Internationalising higher education sectors: explaining the approaches in four Asian countries

Abstract

In recognising the strategic position of the higher education sector in terms of international competitiveness in an increasingly globalised economy, many states have begun to internationalise their systems. This article seeks to explore the approaches that have been used to strengthen this cross-border linkage. An in-depth examination into the approaches that certain Asian countries have employed to internationalise their higher education sectors reveals a distinct variation. Japan and Taiwan, which have adopted an independent approach, tend to pay special attention to domestic improvement in providing more supportive environments for international students and aim to export local educational institutions to the other countries. Meanwhile, the cooperative approach to internationalisation adopted by Singapore and Malaysia seems to focus more on engaging with foreign providers and immersing the institutions into the world educational system. The two opposite clusters are rooted in different ideologies with different implications for their detailed practices of internationalisation.