Higher education globalization in the context of american guidelines

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HIGHER EDUCATION GLOBALIZATION IN THE CONTEXT OF AMERICAN GUIDELINES

NATALYA BIDYUK

ABSTRACT

The article deals with the problem of globalization impact on higher education system in the United Stated of America. It has been concluded that globalization as a phenomenon has been acquiring much significance in all the spheres, especially in higher education. Different views on the essence of globalization, especially in the context of higher education, have been presented. It has been indicated that many scholars have studied the essence of globalization within higher education systems of different countries and identified that globalization encompasses important aspects of HEIs' activities, namely, economic, social and cultural. The concept of globalization has been defined in the article. It has been pointed out that main issues within the changing landscape of higher education still remain: the increasing significance of both knowledge-based economy and society; innovations connected with the latest information and communication technologies (ICTs); the emphasized role of the market and the market economy. Therefore, it has been suggested that educators and higher education institutions should develop different approaches to fulfill all the educational needs of the growing community of students, especially international students. The activities of American organizations promoting the positive impact of globalization in higher education have been analyzed. Core challenges for higher education institutions in the context of increasing globalization have been outlined and characterized in detail. Critical responses considered as components to the above-mentioned challenges have been clarified. Key principles needed to meet both the challenges and responses have been presented. It has been concluded that the USA has been enhancing the positive influence of globalization on the system of higher education and thus inspired other countries to follow such an example.

Key words: higher education, national education system, globalization, internationalization, the USA, education challenges.

INTRODUCTION

The global society is undergoing rapid and remarkable changes in the context of increasing globalization processes. The knowledge and information technology revolution, including emerging social and economic trends, is constantly affecting the way of people's lives, various organizations' business activities, etc. Whereupon there appears the need for the creation of highly qualified workforce, able to create, adapt, access and apply new knowledge and technologies. globalization economy technology education

According to the outstanding theorist of higher education and vice-chancellor of the Kensington University P. Scott, “globalization is the most fundamental challenge higher education institutions have faced throughout their long history” (Скотт, 2000). Thus, national education systems should play a crucial role in enhancing a country's development as well as competitiveness on the international labour market. Countries are to create a strong and powerful basis of infrastructure, materials and specialists' skills at different levels which presupposes brand new challenges for developed and developing countries' higher education systems to form highly qualified professionals (Freedman, 2008).

So, the aim of our paper consists in studying American guidelines in the context of higher education globalization to outline relevant recommendations that other countries may use to adjust their systems of higher education to the leading trends and requirements and thus to improve them.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH METHODS

The issue of globalization and consequently internationalization of higher education has been attracting attention for a long period of time. Having performed theoretical analysis of relevant scientific literature we concluded that scholars all over the world had tried to study the impact of globalization on different fields and environments in the context of various aspects. For instance, D. Araya, H. Dahms, M. Frankowicz, A. Jalata, R. Jones, J. Kantola, W. Karwowski, D. Killick, P. Marber, T. Marek, D. Mitchell, S. Nielsen, L. Seawright, J. Shefner, J. Spring, P. Zgaga and others have analyzed the changes occurring within higher education systems in the context of globalization. Ph. Altbach, R. Berdahl, G. Freedman, A. Goodman, P. Gumport, R. Khator, A. Whitaker, W. Zumeta have studied the peculiarities of the globalization influence on American higher education system, namely, social, political and economic changes; the future of American higher education in the context of globalization process; the perspectives of higher education internationalization.

Despite the abundance of literary sources on the defined problem it is necessary to generalize the existing data to outline positive aspects of American experience in promoting globalization within their higher education institutions.

The research methods we have used are: theoretical analysis, synthesis, generalization and systematization.

RESULTS

According to the International Association of Universities (IAU) globalization is a top priority area of higher education system. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) considers globalization as “the flow of economy, technology, knowledge, human capital and social values across borders. Globalization influences various countries differently as a result of peculiar history, customs, cultures, reserves and objectives” (UNESCO, 2003). Nowadays the main issues within the changing landscape of higher education still remain: 1) the increasing significance of both knowledge-based economy and society; 2) innovations connected with the latest information and communication technologies (ICTs); 3) the emphasized role of the market and the market economy (Araya, Marber, 2014; Killick, 2015).

