The internationalization of Turkish higher education: Student mobility in the global age

• In Event: International higher education: Feasibility and impact

Abstract

Paralleling with the developments in technology, transportation and communication systems in the last couple of decades, countries around the World has been experiencing globalization culturally, socially, politically and economically. In the World where country boundaries seem to blurred, national systems began to disappear and replaced by global mechanisms. Educational systems also response to this rapid globalization trend by providing international education in terms of campus, faculty and student mobility. Today, many countries, especially developed ones, offer international degree programs, hire international scholars and attract wise students from international student market. Among these trends, student mobility plays a crucial role in the internationalization of higher education. There are mainly two motives behind student mobility. First, higher education institutions attract bright students into their systems, with the possibility that these students will end up serving the host country after graduation. For this purpose, immigration regulations are also designed to keep these students as qualified workers in the country. Second, countries and higher education institutions gain huge amount of revenue from international students. Today, there are around 5 million international students around the World, and the number is expected to rise in the near future.
In this global arena, Turkish higher education system has been experiencing a rapid change in the last ten years in terms of both quality and quantity. The number of higher education institutions in Turkey increased from 78 to 185 between the years 2003-2014, but, the international part of the system stayed unmonitored. With the current efforts both from higher education institutions and policymakers, the system has begun to strengthen the efforts of its higher education institutions in fostering international student and faculty mobility. Statistics show that, today, the number of international students in Turkey is over 50 thousand. This number increases year by year with the help of Erasmus exchange program among European Union countries, Turkish institutions’ current agreements with their counterparts abroad, scholarship programs offered by Turkish government, council of higher education (YÖK) and institutions’ own scholarship programs.
The purpose of this study is to reveal and discuss the current trends in international student mobility, examine the status of Turkish higher education system in international student market, and propose recommendations for both global higher education system generally and Turkish higher education system specifically regarding where the international student mobility movement goes and should be going.

Authors

• Enes Gok, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University

• Sedat Gumus, Necmettin Erbakan University