Research in Comparative and International Education
ISSN 1745-4999

CONTENTS [click on author's name for abstract and full text]

Research on Study Abroad, Mobility, and Student Exchange in Comparative Education Scholarship

BERNHARD T. STREITWIESER Northwestern University, Evanston, USA
EMILY LE University of California, Los Angeles, USA VAL RUST University of California, Los Angeles, USA

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.5

For many years there has been research on study abroad, student mobility and international student exchange; however in the last two decades the volume and scope of this work has increased significantly. There are now specific academic journals, a host of new books each year, expansive reports by international research organizations, and an increasing number of annual conferences that are all publishing on trends and issues related to this phenomenon. Yet surprisingly, in comparative education scholarship much of this research still appears relatively infrequently in its main journals. This article examines the seeming contradiction of, on the one hand, more student and institutional participation in worldwide international education each year and new research accompanying this trend and, on the other hand, the relative scarcity of reflection on this activity in the core comparative education journals. The article takes stock of the international education-themed research that has appeared in the past in a selection of comparative education journals, shares the editors’ advice to future authors seeking to submit research on these areas, and concludes with some reflections on the future direction of scholarship in international education and comparative education.

Student Mobility and Internationalization: trends and tribulations

JANE KNIGHT Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.20

There is no question that internationalization, and particularly international student mobility, has transformed the higher education landscape in the last decade. It has brought diverse benefits to students, institutions, communities and countries. But there are unanticipated outcomes and risks as well. The purpose of this article is look at the complexities and current trends of student mobility and to invite reflection on some of the new developments and unintended consequences. These include granting and recognition of academic credentials; diploma and accreditation mills; collaborative programs such as joint or double degree programs and twinning and franchise arrangements; the great brain race and its implications for brain gain, brain drain, and brain train; the competitiveness agenda; status building and world rankings; regional identity and global citizenship. These macro issues often become an implicit part of the culture or environment of international education without being questioned. Focusing on some worrisome trends and outcomes of new developments in student mobility and internationalization does not deny the multitude of positive results; it is only an attempt to encourage a 360-degree look at the current state of student mobility and to encourage more research and reflection on some important trends and unexpected results.

International Student Mobility and the Bologna Process

ULRICH TEICHLER International Centre for Higher Education Research Kassel (INCHER-Kassel), University of Kassel, Germany

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.34

The Bologna Process is the newest of a chain of activities stimulated by supra-national actors since the 1950s to challenge national borders in higher education in Europe. Now, the ministers in charge of higher education of the individual European countries have agreed to promote a similar cycle-structure of study programmes and programmes based on the strategic aim of enhancing student mobility in two directions: to increase the attractiveness for students from other parts of the world to study – primarily for the whole study programme – in European countries, and to facilitate intra-European – primarily temporary – mobility. Studies aiming at establishing the results of this policy face various problems. Statistics move only gradually from ‘foreign’ to ‘mobile’ students, but remain insufficient with respect to temporary mobility. Individual European countries opt for such varied solutions that an overall overview is hardly feasible. Yet, some general trends are visible. First, Bologna has contributed to greater internal mobility of students from other parts of the world, but not to a more rapid increase of intra-European student mobility. Second, the event of outwards mobility during the course of study up to graduation has turned out to be more frequent than expected by many experts, but differences by country do not fade away. Third, the value of student mobility gradually declines as a consequence of gradual loss of exclusiveness.

Graduate Student Training and the Reluctant Internationalism of Social Science in the USA

CYNTHIA MILLER-IDRISS Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, New York University, USA
SETENEY SHAMI Social Science Research Council, New York, USA

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.50

In the US academy, there is significant disciplinary variation in the extent to which graduate students are encouraged to or discouraged from studying abroad and doing fieldwork overseas. This article examines this issue, focusing on US graduate training in the social sciences and the extent to which students are discouraged from developing international expertise. Data is drawn from a mixed-methods study conducted from 2005‑2010 by the Social Science Research Council and funded by the US Department of Education’s International Research and Studies Program. This article argues that key cultural dynamics in the nomothetic social science disciplines in the USA steer graduate students away from contextual international study and thus work against university internationalization efforts more broadly. Scholars of comparative and international education need to be aware of these kinds of disciplinary cultural dynamics in order to fully understand how university internationalization efforts succeed or fail.