In view of the process of social transformation globalization is transforming the main functions of higher education institutions. Due to the social interaction impact on globalization higher education institutions are forming “consumed mentality” that modifies education into an exchangeable product (Shefner, Dahms, Jones, Jalata, 2014; Seawright, 2014). S. Slaughter and L. Leslie believe that “the academy has transformed from a core of liberal arts to an entrepreneurial dimension,” in which “the academics' marketization” results in the increase of “commercially-oriented research”. So, such a commercial aim enables higher education institutions to compete for financial resources and human capital that are globally available to turn to their advantage (Mitchell, Nielsen, 2012).

Also academic globalization includes a variety of components, namely, higher education institutions, academic fields, scholars and students as contributing factors. These components are in a different position in reference to the determining of higher education globalization. The higher education institutions have always been global in view of the exchange of ideas, scholars and students, however modern ICTs as well as scientific investments, research and development activities are enhancing globalization.

In 2007 L. Armstrong presented a conceptual framework aimed at studying the globalization influence on American higher education institutions. According to his framework, the globalization in the international scope considers higher education institutions to be “hubs”. The author also describes a new model of a higher education institution where both students and faculty members obtain degrees from various international locales due to global partnerships and satellite campuses thus considering it as non-traditional for it does not have geographical borders. In view of the above, HEIs are becoming global as they are not just exchanging people and scholars. On the contrary, they are widening their concept of being global since they are attracting international students, developing internationally recognized curricula and promoting the partnerships with different higher education institutions all over the world.

While studying globalization in the context of academic environment one can see that research universities play a special role in the global competition attracting the higher number of international students. L. Armstrong and D. Becker speculate on the subject of the global marketplace and higher education under modern conditions and the future positions of American research universities. P. Altbach and J. Knight discuss the motivations behind the research universities' global activities. So, as the global economy is more and more depending on highly qualified professionals, there is a need to encourage more and more people to participate in this economy that is gaining so much importance (Altbach, Gumport, Berdahl, 2011).

According to American Higher Education's Mandate, to remain competitive in the international labour market the country is to keep pace with the dramatic globalization processes occurring within the global society as well as vast new flows of information, technologies and human capital. Therefore, American educators should take into account the following:

1. The most fundamental challenges of today include violent extremism, climate changes, epidemics and cybercrimes and should be solved integratively. So, to resolve these issues one needs to adopt a scholarly research and collaborate with other countries.

2. For culture and business go beyond national borders, American specialists of tomorrow, including at the local level, must think globally and be ready to cooperate across cultures and societies to be successful.

3. US higher education institutions (HEIs) should attract more globally oriented students and scholars in order to be competitive at both national and international levels. Whereupon, classrooms are to be enriched with multiple perspectives as the number of international students is rapidly increasing (Goodman, 2009).

In other words, US HEIs require so-called “foreign policies”, i.e. formulated institution-wide policies so that their current global influence may be assessed and a strategic plan for the future may be developed.

In addition, it is important to encourage more and more American students to go abroad, thus training them for effective communication with people from different cultural backgrounds. At the same time US competitiveness also depends on attracting the brightest researchers from all over the world as international students bring economic, academic and cultural benefits to learning communities. They enrich an academic dialogue, adding their perspectives into the educational process; provide American students whose careers demand global competencies and the ability to work in multinational teams with international insight. It should be mentioned that international education is rather important for the future of US higher education as well as updating the country's national strategic interests, as it is the most successful investment in diplomacy and ensuring mutual understanding. So, it is necessary to promote academic and intellectual exchange between specialists and countries as well.

In the United States of America there are different government and non-governmental agencies ensuring the national competitiveness in the global labour market. To begin with, the US State Department presents the most extensive public diplomacy programming to popularize their higher education system and increase the mobility of international students across countries due to the Fulbright Fellowships for students and scholars, the Gilman Scholarships for study abroad by US undergraduates and other programs to provide the learning of the English language abroad as well as the foreign languages study by American students.

