Academe has a global future

• John Ingleson - 2 February 2005 - The Australian
  Professor Ingleson is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Development)
• © 2005 Copyright News Limited. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au

Universities are becoming international, writes John Ingleson.

GOOD universities have always been international. Medieval scholars wandered Europe. Modern universities in the West have long attracted academic staff from around the world - and have sought the best research students from wherever they could get them.

The standards by which they judge each other - especially their research credentials - are international. Despite this, it is true that universities generally see themselves as primarily serving either a local or national community. But in coming decades a growing number will see themselves as serving an international community.

Universities are among the last institutions in the West to be affected by globalisation. Over the past decade most big universities have begun to explore the likely impact of globalisation on their institutions. Curriculums are becoming more international and student mobility is growing as students recognise the value of an overseas experience as part of their education. Universities are creating networks of cross-national collaboration, including the development of joint courses. International consortiums of universities are being put together to engage in high-cost research with funding from multinationals or from more than one national government. And online learning by definition crosses national boundaries.

Universities in Australia, Britain, the US and Europe are also looking at ways in which they can establish campuses overseas (as are some universities in China and India - albeit more slowly). There is discussion about universities linking their core "home" campus to one or two "satellite" campuses, usually overseas. Many British, US and Australian universities have entered into "twinning arrangements" (where some or all of a program is completed overseas), in-country partnerships with local commercial organisations or stand-alone teaching campuses.

US universities have established specialist campuses overseas, primarily private medical schools in the Middle East. Business schools of US and British universities have created campuses overseas. INSEAD in Fontainebleau and Singapore and Chicago Business School in Singapore and Barcelona are prime examples. Chicago uses the slogan One University - Three Continents in its advertising. The London Business School is about to establish a campus in eastern Europe and is looking at a campus in India. The Intregroupe Consortium of the Grandes Ecole Centrale, composed of four of the elite science and engineering universities in France, has recently accepted an invitation from the Chinese government to establish a campus in Beijing.

These changes are driven by better and cheaper communications, growing economic integration and by growth in the demand for trans-national education as a consequence of the increasing prosperity of East, Southeast and South Asia.

In 2002, IDP Education Australia, the international education and consulting company owned by all Australian universities, published a study forecasting that global demand for international higher education will increase four-fold on the 2002 figure of about 1.8 million to 7.2 million by 2025. India and China are expected to account for more than half of the total demand for international higher education by 2025.

The projected demand is huge. In 2000, there were just over 200,000 Chinese students studying in overseas universities. By 2010 this is expected to grow to more than 750,000 and by 2025 to nearly 3million. The demand from Indian students is expected to grow from the 2000 figure of 76,000 to 271,000 in 2010 and more than 600,000 in 2025. Most of this demand is for English-language education in the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Apart from the huge demand from Asian countries, demand is also growing from eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America.

This is just the projected number of students enrolled in full degree programs in overseas universities. Add to this the huge growth in students seeking to study in an overseas university for six months or a year as part of their home university enrolment. This "study abroad" experience is largely confined to the West - for the moment. Over the next couple of decades universities in Asia will provide the same opportunities to increasingly affluent students. These opportunities are becoming part of the normal expectations of the best students everywhere.

The projected growth in demand for trans-national education may seem high but if anything is probably an underestimate. Consider that in 2004 there were about 100 million university students worldwide and that this number will double to about 200 million by 2020. The problem for university education worldwide over the next two to three decades is not demand but supply. There is an even more important issue of how to sustain quality in the face of such demand.

The internationalisation of university education will bring great benefits to graduates. At the University of NSW more than half our students come from non-English-speaking backgrounds. About a quarter come from other countries. Another quarter are the children of migrants. Our students live and study in a wonderful multicultural environment. The presence of so many young people from more than 90 countries on our Sydney campus has contributed to the educational experience of our Australian students. Australians have gained as much from their presence as they have from their Australian experiences.

The broader benefits of internationalisation of university education are considerable. If we are to live in a peaceful, stable and prosperous world then it is in all our interests to encourage the young to study with people in a different culture from their own. There is no better way to understand that not everybody thinks as I do. There is no better way to see my own culture and value system in a clearer light. It is as important for an Australian student as it is for a Chinese student. At a very practical level, graduates from all countries are going to spend significant parts of their lives working overseas. They need to understand cultural differences.

This is an edited version of Professor Ingleson's speech to the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.