Internationalization of Higher Education: A Few Global Trends and Regional Perspectives

Abstract

Internationalization appears to be, at present, one of the key change processes influencing the development of higher education in most countries. For the International Association of Universities (IAU) it is actually a defining concept, though when the Association was founded in 1950, the terms used to describe this phenomenon were quite different. International cooperation among universities, international exchanges, international linkages and others were among the ways in which this activity was described. All these means to build international ‘bridges’ were viewed as both a necessary and a natural way for universities and other higher education institutions to repair a world profoundly damaged and scarred by two World Wars. The 150 or so university presidents who met in Nice, France, in 1950 to create the IAU were deeply committed to ensuring that international cooperation and the consequent and expected improvement in understanding among people would prevent such horror from recurring.