Transnational Higher Education Research Articles

Transnational Higher Education in Lithuania

International Higher Education (IHE) publishes insightful, informed, and high-quality commentary and analysis on trends and issues of importance to higher education systems, institutions, and stakeholders around the world.

Cost Sharing in Higher Education Financing: Economic Perils in Developing Countries

and language remain important barriers to online access. There is a growing risk of overlapping activity in online and distance learning due to the proliferation of players in the market, and several e-university ventures have collapsed after the initial funding period ended. Until now, transnational higher education in French-speaking Africa has developed in relative isolation from the other language communities on the continent. One site where the anglophone and francophone worlds meet is the African Virtual University (AVU). In March 2004, the AUF formed a partnership with the AVU to collaborate in the development of course content in French. The AVU’s recent partnership with the agency might be viewed as an attempt to bridge the existing divide and promote institutional collaboration between the two language communities. The prospects of cross-fertilization (rather than ongoing separate development by language) remain unclear.

Transnational Higher Education: A South African Perspective

International Higher Education (IHE) publishes insightful, informed, and high-quality commentary and analysis on trends and issues of importance to higher education systems, institutions, and stakeholders around the world.

Transnational Higher Education: Why It Happens and Who Benefits?

national demographic. Relative to Dubai, Abu Dhabi has leaned on smaller influxes of culturally similar Arab and Pakistani workers. A more cautious approach to the diversification of the local economy has been enabled by Abu Dhabi’s massive oil reserves, over 90 percent of the United Arab Emirates’ total supply. Former United Arab Emirates’ president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, is on record as saying that a majority expatriate population would continue to pose “a grave problem which threatens the stability of our society and the prospects for future generations.” Indeed, these anxieties are reflected in present-day Abu Dhabi as well as in the development of the local tertiary education structure. The government declared 2008 “The Year of National Identity,” and apart from the selective pairing with two elite branch campuses (Paris Sorbonne University-Abu Dhabi being the other), it has only allowed powerful indigenous families to open its private universities. Prominent examples of this include ALHOSN University (established in 2005 with the university slogan, “Global Knowledge with Local Vision”) and Abu Dhabi University (established 2003, with the motto “Universal Knowledge, Timeless Truth”). Admissions standards for these universities are relatively low, with the end result being that Emiratis are able to enroll locally in large numbers.

Japan and Transnational Higher Education

International Higher Education (IHE) publishes insightful, informed, and high-quality commentary and analysis on trends and issues of importance to higher education systems, institutions, and stakeholders around the world.

Using postcolonial scholarship to address equity in transnational higher education

This article uses postcolonial scholarship to understand the knowledge and cultural politics that underpin Australian-provided transnational higher education (TNHE) programmes in Singapore and Malaysia. A case is made for TNHE practices to develop an 'engaged pedagogy' and 'ethics of care' as it relates to transnational students in postcolonial spaces. Through this, the article seeks to respond to broader criticisms directed at international education's limited engagement with equity and social justice.

Editorial

Transnational higher education (TNHE) is a term used for a range of international activities but most commonly it describes programmes where students are located in a different country from the degree-awarding institution. Partnership models include distance learning, dual degrees, franchising and ‘flying faculty’, where academics from the degree-awarding institution fly to another country to teach a programme there. TNHE partnerships are established between institutions for several reasons, not least because of the increase in marketisation of higher education together with the reduction in public funding in many contexts. Interrogating how ‘commercial imperatives nest with academic integrity’ (Sidhu and Christie 2014: 2) is important as many TNHE partnerships are established between ‘Northern’ universities, in particular from Anglo-Celtic countries such as Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.A., and those from the ‘South’ or the ‘East’. Care needs to be taken, therefore, in exercising academic integrity in learning, teaching and assessment in contexts with different academic traditions from those of the degree-awarding institution.

Intercultural competence teaching in transnational higher education: a case review of an international branch campus in Uzbekistan

This article refers to:Intercultural competence teaching in transnational higher education: a case review of an international branch campus in Uzbekistan

Transnational higher education and skilled migration: Evidence from Australia

This paper presents empirical evidence regarding the relationship between enrolment in transnational higher education (TNE) and skilled migration into the country of the institution which provides educational services. Based on macro-level panel data, the analysis shows a link between skilled immigration and offshore enrolment in Australian higher education within the previous years, suggesting that the provision of higher education offshore can constitute a successful strategy to enlarge skilled migrants’ recruitment. The results also indicate that more caution should be devoted to this kind of issue by developing countries when opening their education market to foreign providers.

Withdrawn: The possible consequences of adult students with ADHD symptoms in transnational higher education - a case review of international branch campus in Uzbekistan

We regret that it has become necessary to withdraw this article published online ahead of print on the 30th October 2014 for International Journal of Developmental Disabilities. The paper has been withdrawn on the request of the author and institution at which the author was employed while conducting this research. The Editor and publisher acted in good faith on the basis of the information available at the time of acceptance and remain committed to the highest ethical and scientific standards in the peer review and publication of submissions.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Transnational higher education in Uzbekistan

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Transnational higher education in Uzbekistan

The other voices of international higher education: an empirical study of students' perceptions of British university education in China

Against a backdrop of globalised higher education (HE) – one in which a number of British universities are setting up campuses overseas – China represents a vast and lucrative market. This paper presents data on the perceptions and experiences of 20 Chinese students who are currently studying at a British university's campus located in China. Drawing upon theoretical and empirical linkages between the expansion of British HE into overseas markets and neo-colonial (or imperialist) activities, this paper discovers that sociocultural perceptions and ideological constructs such as ‘creativity’ and ‘value’ form a vital basis for the exchange of knowledge in transnational HE.