Consequently, the EducationUSA is an advising network comprising over 400 advising centers in 170 countries and is supported by the US State Department and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). The network operates in various host institutions, namely, Fulbright Commissions, US and local non-governmental organizations, US embassies, consulates, bi-national centers, universities and libraries. Regional Educational Advising Coordinators (REACs) design and promote the EducationUSA within their regions, ensuring advising centers' direction, training, assessment and quality control.

In addition, EducationUSA provides different services to help international students enter American universities and colleges. The services involve individual, group, mobile and virtual advising and marketing and promotion of American higher education institutions as well. The organization also cooperates with American higher education communities in order to increase the enrollment of international students, widen American students' opportunities to study broad and meet specific needs of higher education institutions. Moreover, EducationUSA provides recommendations on the strategies for regional and local recruitment, organizes conferences, webinars and consultations. It also provides financial support for analysis and research on the trends of student mobility (Open Doors) and the capacity of study abroad providing American universities and colleges with key information to attract more international students and develop efficient curricula.

G. Freedman, the President of the National Laboratory for Education Transformation (NLET), has outlined five core challenges for higher education institutions in the context of increasing globalization. They are: 1) institutional mission definition; 2) funding structures and arrangements; 3) student engagement methodologies; 4) institutional transparency and accountability practices; 5) ability to partner in a variety of ways. We believe it necessary to characterize each of them in detail (Freedman, 2008).

So, HIEs ' missions should be based on current issues, namely, sustainable development, inclusion, quality, transparency, information and communication technologies (ICTs). The involvement of students is extremely essential together with the engagement of multiple communities as well as the forming of institutional cultures that are performance-oriented.

Speaking about funding structures and arrangements it is necessary to adapt governments and students in their response to massification. The issues of open access equity to higher education should be balanced with the impact on taxpayers to ensure quality education for those willing to obtain higher education.

Regarding student engagement methodologies they should not be only “frills and inducements”. They are to belong to a greater engagement, assessment and quality cycle constantly defining the correspondence between students' educational needs and the quality of HEIs' curricula.

Institutional accountability and transparency are needed so that educational processes may be open to government, business, community and students' responses. Measurement processes should help higher education institutions to ensure their viability to funding sources.

Partnering is also necessary for the functioning of modern higher education institutions. They cannot fulfill all the needs that are defined by its mission or meet all the students' educational and research needs.

So, we can draw a conclusion that higher education institutions are to meet five core challenges to ensure the quality and level of educational services being in demand in modern competitive education environment. Furthermore, higher education institutions should respond to occurring demands of employers as well as the governments' needs to be economically viable and growth-oriented.

At the same time, to effectively meet the core challenges of global education, higher education institutions must take appropriate actions. Consequently, they consist in the following: 1) practicing a willingness to change fundamentally; 2) choosing an institutional type; 3) broadening the education vision to include the School-HEI Axis; 4) understanding and improving student engagement; 5) committing to and exercising change management; 6) improving institutional assessment and accountability; 7) building a process-driven HEI; 8) involving students/studying what works best. However, unlike the five core challenges mentioned above these 8 critical responses should be considered as components of a process- driven system to direct an institution's ability to adapt and adjust to the new challenges (Freedman, 2008).

So, American universities and colleges should be prepared to change and develop the performance that leads to the knowledge-based economy. As a result, it is necessary to teach such knowedge and skills that are required for new types of educational and research activities. In addition, they must nurture their own main skills in the organization and management in the context of the information age. Moreover, the governments and HEIs should discuss the appearing core challenges brought on by massification to ensure the effiicency of the educational process.

However, meeting the 5 core challenges with the help of the 8 critical responses, the modern higher education institutions should take into consideration the following key principles: 1) equity of access; 2) sustainable development; 3) high-quality instruction; 4) engagement of student experience; 5) transparent and accountable administration; 6) process-driven organization structures; 7) strategic use of technology (Freedman, 2008).