Frontiers Journal and the Forum on Education Abroad: building a research tradition on education abroad for the comparative education scholarship

BRIAN WHALEN The Forum on Education Abroad, Carlisle, USA

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.61

Drawing on the author’s experience as a founder and editor of the first academic journal devoted to education abroad (Frontiers: the interdisciplinary journal of education abroad), and his work leading the first membership association devoted exclusively to education abroad (the Forum on Education Abroad), this article provides suggestions for areas of education abroad that would benefit from comparative education abroad research. The article argues that comparative education has much to contribute to education abroad research by helping us to understand educational systems around the world through examining education abroad structures, processes and topics; by informing us about how education abroad practices reflect the host culture and society, thereby enlightening us about the relationships between education and society; and by helping to advance education abroad practices and thereby improve education. Comparative research on the topics proposed in the article will provide important information needed by governments, institutions, organizations and program sponsors, and the professionals involved in creating and managing education abroad programs. Ultimately, the best reason for conducting such research is to benefit the many students who participate in education abroad programs as part of their education.

Seek Knowledge Throughout the World? Mobility in Islamic Higher Education

ANTHONY WELCH Department of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, Australia

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.70

While Southeast Asia as a region is generally poorly represented in scholarship on higher education, this is even more the case when considering Islamic higher education in the region. While patterns of mobility within the Islamic world are ancient, with mediaeval scholarly centres such as Baghdad, Cairo and Alexandria attracting scholars and students from many parts, scholarly mobility in Southeast Asia also has its own history. The earlier part of this article concentrates on the flowering of Islamic scholarly centres, with a particular focus on mobility. Subsequently, contemporary Islamic higher education in Southeast Asia, particularly in countries such as Malaysia, and Indonesia, is analyzed, focusing particularly on international mobility patterns, particularly of students. This includes both regionalism (students from Southeast Asia travelling to other countries within the region to pursue Islamic higher education), and efforts by countries such as Malaysia to recruit significant numbers of students from the Gulf states and Arab world, thereby reversing traditional paths of mobility.

Are Sojourners Natural Comparativists? Critical Perspectives on the Learning Experiences of International Students

MICHELE SCHWEISFURTH Centre for International Education and Research, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.81

Students who spend a period of time studying outside of their own national systems have a number of advantages in terms of developing a comparative perspective on education. The experience of living and studying abroad provides them with the opportunity to act as participant observers of at least two different systems, and the natural juxtaposition of these experiences should, in theory, help these individuals to better understand their own and the other education systems. This article uses a number of sources to interrogate this assumption. It draws on findings from research conducted by the author and colleagues on international students in the United Kingdom, in order to explore the potential and limitations of a period of international study in informing a learner’s comparative perspective. While such students evidently adopt a comparative discourse in discussing their experiences, questions are raised about the validity and depth of these understandings.

Current Research on Chinese Students Studying Abroad

JÜRGEN HENZE & JIANI ZHU Department of Education Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.90

As a result of China’s growing participation and importance in the process of internationalization and globalization a continuously rising number of Chinese students has gone abroad for further study. By the end of the last decade the number of Chinese students abroad made up the largest group of international students in the USA (surpassing those from India) and during the next decade this group will become the world’s largest floating student population. Because of its size and the growing recognition of China and Chinese culture around the world, research on a wide range of problem areas among Chinese students abroad has been initiated, especially in Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, the USA and Hong Kong. This article looks at the variety of research issues and attempts to provide a first overview in the light of international and comparative research on international students, their mobility and their recognition by host countries as well as their influence as cultural ‘irritators’.

Encountering Culture through Gender Norms in International Education: the case of volunteers in Ecuador

MARTHA McGIVERN Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, USA

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.105

Demonstrating how international education programs can be used to study theoretical issues relevant to comparative education, this article reports on a scholarly analysis of 83 handover letters written by US participants in a volunteer program in Ecuador to their incoming counterparts between 2006 and 2010. It applies Swidler’s notion of ‘unsettled lives’ to the comparativists’ framework of undoing gender and argues that focused on cultural differences, participants are able to see gender inequality in a way they cannot at home. This increased gender consciousness is a key component in undoing gender. These programs stop short, however, of providing opportunities for less gendered or more equal social interaction.

Arubaito, or Short-Term Working Abroad in Japan: a case study of Brazilian university students of Japanese descent

LINDSEY SASAKI Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, USA

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.115

International migration between Japan and Brazil dates back to 1908, when the first group of Japanese migrated to Brazil. However, in the 1980s, a reverse flow occurred, as thousands of Brazilians of Japanese descent traveled to Japan to work in manufacturing and construction factories (dekasegi workers). Japanese Brazilians up until the third generation were permitted to enter. Many recruiting companies turned to university students who could work the factory jobs during their three-month summer vacation (arubaito workers). This article draws upon a larger ethnographic case study that the author conducted in São Paulo, Brazil and Aichi, Japan in 2009 and 2010. The results of the study indicate that not only economic, but cultural underpinnings contribute to the motivations by Japanese-Brazilian university students to work in Japan. Different forms of non-traditional student mobility are explored that can shape a student’s experience abroad.

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