Internationalisation of higher education: lived experiences of international students and perspectives on the global university

This thesis critically analyses the concept of internationalisation in HE based on the perceptions and lived experiences of a group of postgraduate students and staff in a post-1992 university in the United Kingdom. Specifically, it discusses the implications of the spatial nature of internationalisation practices and the extent to which marketised consumerist discourses affect academic life and shape the student experience.

Drawing on empirical data collected using participant observation and in-depth interviews, my thesis presents three main findings. First, analysis of the views and experiences of staff and students highlights the existence of a conceptual spectrum according to which internationalisation is projected and understood by both the institution and its staff/students. While the institution is driven by abstract contractual practices that make it look machinic, staff and students see it more as an ecological process (living organism).

Second, a spatial examination of the environment underlines substantial conflicts between the institution and students provoked by their distinct and incompatible needs and interests. For example, in the process of protecting its reputation, instead of working proactively and wholeheartedly on the lived experiences of students, the organisation has the tendency to shape its prospective students’ perceptions with an idealistic self-image. The institution thus works more to attract students in meeting external marketing demands, and, I argue, fails to account for the diversity of students’ experiences. This invites forms of discrimination with subtle characteristics that go beyond the traditional forms of racism and evoke types of xeno-racism which the thesis examines in depth.

Finally, drawing on my participants’ perspectives, positions, and recommendations, I develop an ambitious model of internationalisation which aims to redefine the university’s machinic views and practices in line with a more organic counterpart. My analysis of the data describes a simple, but sustainable, model with a powerful, meaningful approach that can bring stakeholders together through ongoing communication and intercultural dialogue