As internationalisation of universities is generally seen as the response – and the need to respond – to globalisation, one may argue for a much more value driven approach to this response to globalisation.
Internationalisation of universities must respond to:
- global challenges, including challenges to environmental and social sustainability
- global connectivity of the global network society
- global diversity, also within our country, municipality, and campus
- global labour markets, whether at home or abroad
These challenges require that universities provide their graduates with the competencies and attitudes necessary for a new generation of global social entrepreneurship. This entails three kinds of competencies, and these should be the key objectives of internationalisation of higher education:
- global competencies, i.e. international awareness and intercultural competencies
- social competencies, i.e. ethical and beyond the singular drive for profit or H impact factor
- entrepreneurial competencies, i.e. creative, persevering, risk-taking
This would also entail a shift towards the creation of social value and the key driver of the university endeavour of education and research instead of the current focus on H impact factor and ranking.
