Blog posts
Internationalisation in support of teaching staff
For once, let’s talk about staff and internationalisation without looking at staff mobility. If only because the majority of teaching staff are, in fact, non-mobile and they constitute a considerable group of professionals in any country.
Heading in the same direction?
Within Europe, national policies on international student mobility are influenced by European-level policies, developed by the European Commission or in the framework of the Bologna Process. Does this mean that national policies on student mobility in Europe are converging? And if so, in which ways?
Student mobility to the Netherlands, compared with other EU countries
In an earlier blog I referred to Dutch students studying abroad. The same OECD data also allow for comparison between countries regarding student inflows, or better, regarding foreign students registering in the country.
Dutch students abroad in the academic year 2008-09
The most recent data on Dutch students registering in other countries for study (diploma mobility), reveal a further growth of the number of students studying abroad.
Competing for the brightest students?
This blog argues that vision and coherence are needed in Dutch international student recruitment policies at the national level. Some countries manage to do it, so why can’t we?
Erasmus for All: more money, less paperwork
On 23 November 2011 the European Commission released its long-awaited proposal for Erasmus for All, the successor of the Lifelong Learning Programme. We already knew that the Commission wants to increase the budget for education purposes to approximately 19 billion euro. Now we also know how this money is to be spent.
HR capacity building firmly embedded in Europe’s current growth strategy
Human resource development is a major cross-cutting theme in Europe's overall growth strategy for the current decade: Europe 2020.
National policies on internationalisation: boon or curse?
The chicken or the egg? Is internationalisation a bottom-up or top-down process? It is probably safest to say it is both. But if that is true do they meet? And if so where?
Costs and benefits of foreign students in the Netherlands
Last week, Dutch newspapers published several articles on the costs of foreign students in The Netherlands. Especially the large number of Germans in Dutch higher education seemed to be a problem for some commentators.
Mapping Mobility 2011: international mobility in Dutch higher education
This month, Nuffic published its annual publication on international mobility in higher education: Mapping Mobility 2011. The document gives information about the number of international students, their countries of origin, the most popular Dutch institutions and many, many other facts on international students in the Netherlands.
EU Programme for Lifelong Learning: Stimulating LLL or just mobility?
Employment regulations for international students: how to get it right?
In recent years, several countries that recruit large numbers of foreign visa-holding students have tightened their immigration requirements. This had two main reasons: to ensure that only well-qualified students will receive student visas, and that they are indeed in the country to study and not to work.
Why are alumni so important?
The Learning Agreement: still essential? How to set up and measure quality abroad
Both the quality of Erasmus mobility and the recognition of credits remain returning topics when it comes to international credit mobility. There are several tools and initiatives that try to look into these matters. Some are older, like the Learning Agreement, some are younger, like recent mapping, benchmarking and quality assurance initiatives.
Orientation for international students with marginalised backgrounds
Customised orientation programmes for students from developing regions can be beneficial in increasing the ease and speed with which the students acclimatise to their new study and living environment.
The Chinese are going, the Germans are coming. Who's next?
A few years ago we witnessed what some called a Chinese 'invasion' in Dutch higher education. Recruitment in Asia turned out to be so successful that it resulted in a problem rather than a solution.
Emerging higher education hubs
Upcoming providers of international higher education in the developing world.
Regional harmonization of higher education: a global perspective
Developments in various parts of the world indicate that there is a global trend towards regional harmonization of higher education (i.e. working towards greater comparability of higher education structures and practices – not necessarily standardization of higher education).
The Bologna 20% mobility target for 2020: only for outgoing credit mobility, please!
(Possibly after an upward revision, for some or all countries…)
Internationalization at home for internationalization staff?
Internationalization at home focusing on students has seen an increase in attention over the years as it has become apparent that only a limited portion of all students can be persuaded or supported to go abroad. As budgets in higher education decrease I wonder: will there also be a trend towards more internationalization at home for internationalisation staff?
