Internationalization in Higher Education

Internationalization as a concept and strategic factor is a rather recent phenomenon, resulting from the fact that higher education, both at the level of the system and of the institutions, needs to act and react in an increasingly globalized knowledge society and economy. Internationalization, in particular in Catholic universities, has always been present in different ways: in research, in the inbound and outbound mobility of students and scholars, in the curriculum, but it has been more implicit and fragmented than explicit and central.

From the 1980s onward, internationalization has gradually moved from being marginal to becoming a core phenomenon, as a consequence of such developments as the increasing importance of research and education for economic development (the knowledge economy and knowledge society), the rapidly growing demand for higher education in the world, the end of the Cold War, and regional cooperation in higher education—the latter particularly in Europe.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the main focus was on mobility. This was a result of an unmet demand for higher education, triggering a drastic increase in the number of degree-seeking students, mainly from the developing to the developed world; the growth in the mobility of short-term credit students, in particular in Europe as a result of the Erasmus program; an increase in short-term faculty mobility, primarily for research; and a gradual growth in franchise operations, branch campuses, and other forms of transnational education.

This focus—referred to as “Internationalization Abroad” (Jane Knight, 2012)—is still prevalent. But by the turn of the millennium, a need emerged for HEIs to respond to a compelling call for globally competent citizens and professionals. This imperative required paying attention to the far larger group of nonmobile students and faculty, and to internationalizing the curriculum and teaching and learning. The notion of “Internationalization at Home” came to the fore.

In other words, internationalization in higher education has evolved over the past 30 years from an ad hoc, marginal, and fragmented phenomenon to a central and comprehensive component of higher education policy—although, still, more in the rhetoric than in concrete action (de Wit & Rumbley, 2017).

How do Catholic HEIs develop their policies and practices of internationalization? What rationales do they use to enhance the three pillars of internationalization: mobility, curriculum, and partnerships? How do they relate these policies and practices to their identity and mission? In other words: why are HEIs internationalizing, how does that relate to their programs and organizational strategies, and what outcomes do they look for? To answer these questions, we first go back to some of the defining dimensions of embedding identity and internationalization into institutional practice, as addressed in the introductory chapter.

Embedding Identity & Internationalization into Institutional Practice

A significant part of being a Catholic HEI has to do with the relationship to the structural authority of the Roman Catholic Church. As an academic institution, a Catholic university is a member of the local community (including the local diocese), the national community (including the national conference of bishops), the international academic community (via the Roman Curia), and it is in service to the universal Church through the teaching and research functions proper to its role (John Paul II, 1990). Every Catholic university must “maintain communion with the universal Church and the Holy See… the local Church and in particular with the diocesan Bishops of the region or nation in which it is located” (John Paul II, 1990, Part II, art. 5).

The Congregation for Catholic Education is one of the dicasteries or departments of the Roman Curia—the central government of the Catholic Church in Rome. Within this Congregation is the Office for Universities. At this level, universal norms for Catholic universities are followed, as published in the Code of Canon Law (can. 807–814) and the apostolic constitution, Ex corde Ecclesiae. While these documents have specific regulatory functions in defining a Catholic HEI, the Congregation rarely intervenes in the management of an institution. Universities that include ecclesiastical faculties for the training of seminarians and the granting of ecclesiastical degrees have a distinct and formal connection to the Office for Universities within the Congregation for Catholic Education. The norms for ecclesiastical faculties have been followed as published in the apostolic constitution, Sapientia Christiana (John Paul II, 1979), now recently updated in Veritatis Gaudium (Francis, 2018).

At the national or regional level, countries have an episcopal conference (a conference of bishops), which exercises pastoral functions over a regional or national community. For example, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference for the Catholic Church in the United States. Within the USCCB, the Committee on Catholic Education works to “[encourage] and [support] efforts in Catholic education by fostering the distribution and implementation of both universal Church documents on education as well as related documents developed by the bishops of the United States” (USCCB, n.d., n.p.) The USCCB also maintains relationships with bishops and diocesan offices, national education organizations, governmental and legislative bodies, and the Holy See and other episcopal conferences. At the local level the Code of Canon Law states, “… No university is to bear the title or name of Catholic university without the consent of competent ecclesiastical authority” (can. 808). The ecclesiastical authority in this case need not be the Congregation in Rome, nor a bishop from the national episcopal conference but is generally understood to be the diocesan bishop.