In 2009 R. Khator, the President of the University of Houston, emphasized the need to consider higher education in a global context, too. As education cannot simply offer advantages within local economies, it is becoming the primary gatekeeper in the global economy. She also denoted that globalization had been accompanying urbanization. Thus, in the USA almost 86 % of the whole population lives in urban areas. In addition, R. Khator notes that 50 % of all American jobs as well 50 % of American universities are situated in the 50 most populated urban centers. Thereby, she proves that higher education institutions should take the mentioned above urban context into account. At the same time R. Khator sees the US universities as the best product of the last 70 years. Thus, across the world higher education institutions are striving to adjust to the educational standards defined by American universities as well as the values of disciplines, research activities and freedom of thought embodied by them are encouraging the relevant imitation all over the world. Furthermore, R. Khator supposes professors to be the essential feature of higher education institutions and emphasizes the emerging opportunities for them in the context of globalization. In India, for instance, the migration of both qualified instructors and researchers to American universities eventually led to a “brain drain”. R. Khator indicates that gifted students are needed for creating a successful university. Therefore, she suggested that higher education institutions should understand that they need international students, so it is necessary to offer more educational services (Khator, 2009).

According to R. Khator, another sign of a successful university is the learning environment, namely, the enhancement of knowledge and talents, the disciplined work and the freedom to express one's opinion or idea. However, such an environment cannot be simply supplied with new facilities. She assumes that the necessity to promote this kind of academic landscape has been surpassed in different political debates in reference to equity and availability. R. Khator agreed that financial access to higher education is an important problem, but the provision of a successful academic society in the USA is rather significant for its future competitiveness in the global labour market (Khator, 2008).

R. Khator also noted that the perceived role of universities has been undergoing changes. Nowadays they are expected to operate as community managers rather than being institutions aimed at the creation and promotion of knowledge. At the same time, rapid changes in the business sphere have shifted the relations between higher education institutions and local communities.

It should be noted that social media has been playing a significant part in promoting university globalization, too. So, in order to attract more international students higher education institutions should organize and efficiently deal with their social media initiatives. For instance, since 2008 the University of Massachusetts has been conducting the survey among universities to define the frequency of their using social and digital media. The survey has shown that “colleges and universities are using social media, especially social networking sites to recruit as well as research prospective students. So, the higher education institutions are “adopting an array of relatively new social media tools and demonstrating a more strategic approach to their online communications” to enhance the partnership between universities, promote the relevant information about themselves and thus attract more international students. In addition, C. Dean, an expert on digital marketing in higher education, has outlined 5 American universities effectively implementing social media into their marketing activities. They are Texas A&M University, University of Minnesota, Harvard University, Tufts University and Vanderbilt University (Hanover Research, 2016).

We believe it necessary to mention the crucial role of global ranking systems, too. For example, in the USA graduated programmes were first evaluated in 1925 and a first ranking of American colleges was presented in 1983. Eventually, the global university rankings acquired their significance in 2000 as the mobility of students increased and higher education became easier to obtain.

So, based on the above we can conclude that globalization as a phenomenon has been acquiring much significance in all the spheres, especially in higher education. Many scholars have studied the essence of globalization within higher education systems of different countries and identified that globalization encompasses important aspects of HEIs' activities, namely, economic, social and cultural. It has been defined that main issues within

the changing landscape of higher education still remain: the increasing significance of both knowledge-based economy and society; innovations connected with the latest information and communication technologies (ICTs); the emphasized role of the market and the market economy. Therefore, educators and higher education institutions should develop different approaches to fulfill all the educational needs of the growing community of students, especially international students. Consequently, American educators have presented 5 core challenges they believe are topical for the educational environment and as a result suggested critical responses and principles one may use to resolve the emerging difficulties while promoting globalization within a higher education institution. At the same time, in the USA there are special organizations (US State Department; the EducationUSA) assisting HEIs with enhancing the positive impact of globalization on their functioning. In addition, American universities and colleges believe it necessary to apply social media to the process of strengthening their scientific reputation and thus attracting more international students. Also global rankings play a crucial role in defining the potential of a higher education institution and its place on the educational arena.

Rather perspective we consider the study higher education globalization in the context of European guidelines.

REFERENCES

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