Internationalization of higher education in tumultuous times: transformative powers and problems in embattled Ukraine

• In Event: Higher education in times of crisis and conflict

Proposal

Previous research focused on investigating the internationalization of higher education in relatively stable and peaceful environments. However, international activities that appear as a meaningful construct created through goodwill and intercultural learning in peacetime (de Wit, 2002; Van der Wende, 2007), are prone to turn into a contradictory and disruptive process when the university is ravaged by intimidation, violence, and forced into exile (Mikhailov, 2009, Milton, 2021, Steinacher and Barmetteler, 2013). Studies on internationalization in the context of war are largely absent. Using interviews and survey responses from Ukrainian professors and administrators affected by the Russian invasion of 2014–2022, this paper re-examines the premises of internationalization and outlines key dilemmas facing universities in times of existential crisis.
Repelling a full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation and seeking ways to defend their independence and freedom, Ukrainian citizen-scholars also faced the need to undertake major transformations at their universities. Many of those from Eastern and Southern Ukraine had to flee and, in some cases, relocate their universities. Approximately 7.96 million people became refugees, as of January 2023 (UNHCR, 2023). According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, 59 higher education institutions have suffered bombing and shelling, and 9 have been destroyed completely (MEScU, 2022). The pursuit of prestige-seeking and profit-making, driven by global neoliberalism, lost its priority at Ukrainian universities. A different kind of internationalization emerged – one shaped by missile attacks, bombing and shelling, and the desperate desire to save colleagues, students, and campuses amidst devastation, death, and encroaching financial and structural ruin.
This study engaged 34 participants from across Ukraine (20 online interviews and 14 emailed or web-based survey responses) who had ‘lived experiences’ of internationalization management, which in view of the phenomenological nature of this study, was perceived as highly saturating. The authors involved representatives of public and private universities from all parts of Ukraine (13 – Northern, 6 – Southern, 6 – Western, 5 – Eastern, and 4 – Central Ukraine). Participants were asked two questions: ‘What were the shortcomings of internationalization before the war, and how did the war affect internationalization strategy on your campus?’, and ‘How do you see the future of international research and education at your university?’. The collected data were coded and analyzed thematically. Retrospective and prospective analyses were juxtaposed to better understand the progression in the transformation of participants’ views on their personal and institutional experiences before and during the war.
Findings suggest that crises have been transforming the concept and practice of internationalization in Ukrainian higher education over the past three decades. The collapse of the Soviet Union (1991) was a defining milestone for universities to reform their research and teaching in service of the new nation-state. While it threw institutional systems and international relations into a tailspin, it also produced openness that enabled Ukrainian scholars to reach out to international partners, primarily in North America and the EU, for financial and intellectual support. Nevertheless, during the post-Soviet transition from a totalitarian to an open society, Ukrainian universities found it difficult to quell the culture of mediocrity driven by the Soviet-style ‘principle of army uniformity’ (Kuraev, 2016), which prevented innovations from spreading widely. One respondent argued that ‘those who couldn’t change themselves preferred to bully the so-called “stars” – tarnishing their efforts to shine’ (11FMPBN).
The massive exodus of Ukrainian professors and students, along with extensive coverage of the war in the global media, seems to have contributed to moving Ukrainian partnerships from the periphery to the core of EU programming and vice versa. In response to Russia’s attempt to disrupt the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, the Revolution of Dignity (2014) galvanized the processes of de-Sovietization and decolonization in Ukraine. The growing hostility compelled Ukrainian universities to terminate relations with their Russian counterparts. Meanwhile, the establishment of a visa-free regime with the EU in 2017 created more opportunities for Ukrainian scholars to collaborate with their European colleagues. The outpouring of support from partners in the Global North is highly valued.
Disrupted academic processes, careers, and mobilities become partially rehabilitated through international solidarity and support. Strategic partners facilitate important mechanisms for charity and outreach to vulnerable professors, students, and administrators fleeing shelled homes and campuses and seeking sanctuary for their personal security. This international support also allows for new forms of transformative learning that disrupt the Soviet practices of control, complacency, and fear of change. Ontologically, the university becomes a community of online and offline participants studying and discussing critical issues and concerns across cultures and continents. Indeed, Ukraine’s pursuit of re-integration with Europe is more effective when its intellectual frameworks become more tightly linked and intertwined with the mindsets, and not merely the academic infrastructure, of its Western counterparts.
Thus, the study reveals that the transformative powers of crisis-driven internationalization redefine the ontological and axiological foundations of universities. University stakeholders readjust their responsibilities to reduce human vulnerability, while international solidarity helps them mitigate fragility in the war-affected academia.
References
de Wit, H. (2002). Internationalization of higher education in the United States of America and Europe: A historical, comparative, and conceptual analysis. Greenwood Publishing Group.
Kuraev, A. (2016). Soviet higher education: An alternative construct to the western university paradigm. Higher Education, 71(2), 181–193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9895-5
Mikhailov, A. (2009). University in exile: The experience of the twenty-first century. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 76(3), 849–866. https://doi.org/10.1353/sor.2009.0035
Milton, S. (2021). Higher education and sustainable development goal 16 in fragile and conflict affected contexts. Higher Education, 81(1), 89–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00617-z
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MEScU). (2022). https://saveschools.in.ua/
Steinacher, G., & Barmetteler, B. (2013). The University in Exile and the Garden of Eden: Alvin Johnson and his rescue efforts for European Jews and intellectuals. Department of History. Faculty Publications.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2023). Ukraine refugee situation. https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine
Van der Wende, M. (2007). Internationalization of higher education in the OECD countries: Challenges and opportunities for the coming decade. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(3-4), 274–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315307303543

Author

• Ielyzaveta Shchepetylnykova, The University of Hong Kong