Internationalisation of higher education: the gap between national policy‐making and institutional needs

Abstract

The article discusses the impact of the growing emphasis on internationalisation on higher education institutions. Based on case studies of 12 Scandinavian universities and colleges, it is shown how issues related to internationalisation trigger processes of trying to enhance the institutional capacity for strategic decision‐making and institutional integration through processes of formalisation, centralisation and professionalisation. Based on the institutional history and tradition, strategic ability and institutional characteristics, the outcomes of this process still show a considerably degree of variation in the motives and institutional adaptation to internationalisation. In the conclusion, it is argued that future policy‐making in the field of internationalisation should pay attention to the diverse needs of higher education, and develop policies that allow more flexibility and autonomy at the institutional level.