Comprehensive internationalisation in Latin America

Abstract

The Latin American tertiary education (TE) sector is nowadays facing demands from globalisation and a knowledge-based society, while still dealing with challenges in terms of access, equity, quality and relevance. This new context has prompted a greater demand for TE and is forcing institutions to reconsider their mission, tasks and responsibilities, as well as to develop innovative approaches to improve their relevance and function, among which comprehensive internationalisation is considered a key strategy. The aim of the present article is therefore to assess the status of the internationalisation process of the Latin American TE sector through a piecemeal analysis of empirical findings and data coming from the most recently published research and studies on rationales, benefits, obstacles, policies, strategies and programmes. The findings will be put in perspective with international trends and progress achieved in different regions, thus making it possible to draw some conclusions for our region. As background information, the main achievements and challenges of the Latin American sector will be depicted. © 2012 International Association of Universities 0952-8733/12.