The Impact of the Erasmus Program and the Institutional Administration of Internationalization in Türkiye

Abstract

International student and staff mobility, which is widely experienced worldwide, constitutes one of the most critical dimensions of the internationalization of higher education. The Erasmus program, initiated by the European Union, plays a significant role in increasing mobility, especially between European countries. Turkey is one of these countries that benefit significantly from the Erasmus program, and the Program became a driving force for Turkish universities to accelerate internationalization. In this study, quantitative research was conducted to evaluate the perceptions of international office professionals (IPs) on the impact of the Erasmus Program and institutional structures in the universities to administer internationalizaiton. 126 IPs working in international offices of Turkish universities representing public and foundation universities participated in the study. The survey results revealed that IPs believe in the positive impacts of the Erasmus student and staff mobility on the institutionalization of internationalization in their universities, and most universities in Turkey include internationalization in their strategic plan as one of the priorities. On the other hand, IPs stated that institutional support given to their offices by top management and other stakeholders is not sufficient to administer internationalization. Moreover, the T-test results between public and foundation universities revealed that developing internationalization is a more important priority for foundation universities than the public ones.