International higher education discourses

Abstract

International education is a field of globalised policy discourses, with multiple power differentials. The national policy changes presented in the previous chapter have taken place not within a vacuum, but in a global context, impacted by ideas, logics and shared assumptions. This discussion is premised on Marginson and Sawir’s (2006) distinction between internationalisation and globalisation, where the former is understood as relations between nations and the latter as diffuse networks of interactions on multiple levels, including but not limited to nations. Participation in international higher education, particularly the capacity to attract and host international students, has come to be seen as desirable for governments. This commitment to international higher education is part of a globalised discourse, which presumes benefits to host nations, students and the world as a whole. Policy offers multiple rationales for participation in international higher education and in particular for the recruitment, attraction and hosting of international students. They become a “privileged policy instrument” (Vincent-Lancrin 2004, p. 221) which nations deploy in rhetoric to further their self-interest.