The internationalization of higher education in Turkey: Realities, motivations and opportunities.

• Author: Ozer, Mahmut
• Position: COMMENTARY - Essay

ABSTRACT The internationalization of higher education constitutes one of the essential components that countries pursue. As economic growth and qualified higher education are directly related, many countries in the global competitive environment are re-evaluating their higher education systems. After a brief examination of the situation in the world, this commentary focuses specifically in the Turkish case. It argues that Turkey has taken strategic steps in recent years to strengthen the internationalization of its higher education system. In this regard, the paper will deal with the main challenges and future possibilities for the Turkish education system.

The internationalization of higher education constitutes one of the essential components that countries pursue for their higher education systems. Higher education institutions are compelled to put effort into the international arena in accordance with their own priorities, due to financial considerations and other factors, such as increasing the quality of the education they offer; having more international students, faculty members, and higher international rankings; and increasing the quality of their research and their international recognition. International students and faculty members also offer significant opportunities in terms of public diplomacy and soft power. Therefore, countries focus on the internationalization of their educational systems and revise their strategies dynamically. (1)

International students and faculty members positively affect education and research capacity and the quality of the higher education institutions with which they are affiliated. (2) In addition, higher education institutions can have multinational and multicultural campuses, owing to the international students and faculty members they host. According to UNESCO's 2013 data, there are approximately 4 million international students around the world. (3) The countries that have the largest numbers of international students also entertain the largest economic income due to the international higher education they offer. (4)

The Internationalization Strategies of the Leading Countries around the World

As economic growth and qualified higher education are directly related, many countries in the global competitive environment are re-evaluating their higher education systems in connection with their economic and social goals, and are establishing new objectives for themselves accordingly. Many countries which have significantly increased their enrollment rates in higher education aim to become hubs for education and research in the international higher education market. In order to achieve this, they allocate huge resources and undertake numerous large-scale and large-budget projects. The projects that China, South Korea and Singapore have implemented in their higher education systems over the last 10 years highlight the huge competition going on in the world, not only in the economy but also in higher education. For instance, in 2008, with a total funding of $800 million, South Korea launched a new, five-year education project in which only foreign scientists participated to carry out research in the country. (5)

Common features can be found when we consider the projects being applied by the countries that want to establish a strong position as a worldwide intellectual hub in the global academic market. (6) One common feature is the push to create projects which will transform the country's higher education institutions and research centers to attract the world's smartest and most successful students and scientists. For this purpose they are primarily developing projects to ensure that successful students in their own countries are prevented from leaving the country (reverse brain drain), especially for graduate studies. In addition, they make enormous investments in projects which entice successful international students to choose their country; at the same time they try to increase the flow of post-doctoral international researchers to their country. Moreover, they are seeking ways to link their education and research with the most respected universities and scholars in the world and to transfer those scholars as part-time, short-term, or fulltime academic staff.

Similarly, countries competing in this arena are trying to increase the number of international connections and to enhance their collaborations with top foreign higher education institutions and research centers. To this end, they focus on increasing bilateral cooperation with the world's outstanding universities and research centers. This includes a wide spectrum of activities, ranging from implementing joint undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs, to establishing international multi-partner research centers in their countries. These investments can have multifaceted benefits and act as a facilitating tool to attract the kind of internationally successful individuals mentioned above. Thus, they increase the quality of education and strengthen the research capacity of the countries. For this reason, they provide a dynamic background for the country's national economic development.

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