Thus, “every Catholic University, without ceasing to be a University, has a relationship to the Church that is essential to its institutional identity” (John Paul II, 1990, No. 27). It is not a relationship of mandates and regulations. Rather, the institution participates in this mutually life-giving relationship by fulfilling its mission as an academic institution, in its teaching and research functions, properly ordered to the common good of society and to the service of the universal Church.

In an age of significant transformation in societies around the world, the question of what makes a Catholic university Catholic is being asked again in many institutions. This question has no easy answer. Although the distinctive character is defined by the essential characteristics set out in Ex corde Ecclesiae, each university is affected by many factors in its own context that will lead it to view the issue from its own unique perspective.

As Catholic universities reflect on how they can contribute to societal development and produce graduates who are equipped to work and live in the world from a Christian perspective, they also need to do so in the context of the growing challenges and pressures of globalization. This means that they are also required to think about the international dimension of their work and how it can enhance the institutional quality.

While universities seek to redefine their Catholic identity, many are also facing the competitive pressures of internationalization, either to enhance their prestige or to guarantee sufficient student numbers. As internationalization increasingly becomes an institutional imperative, it is also being questioned in a number of countries around the world as the recent wave of antiglobalization challenges the values and benefits that universities attribute to internationalization. Therefore, while universities may perceive identity and internationalization as fundamental, they are also subjected to strong pressures from their environments.

Furthermore, in some universities identity and internationalization may have developed independently of one another with no evident points of contact in institutional practice, while in others, there may be a more purposeful approach to build clear connections and enable the two dimensions to mutually reinforce one another.

In whatever way a Catholic university defines its identity and its approach to internationalization, the cases described in this book indicate that there are a variety of approaches to do this, and that there is a significant variation in the degrees of intensity or intentionality in linking the two components of what is termed “mission-driven internationalization.”

Universities—and Catholic universities are no exception—do not typically have a long tradition with strategic planning. It is a process that does not always sit comfortably in their culture and very often the first experience is not a successful one. The reasons for developing a plan may come from external pressures of government or funding agencies seeking accountability rather than from within, and the university may feel forced to comply rather than embrace it as an opportunity to think creatively and strategically about its future.

Strategic planning, when properly done, offers an opportunity to the university to move away from a collection of loosely connected activities to an approach that links identity to internationalization, embeds both dimensions in institutional practice and enhances their potential to contribute to mission. As Fiorin (2015, p. 7) states in Instrumentum Laboris, the mission is derived from Catholic identity and puts it into practice.

In order to do so, a model is presented in the introductory chapter on the way a university operates and how this should be reflected through the strategic planning process. It invites the university to start by having clearly in mind what its vision and mission should be in line with the context in which it is operating. Only then should it identify academic activities in terms of education, formation, research, and outreach, since it is through these activities that it will be able to carry out the vision and mission that it has chosen. Once the academic activities have been defined, the university can turn its attention to what support services need to be in place, and then finally to the resources required for effective operation. These four elements are described in sequence in four sections of the plan with clear objectives and actions, and each section supporting the previous ones.

This model invites the university to plan for its future in an intentional, systematic, and holistic manner and proposes identity and internationalization as cross-functional dimensions. Both are expressed in the mission and vision and translated into specific academic activities and practices, support functions, and resource needs. The model is one that can be used by any university regardless of its circumstances or ambitions, and enables it to identify the ways in which identity and internationalization can mutually support one another.

If identity and internationalization are considered to be essential, then they should be placed at the heart of the planning process where they can be given real meaning and where their respective roles can be reinforced. As they interact with one another, they can give greater value to the mission that each university seeks to deliver in the context of its own particular heritage and setting. One aspect of internationalization that is typically addressed in the planning process is the role of partnerships and networks and it is interesting to explore how these are developing in the context of Catholic Education.

The Global Landscape of Catholic Associations and Networks

Given the vastness, complexity, and urgency of these problems, and the limited “economic and personal resources of a single institution, cooperation in common research projects among Catholic universities, as well as other private and governmental institutions,” (John Paul II, 1990, No. 35)—that is, international academic partnerships, associations, and networks—are imperative to facilitate the necessary collaboration to arrive at solutions. Thus, Catholic institutions, within their functions as both university and Catholic, must choose how to engage at the global level in order to fulfil their mission.

