Challenges in International Education

American higher education has always had international elements, whether using foreign models, employing foreign-born faculty members, educating international students, or building curricula with international studies components. The need for international awareness has grown as America became a global power and integrated a more diverse population in the late twentieth century. As we look forward in the 21^st century there are challenges, but even greater reasons, why we should build global educational perspectives, multicultural skills and international experience.

Historically, American universities have looked abroad for models of academic success. They built institutions which followed British, and later German, models (Lucas, 2006). They have drawn on the American wealth of educated immigrants or foreign academies for specialized international academic expertise. Students were schooled in the Western classics and focused on European civilization. Academic interest in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin America lagged because those continents were largely either European imperial domains, or seen as less important world players. Representative members of American society from these regions had correspondingly low influence on higher education priorities. Following World War II, millions of Americans entered universities with a broader appreciation of the outside world, and with the awareness that the U.S. could no longer live its insular pre-war existence. The United Nations, the Cold War, and international business also drove the international awakening. Fulbright scholarships and the Peace Corps represented early programs to exchange students with the world.

Starting in the 1960s, decolonization, Vietnam, the 1973 oil crisis, Iranian revolution, European Union, and end of the Cold War changed the world that demanded American attention. Global air travel and satellite communications shrank the globe. By the 1990s, American society had been transformed by Civil Rights, Hispanic empowerment, and the diverse new Asian-American and Muslim communities. University campuses likewise changed to more diverse communities. Some of the efforts to balance the traditional Western dominance with a more diverse ethnic curriculum led to charges of multicultural political correctness, rather than being accepted as important changes to redress an imbalance in global awareness (Lucas, 2006). For the most part, there is broad agreement that Americans needed greater international familiarity and cross-cultural understanding at the turn of the century (Bok, 2006).

The 21^st century educational environment created by the global information infrastructure provides an unprecedented degree of access to the world. American universities continue to draw foreign students. Yet Americans are woefully unfamiliar with their neighbors in the global village. Amazingly, the post-9/11 world remains a mystery to many Americans. Islamic extremism and the economic rise of India and China, present challenges which demand educational responses. The U.S. can no longer afford to be ignorant of the world beyond Europe. American education must get beyond domestic culture wars and prepare a new generation for a global role, if we are to understand our world and compete in the new century.

Harvard president emeritus, Derek Bok proposed a combination of international studies coursework, foreign languages, education abroad, and exposure to international students as means for increasing international competencies (2006). Multidisciplinary global or regional studies have been added to many schools. Government grants and programs have expanded in recent years. International student programs survived homeland security restrictions. Universities have responded to globalization by building overseas branches and forming partnerships with foreign academic institutions (Coclanis & Strauss, 2010). Academic associations and exchange of information have grown. Distance learning technologies are ideally suited to global cooperation and breaking down barriers between cultures (Singer, 2010).

The outlook for international programs and partnerships should seem bright but there are challenges to be overcome. Financial issues plague many partner nations as well as the U. S. Another difficulty for international programs is that they compete with a large number of equally important educational priorities. Domestic, “practical” course work can overshadow international and cultural competencies still regarded as unnecessary luxuries by some school administrations and state budget officials. Concerns over immigration and parochial biases can weigh against expanding language and cross-cultural communications courses. Security requirements can stifle international student exchanges.

The world has changed since 1945. The U. S. faces international business challenges and foreign threats in a smaller world, and increased domestic ethnic and religious diversity at home. Higher education must lead in building an internationally informed and skilled population. Technology can be a powerful tool to satisfy many of our learning needs, but we must also take advantage of the wealth of international expertise in our multinational society which has been the traditional source of American strength.

References

Bok, D. C., (2006). Our underachieving colleges: a candid look at how much students learn and why they should be learning more. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Press.

Coclanis, P. A., & Strauss, R. P., (2010, September 2). Partnerships: an Alternative to Branch Campuses Overseas. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Lucas, C. J., (2006). American higher education: a history (2nd Ed.). New York, NY: Palgrave/MacMillan.
Singer, P. (2010, August 29). The Internet Will Set You Free. The Chronicle of Higher Education.