Finalised IMPI tool for benchmarking internationalisation

Participant experiences

Among other things, the IMPI project delivered a toolbox which is freely accessible on the web. Experiences with the IMPI toolbox were shared at the symposium by institutions that were involved in testing the toolbox during two separate benchmarking rounds.

For some users the tool helped to initiate discussions with stakeholders. ACUP (the Association of Public Universities in Catalunya, Spain), for instance, has reached agreement with the regional government to use a selection of indicators from the IMPI toolbox, rather than those set by the government, to report on their internationalisation efforts. The University of Reims initiated a similar discussion with the French national government. The university is now allowed to use the IMPI indicators it has selected for its own institution for the report to the national government - even though the report should officially include other indicators. Both governments were persuaded by the argument that indicators, which reflected the specific situation of an individual institution, make much more sense than using one size fits all indicators.

A benchmarking exercise, such as IMPI, has helped create awareness among the participants of what internationalisation means and has helped them orient themselves on this subject. The spokesperson for ACUP also said that the cooperation with the regional government and the discussions on IMPI indicators had been enriching, and had helped raise the level of awareness among different stakeholders.

Other universities reported that they used IMPI to gain insight into their strengths and weaknesses in the area of internationalisation. One institution has already decided to increase the development of double degree programmes after it learned that the institution was lagging behind in that area compared to their benchmark partners.
 

Giving names

Benchmark groups held moderated discussions on their common understanding of an indicator. The participants in the benchmark sometimes had to ‘translate’ indicators for their colleagues as the term can be interpreted in many different ways. This is due to the fact that the definitions used for  internationalisation are still not used worldwide, or even at European or national level. Each institution applies its own definitions to mobility and its own sub-categorisations, which makes it hard to compare on the one hand, but creates interesting discussions on why terms are used, on the other.  As Bernd Wächter said in his introduction to the IMPI Symposium in Brussels on 10 May:  “We like giving things names that express their nature.” It is precisely the interpretation of the term ‘nature’ that may vary between institutions due to specific circumstances, making universal or even national definitions brain teasers.

In general, the participating institutions seemed to find the discussions about the indicators and the data more interesting than the data itself. This is precisely the point we, as core partners in the IMPI project, were trying to make.
 

The Socrates Way

Currently developed tools do not tell you what to do, but rather help you think. This is important for two reasons. First, it makes it possible to differentiate according to the needs of the user or the organisational goals. Second, there is a pedagogical reason. Asking the right questions is more effective than giving students answers. As Mr. Jean-Pierre De Greve, the Deputy-rector International Relations of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, explained: “I teach my PhD students the Socrates Way. Rather than answering their questions, I ask them questions they will be able to answer, which will, in turn, help them answer their own questions. And believe me, it is much harder on the teacher as you need to formulate the question in such a way that the student will be able to figure out the answer himself. Sometimes I tell my PhD students, I need to think about this for a while but I’ll have a question for you tomorrow."
 

Think strategically

It seems to make sense to ask questions rather than provide standardised solutions if you aim to let institutions think strategically about internationalisation, rather than in terms of activities (such as mobility) or processes, which is what many projects like IMPI, MAUNIMO and MINT state.

The move from a focus on methods to a focus on strategies illustrates the current level of professionalisation of internationalisation. This shift has also been picked up by the European Commission. In her presentation at the IMPI symposium, Claire Morel explained that  internationalisation is more than just mobility. It is also about academic and research projects and knowledge-sharing initiatives. The EC intends to identify and disseminate good practice by which it hopes to "encourage EU countries to develop clearer internationalisation policies that go beyond mobility and encompass the whole range of internationalisation activities: overseas branches, franchising programmes, virtual campuses et cetera."