriotism. Beacon Press, Boston, pp 3–20, 1996; J Hum Dev 7(3):385–395, 2006) notion of cosmopolitan citizenship capabilities as an analytic framework to analyse findings from one iteration of a New Colombo Plan funded OMP for Australian pre-service teachers in Malaysia. Findings indicate that a carefully planned OMP can contribute to the formation of globally competent, work-ready graduates as global citizens; confirming Rizvi’s (Teach Teach 17(6):693–701, 2011) view that transnational collaborations in higher education can be socially and culturally productive in neo-liberal times.KeywordsAsia literacyCosmopolitan citizenshipEntrepreneurial universitiesGlobal citizensGlobalisationHigher educationInternational studentsInternational student mobilityInternationalisation of higher educationOutbound mobility programs (OMP)Neo-liberalismPre-service teacher educationQuality in educationWorld citizenship