This document is a presentation by Bernd Wächter, the Director of the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA), about internationalization and student mobility. It discusses different types of internationalization including mobility, transnational education, and internationalization at home. It differentiates between degree mobility, which is driven by seeking better academic quality, and credit mobility, which is driven more by cultural experiences. Degree mobility predominantly flows from developing to developed countries while credit mobility occurs primarily between economically advanced nations.

1. Mobility and Internationalisation
Bernd Wächter
Director, Academic Cooperation Association (ACA)
Mobility and Internationalisation
IAU 14th General Conference,
San Juan, Puerto Rico, 30 November 2012
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

2. About ACA
• A (mainly) European association of national organisations
supporting internationalisation
• Promoting innovation and internationalisation
• Studies and expert opinion on (international) HE
developments, for example
- Student mobility in Europe and globally
- English-medium provision in Europe
- Perceptions of European HE worldwide
- Student services
• Seminars and conferences (2013: 20th-Anniversary Annual
Conference in The Hague on mobility and internationalisation)
• Electronic news service: ACA Newsletter-Education Europe
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

3. Division of labour
• This talk will be on internationalisation overall and
on international mobility in particular
• Division of labour agreed with William Lawton, who
will focus on TNE, off-shore campuses and
education hubs
• Everybody will concentrate on their areas of
expertise
• I will touch on TNE and the like occasionally: to
make clear that it follows a specific
internationalisation approach.
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

4. What is internationalisation? (1)
Dialogue
Bernd Wächter: “Ulrich Teichler, what is
internationalisation?”
Ulrich Teichler: Bernd, if I only knew. Twenty
years ago, it was clear: the international mobility
of students, teachers and researchers. Today, it
could be almost anything. And, very
importantly, it is different things for different
people.
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

5. What is internationalisation ? (2)
Jane Knight (2003)
“the process of integrating an international,
intercultural or global dimension into the
purpose, functions or delivery of
postsecondary education.”
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

6. The many faces of internationalisation (1)
• International mobility of students and scholars
(differentiations by credit and degree mobility)
• Recognition of degrees and study periods (credits)
• Internationalisation of curricula /
„internationalisation at home‟: foreign/English-
medium instruction; „international content‟, area
studies; country-comparative studies; etc.
• Institutional networks and partnerships
• International marketing and promotion
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

7. The many faces of internationalisation (2)
• International alumni
• Joint / coordinated system reform across country
borders. Example: the Bologna Process (degree
architecture, QA and accreditation mechanisms,
etc.)
• TNE, off-shore operations, collaborative provision,
distance/online education
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

8. Internationalisation purposes 1 (per-
spective of the student)
• Mobility of students and staff: persons moving to
another country;
• Recognition of qualifications and credits: intended
to be mobility-facilitating;
• Internationalisation of curricula: for domestic
students: providing the international experience „at
home (teaching rather than moving to the world) ;
for foreign students: facilitating access (through,
for example, teaching in English);
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

9. Internationalisation purposes 2 (per-
spective of the student)
• Institutional networks and partnerships: building
mobility-bridges , mobility enhancing
• International marketing and promotion: attracting
mobile students (mobility-related)
• International alumni: keeping in touch with
formerly-mobile students
• Joint/coordinated system reform (Bologna): at first
glance: facilitating mobility; at second: making
foreign universities more like the own ones –
mobility-undermining? (governmental perspective
probaly more important: acting in unison).
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

10. Internationalisation purposes 3 (per-
spective of the student)
• TNE, off-shore operations, online/distance
education: making mobility across country borders
unnecessary (because the programme / institution
has become mobile).
Conclusion
• Most forms of internationalisation are directly or
indirectly linked to physical mobility to other
countries.
• Two are not: „internationalisation at home‟ and TNE.
In TNE, there is a role switch. The
institution/programme becomes mobile, so the
learner does not need to move.
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

11. Interlude
• Earlier overview was of course intentionally simplistic
• Also: reduced to what constitutes the “international” in
the perspective of students
• There is also the institutional view (universities), the
view of the country (government)
• But it is striking: together with „internationalisation at
home‟ (for domestic students), TNE constitutes the only
form of internationalisation not directly linked to
international mobility.
• Therefore, I would want to look at th end somewhat more
closely into mobility issues.
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

12. Types of student mobility
• It makes litlle sense to talk about mobility as such. In
fact, there are „mobilities‟.
• We differentiate into mobility for the study of a whole
programme (degree mobility) and temporary or credit
mobility (semester or year abroad).
• This differentiation is not made for the beauty of
methodology.
• It is necessary because the forces that drive the two
sorts of mobility are very different, as you will soon see. .
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

13. Degree mobility
• Degree mobility is „vertical‟ in nature.
• Mobility flows are predominantly from countries with
quantitavely and/or Qualitatively insufficient provision to
such with more and better provision.
• Typical example: inflow of students from developing
countries into OECD-type countries.
• The quest for better academic quality. Far less important:
language, culture, climate, etc.
• A high outflow of degree mobility is usually bad news for
a country: it shows that people do not have trust in the
country‟s higher education provision.
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

14. Credit mobility
• Credit mobility is „horizontal‟ in nature (not „vertical).
• Students seek cultural and lingusistic difference, not
(predominantly) better academic quality.
• Credit mobility takes place almost exclusively in and
between economically and academically advanced parts
of the world. It is a „luxury phenomenon‟.
• A high inflow of credit-mobile students is not necessarily
a sign of superior academic quality, but of cultural and
other forms of attractiveness.
• Example: Spain. Spain attract very high number of
credit-mobile students (Erasmus). It palys a far more
modest role as a destination of degree seeking foreign
students.
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA

15. Thanks
So much more to say …
…but you have probably had enough of me.
Thank you for your attention.
www.aca-secretariat.be
Internationalisation and mobility
Bernd Wächter, Director, ACA