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The Value of Students Rachel Brooks University of Surrey. Official value. Diversity within the classroom and campus Ethical projects, e.g. initiatives at Leeds Met
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The Value of Students Rachel Brooks University of Surrey
Official value • Diversity within the classroom and campus • Ethical projects, e.g. initiatives at Leeds Met • ‘situate the international student at the heart of the university as a source of cultural capital and intentional diversity, enriching the learning experience….and building a more powerful learning community’ (Brown and Jones, 2007, p.2) • Developing the inter-cultural skills of immobile students
Other, sometimes-competing, values • For revenue • For ‘international’ metrics • As ‘easy’ form of internationalisation • Some tensions…..
Revenue • Historically, mobility as form of overseas aid • E.g. Colombo Plan, 1950s • Shift in past two decades, allowing HEIs in some countries to remain viable • E.g. UK: £2.4 billion from tuition fees of international students • E.g. Australia: several universities rely on international students for over 25 per cent of income
‘International’ metrics • Increasing importance of international rankings (THE and SJTI) • In constituting the ‘world class university’ (Marginson and van der Wende, 2007) • Geographical mobility assessed in THE rankings • Proportion of international staff;proportion of international students
‘Easy’ form of internationalisation • Various policy pressures to internationalise • International organisations • EU agenda • UK policy imperatives (PMI2 etc.) • Does not require any structural changes to degree programmes • High external visibility
Some tensions….. • Limited opportunities for inter-cultural learning • Dominance of western bodies of knowledge (Madge et al., 2009) • But rarely one-way • Segregation outside the classroom • Racism and discrimination (Collins, 2006) • Optimum degree of cultural difference? • Exacerbating inequalities? • Between students (strategies to achieve ‘distinction’)? • Between nations?