Quality Assurance of Non-Local Accounting Programs Conducted in Hong Kong

This study examines the current government policy and institutional practice on quality assurance of non-local accounting programs conducted in Hong Kong. Both international guidelines, national regulations and institutional frameworks in higher education and transnational higher education, and professional practice in accounting education are reviewed and examined. Two UK accounting programs are further examined in this study. The purpose of this study is expected to provide appropriate recommendations for the policy makers and those institutions in improving quality assurance of non-local accounting programs conducted in Hong Kong.

A cultural bridge for academic integrity? Mainland Chinese master’s graduates of UK institutions returning to China

Cultural and developmental perspectives (Flowerdew & Li, 2007) of plagiarism were explored through interviews with Chinese graduates of UK master's degrees after they have returned to work in transnational higher education in China. This allowed reflection on experiences of plagiarism in the context of the participants' educational history, life in the UK and their return to China. These accounts provided narratives of their development of academic integrity and a cultural comparison of the British and Chinese understandings of plagiarism. Interpretive repertoires (Gilbert & Mulkay, 1984) identified the significant commonalities and inconsistencies within and between the participants' accounts. The findings suggest that the participants use UK institutional vocabulary and have developed a more strict approach to plagiarism and academic integrity during their master's course and in their subsequent educational career. Analysis indicates that rather than being equivalents, plagiarism and the corresponding Chinese terms are dependent on the particular assessment backgrounds in the UK and China. Having moved between and adapting to these educational contexts, the potential for these returning Chinese graduates to act as a cultural bridge for academic integrity within internationalised higher education is discussed.

Transnational and transcultural positionality in globalised higher education

Transnational higher education (TNE), where students study on a ‘foreign’ degree programme whilst remaining in their home country, is a rapidly developing phenomenon. Universities across the UK, fo...

Exploring the diverse motivations of transnational higher education in China: complexities and contradictions

This article analyses the current situation of transnational higher education (TNE) in China by conducting a comprehensive documentary analysis. It first situates the phenomenon in global transnational mobility in higher education and then explores the diverse motivations of importing and exporting countries taking China and the UK as linked examples. The documentary analysis carried out for this research suggests that China has stated aims to promote TNE as a public good, whereas UK motivations for transnational education are ostensibly more driven by financial reasons. The article also identifies three features of the current situation in China: first showing that the distribution of the TNE in China is imbalanced; second, partner institutions are based in 21 economically developed countries or regions; third, the prominent cooperative arrangements are strongly focused in particular disciplines. The article argues that these features have led to unfair competition in some areas. Therefore, it appears that there are some inconsistencies and tensions between the stated aims of Chinese TNE policy and the way in which TNE is spreading and developing in practice.

The phenomenon of "global education space" as an object of scientific-pedagogical research

ABSTRACT The characteristics of global education space as a social idea of creating a system of measures to ensure the right for education to any individual as well as its converting, that is recognition regardless of the nationality and country of study; and as a specific area of human activity, which forms the internal and external environment for individual development; and as a product of a developing educational thought, the semantic side of which contains the universal interests in education, have been represented. Global education space has been defined as a part of the global social space that brings together business and education facilities within the Earth coordinates to represent the institutional forms of education and informal structures that are directly or indirectly involved in this process and, secondly, educational products (concepts, educational standards, teaching of traditional and innovative type), reflecting the goals, values, principles, content and other information about education, and examines the interaction and influence on education rights. Global education space is developed in parallel with the development of the world economy and has center-peripheral structure. To our mind, Australia, UK, Canada and the United States which we selected to make a detailed analysis in the study of trends in transnational higher education on a number of key features, belong to the “center” of global education space.

Transnational higher education as a hybrid global/local space: A case study of a Malaysian-Australian joint venture

One aspect of transnational education that is anticipated to grow in prominence is the international branch campus. This article is a case study of Monash University Malaysia, a Malaysian-Australian transnational education alliance which has achieved a measure of success in a field fraught with risk. It offers an analysis of the dynamic interplay between global processes and the logics of practice of situated national and institutional interests. The article shows that global processes such as marketization are realized in specifically local conditions. The joint venture was able to find its market in the particular configurations of the Malaysian postcolonial state, ethno-nationalism and neoliberalization.

The Bologna Process as a template for transnational policy coordination

The Bologna Process (BP) presents the largest ongoing reform initiative in higher education (HE). Although it has triggered large-scale changes in HE structures in Europe, comparative analysis about its impact on other regions of the world is scarce. Using transnational communication and sociological institutionalism as a theoretical framework, this article investigates the impact of the BP on the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean [LAC] and (parts of) Africa. Our results demonstrate that not only the policies promoted in the realm of the BP, especially in the field of study structures, have been copied by non-European HE institutions, but also its governance modes for managing transnational HE reform initiatives. Thus, the BP can be regarded as a template for transnational HE harmonization processes in the absence of legal obligation.

Employee sexual harassment policies and Kuwait transnational higher education

Transnational higher education providers based in the West are increasingly partnering with newer institutions in the Middle East. The present study investigates the extent to which workplace sexual harassment prevention policies are prevalent across the Western universities’ home country campuses and their partner institutions in Kuwait. Policies were collected from Kuwait and their foreign partner institutions’ websites followed up by e-mailed and telephoned requests. The policies were coded for characteristics such as procedures for investigation of sexual harassment complaints, training for sexual harassment prevention, sanctions, etc. Results suggest that foreign partner schools appear more likely to make policies available (58%) than campuses based in Kuwait (40%). The foreign institutions’ policies tend to have more of the prevention characteristics than those for Kuwait schools. Development of workplace sexual harassment policies is becoming essential for human resources management in the Middle East as the workforce grows in gender diversity.