1.0 Context
Internationalisation of Higher Education (HE) is a key policy of the Thai Ministry of Education and its implementation falls under the remit of the Office of the Higher Education Commission’s Bureau of International Cooperation Strategy.
The Bureau of International Cooperation Strategy, Office of the Higher Education Commission has sought to evaluate and benchmark internationalisation programmes being administered by Thai HEIs and this has led to an increased focus on the measurement of their efficacy against best practices in other parts of the world. Indeed, some of the most widely used methodologies for measuring the quality and efficacy of internationalisation have been developed within the European Higher Education Area. Amongst the best known of these are the Indicators for Mapping and Profiling Internationalisation (IMPI) developed by CHE Consult of Germany and the Mapping of Internationalisation Tool (MINT) devised by NUFFIC in the Netherlands.
There has been a proliferation of models, methods and tools for measuring efficacy of internationalisation initiatives as international higher education practitioners worldwide research their field and seek to reconcile theory and practice. These approaches require commitment and ownership from across the institution by all stakeholders engaged in the international mission.
A common feature of these metrics is the use of qualitative as well as quantitative data on the process and progress of internationalisation. This confers more validity on metrics and provides richer description of the outcomes of initiatives for individuals, institutions and higher education systems. The tools are also invariably completed through self-evaluation, which allows for critically reflective approaches to continuous improvement.
2.0 Objectives
The Short Term Senior EU Expert was assigned to work with BICS, OHEC to enable Thai universities to measure their internationalisation performance and relative improvement. This entailed assisting BICS, OHEC in the development and implementation of a system for Thai higher education institutions to monitor and evaluate the extent of their internationalisation and also identify barriers to this process.
Under the Terms of Reference of the assignment, three activities are described, which required the design and facilitation of opportunities for information sharing and exchange between key stakeholders within the Thai higher education sector.
Overall the assignment requires the process facilitation and information sharing and exchanges on professional programmes. There are three (3) activities described:
1. Model for monitoring / evaluating how far universities have progressed towards internationalisation and defining steps they should take to better their internationalisation position.
2. Tools to measure the extent of university internationalisation.
3. Recommendations for enhancing implementation of internationalisation process in agreed areas of priorities at the level of OHEC.
This study was implemented over the course of 65 working days between December 2014 and May 2015. The scope of activities allowed extensive opportunity for the collection of quantitative and qualitative data to inform the development of a model and tools to determine progress and optimisation of internationalisation initiatives.
3.0 Summary of Findings
The measurement of performance, outcomes and impact of internationalisation has not been implemented on a large scale at the institutional or programme levels in Thailand
There is a strong understanding of the importance of developing and implementing an internationalisation strategy, with 69.5% of respondents having instituted one
At institutional level the measurement of internationalisation has been confined to the comparison of outputs and the data is solely quantitative in nature.
Only 40.6% of responding institutions indicating having a policy of measuring the outcomes of their internationalisation initiatives
This has led to a narrow, prescriptive and externally defined approach to formulation, implementation and evaluation of internationalisation initiatives
44% of institutions did not indicate having a Quality Assurance system in place for international programmes
The three most cited rationales for internationalisation amongst respondents are: Improving teaching & learning, Enhancing international cooperation, and Increasing international awareness of staff and students
The three most cited barriers to internationalisation amongst respondents are: Limited foreign language proficiency of students and staff, Insufficient financial resources, and Lack of Government support
While the greatest majority of international students hosted by responding institutions come from ASEAN countries, considerably fewer outbound Thai students study at ASEAN institutions compared to
4.0 Recommendations
4.1 Optimisation It is envisaged that through the development of the model and that Thai higher education institutions (HEIs) will be able to optimise their institutional approaches to implementation and measurement of internationalisation initiatives relevant to their own contexts.
4.2 Culture of Evaluation
The impetus will be created for the initiation of pilot programmes at selected universities focused on the engendering of a culture of self-directed peer evaluation and iterative improvement of the dimensions of internationalisation
4.3 Community of Practice
Communities of practice of diverse yet cohesive thematic working groups within Thai higher education internationalisation policy. strategy and practice can be established.
4.4 Empowered Institutions Thai HEIs will be empowered by new practitioner and stakeholder driven approach to formulating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating quality of internationalisation programmes at Thai higher education institutions.
4.5 Impact
The Thai higher education system can lead in maximizing the impact of internationalisation initiatives for national, regional and international stakeholders
4.6 Knowledge Management Thai higher education institutions can become a repository of knowledge and source of best practice in the implementation of internationalisation programmes within the ASEAN Community.