Patterns of Funding Internationalisation of Higher Education. A Conceptual Framework for the Study of Internationalisation

Abstract

The paper puts forward arguments in favour of a new approach to the study of internationalisation of higher education. It claims that a systematic mapping of the funding of internationalisation could shed new light on the phenomenon itself and also on the ways it has been conceptualized and studied to date. Preliminary results from a research project adopting this approach are presented, including a series of initial findings and interpretations it has made possible. They provide a basis for the construction of the proposed conceptual framework for the study of internationalisation, which may also serve the creation of heuristic instruments for further research in this context. The paper focuses primarily on potential scholarly contributions (in terms of new knowledge and conceptual refining), and discusses briefly potential lessons to be considered from a policy perspective.