Internationalization of Higher Education in University Institution Rankings: The Influence of National Culture

Abstract

Internationalization constitutes a widespread concept in the management literature and has recently begun to be applied to higher education institutions. While previous research has analyzed the relationship between national culture and corporate profit-oriented behavior, in this study, we focus on university institutions to investigate the influence of cultural dimensions on the internationalization of higher education. To achieve this, we (a) theoretically revise the conceptualization and assessment of cultural dimensions at the national level, (b) provide a theoretical background on the concept of internationalization of higher education institutions and its measurement through university institution rankings, and (c) empirically test whether cultural practices exert a significant influence on the internationalization patterns of university institutions. Our results reveal that most cultural practices exhibit a significant influence on the internationalization of higher education institutions.