Trends of Research on At-home Internationalization in Vietnam: a Scoping Review

• In Event: Policy mechanisms and glocal shifts: Shaping futures of education in Southeast Asia

Proposal

Vietnam is a developing country located in Southeast Asia. Vietnam shifted from a centrally planned economy to a market economy, which has lifted it from being one of the poorest nations to one of the most dynamic emerging nations in the region (World Bank, 2024). To enter the modern market economy, Vietnam has made efforts to skill up its labor workforce through education (Bodewig et al., 2013). The Vietnamese government considers the internationalization of higher education (IoHE) a crucial strategy for strengthening the higher education system, national development, and fostering human capacity (Tran & Marginson, 2018). IoHE refers to “the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of post-secondary education” (Knight, 2004, p.11).IoHE has become increasingly diverse in forms of leadership and structure, curriculum and co-curriculum, faculty and staff support, mobility, partnership, institutional commitment, and policy (American Council on Education, n.d.). In Vietnam, IoHE has been fostered further through the government granting higher education institutions greater autonomy in international collaboration (Le, 2021). The scope of IoHE activities has expanded beyond student mobility to include international cooperation, programs, curriculum internationalization, and student and staff mobility. This includes the growing use of English as a language of instruction (Tran et al., 2018), the presence of branch campuses, joint programs, outbound mobility programs (Altbach & Knight, 2007; Tran & Marginson, 2018), and the establishment of “excellent universities” “and advanced programs”. Despite the forms of IoHE are diverse, many people tend to equate IoHE with student mobility (Beleen & Jones, 2015; Crowther et al., 2001). The term “At-home Internationalization” (IaH) emerged as a response to such a situation. The term IaH originated more than twenty years ago, and scholars have kept redefining it to fully capture IaH dimensions. In this paper, I synthesized definitions by key authors: Crowther et al. (2001), Nilsson (2003), Knight (2012), Beelen & Jones (2015), Manning and Colaiacomo (2021) to refer IaH to the process of internationalized curriculum, incorporation of international approaches and practices into teaching methods, student services, and international collaborations in library, research, and related academic activities to help domestic students to experience international academic environment in their home country.

The phenomenon of IaH in Vietnam can be explained by the neo-institutional theory, stating that organizations tend to homogenously respond to the same issue under three situations: coercive, normative, and mimetic. In the context of Vietnam’s higher education, largely controlled by the government Van and Hayden (2010), Vietnam's Higher Education Laws serve as a coercive institutional force. Vietnam's efforts to integrate into the world economy by enhancing human capital through education can serve as an example of normative forces. Finally, IoHE for competition for resources exemplifies mimetic isomorphism.



Despite the fact that IaH has become a hot topic in the international higher education field (Li & Xue, 2023), there has been a limited amount of research on this topic in the context of Vietnam. Considering the Vietnamese government's urge for colleges and universities to expand their international collaborations to contribute to the country’s global integration, scholars in the field should conduct more empirical studies to provide evidence supporting practitioners in effectively implementing IaH in Vietnam. To gain deeper insights into the research activities on the IaH phenomenon in Vietnam, I have designed this paper to address three key questions: What are the trends of research on Vietnam’s IaH?



To find the answer to my research questions, I followed the guidance for the conduct of scoping reviews by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and the updates of scoping review methodology by Peters et al. (2020). The scoping review methodology allows me to explore the existing evidence on a particular topic, clarify and identify key components of a concept, identify the types of evidence available in a given field, and identify knowledge gaps (Munn et al., 2022; Peters et al., 2020; Pollock et al., 2022). Li and Xue (2023) also used the scoping reviews method to explore the epistemology of IaH worldwide. Arksey and O’Malley (2005) suggest that a scoping review should include the following five steps: identifying research questions, exploring relevant studies, study selection, data charting, and summarizing and reporting the result. The inclusive criteria are time range, types of research, geographical location, and whether the main focus of studies is IaH activities. To ensure a comprehensive perspective, I have included research from 2001 to 2024, given that the concept of IaH emerged in 2001 (Crowther et al., 2001). To comprehend the nuances of the IaH phenomenon in Vietnam, I only gathered evidence from empirical research, which must cover at least four components: literature review, methodology, findings, and discussion. The primary databases for this search are Web of Science and EBSCO. Li and Xue (2023) utilized these databases in their research to explore IaH worldwide. As a result, ten research papers meet the selection criteria. Following the methodological guidelines of Arksey and O’Malley (2005) for scoping reviews, I recorded information on the selected publications, including authors, years of publication, the presence of IaH definition or relevant terms, research questions, aims of the study, methodology, and recommendations. By considering these elements, I could draw the patterns of empirical research on the IaH topic.



The results revealed the limitations of the current research on IaH in Vietnam regarding methodology and research focus. The results indicate scholars’ preference for a qualitative approach to the topic of IaH in Vietnam. In other words, scholars have focused on addressing the “what,” “why,” and “how” questions to explore the IaH phenomenon instead of investigating the connections between various factors. Additionaly, current research on Vienam’s IaH lacks involvement of private institutions, vocational college level, and voices of academic faculty and employers. Finally, scholars have been more interested in learning how Vietnamese colleges and universities implemented IaH and understand higher education stakeholders’ experience with IaH than in measuring IaH’s outcomes and motivations. Understanding the patterns of research helps scholars to identify research gaps; thereby, scholars can conduct future research to depict a comprehensive picture of the IaH phenomenon in Vietnam.

Author

• Man Phan, University of Iowa