Academic associations are groups of organizations or professional academic units that scale from departments to schools to institutions, or institutional constituents (faculty, administrators, and students), and may be single or multipurpose (de Wit, 2004). Academic associations may be classified according to the mission of the organization: multi-aim scholarly, multi-aim social, standards-oriented, discipline-oriented, or profession-oriented (Fumasoli et al., 2017). Academic associations may also be classified by membership levels: interpersonal, interunit, or interorganizational (Brass et al., 2004). For Catholic academic associations, a further level of classification exists by sponsoring religious order, for example by the Jesuits, or the Franciscans, or the Lasallians. Catholic HEIs may also be affiliated with nongovernmental Catholic service organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, Caritas International, or Jesuit Refugee Services. This reflects the particular mission of Catholic HEIs to promote social justice and student formation; as such, these relationships may include short-term or long-term student mobility opportunities such as international service trips or student placements and internships. While numerous Catholic NGOs operate internationally, there appear to be but few Catholic academic associations and networks that function at that level, especially for interorganizational membership. The International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) is an international academic association with institutional members (see Table 1). The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) has some international member institutions, but primarily caters to North America. At the regional and national levels, Catholic academic interorganizational associations are more active, especially those affiliated to sponsoring orders. At the interunit and interpersonal membership levels, there are several international Catholic associations and networks that are largely discipline and profession-oriented. These academic associations frequently host conferences and publish scholarly journals, thus contributing to essential collaborative research.

At a global level, however, it appears that the potential for Catholic universities to enhance their internationalization efforts through strategic use of associations and networks is still underdeveloped. Chapter 24 describes the global network of La Salle universities. This network, as well as the Association of Universities Entrusted to the Society of Jesus in Latin America (AUSJAL) and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) in the United States, are examples of global and regional cooperation. But in general internationalization is not yet very high on the agenda of other associations, such as IFCU.

Key Findings From Case Studies and Regional Contexts

With these concepts, dimensions, and contexts in mind, we have looked for the relationship between Catholic identity and internationalization in different types of institutions and regions. Hereunder are some of the key findings.

Future Challenges and Opportunities

Sivasubramaniam and Hayhoe emphasize the role of education in interfaith dialogue and understanding of other religions, and call for more attention for this theme in the field of comparative and international education (p. 24). This book is intended as a contribution to that understanding. Katherine Marshall (2017) mentions six crucial topics where religious institutions should be particularly involved:

• Delivery and outreach to underserved populations

• Specific education and outreach to refugees and displaced populations

• Curricular focus on pluralism and “religious literary”

• Addressing education challenges surrounding values in education and understandings of citizenship

• Training of religious leaders

• Advocacy for education goals and reforms (p. 29)

Catholic HEIs have always had an active role in the last two. In the current political climate globally, the first four are in need of greater attention.

Exploring and defining the relationship between identity and internationalization is not specific for Catholic and other faith-based universities. All institutions of higher education have to define their internationalization strategy in relation to their history, context, and mission, and have to be more conscious about the way their global engagement can contribute to strengthening their identity. There is not one model to define the mutual relationship between the two, as context plays a significant role in the way Catholic universities put that relationship into practice. Our observation, however, is that in most cases there is no explicit reflection, by the university community, on the relationship between the two, and as a result no policy and practice in which that relationship is given shape and form. Although there are many instances in which internationalization relates to Catholic identity, and where Catholic identity influences international programs and activities, this generally happens in a fragmented, marginal, and implicit way.

Finding a more explicit and intentional balance between the two dimensions is our recommendation. We are not suggesting to strive to connect all mobility, curriculum, and partnerships, exclusively to Catholic identity, as openness to the surrounding society is an essential part of Catholic identity. But exploring options whereby values embedded in Catholic identity drive the internationalization agenda and global engagement initiatives reinforce those values, would be a substantial move forward. In this respect, three questions in current Catholic higher education appear fundamental: Will emerging global trends change patterns of religious life and open new opportunities for faith-based education? How are Catholic universities affected by growing religious diversity and increasing secularization worldwide? And finally, how can these changes in the external context shape internationalization policies at Catholic universities?

This is the first global study on the relationship between Catholic identity and internationalization. We hope that this research will be useful to senior management and professionals involved with internationalization at Catholic universities, and we welcome further research on related themes, for instance by widening the study to other faith-based institutions, or to a comparative review of Catholic and other faith-based university networks and associations.