Reaping opportunities and responding to threats of academic internationalisation

Abstract

This thesis investigates how governments respond to the threats and opportunitiesposed by academic internationalisation within an increasingly complex global setting.The primary focus is on the mix of policy instruments employed to navigate thetensions between openness vs protectionism and autonomy vs government control. Focusing on Sweden and the broader Nordic context, the study examines how instruments across three distinct modes – hierarchical, market-based, and networked– are designed, combined and recalibrated to balance competing rationales within ahybrid governance setting. Two research questions guide the analysis: (1) How and why do governments designand implement policy instrument mixes to steer academic internationalisation, andhow are these shaped by competing governance rationales and the tensions between(i) openness and protectionism and (ii) autonomy and state control? (2) How do these policy instrument mixes shape the conditions and trade-offs associated with academicinternationalisation? The conceptual framework emphasises how policy instruments operate in a multilayeredhigher education (HE) system, including government ministries, intermediaryfunding agencies, and higher education institutions (HEIs). By drawing on literaturerelated to hybridity in HE governance, internationalisation, policy instruments, andmetagovernance, the framework establishes a foundation for addressing the research questions. Empirically, the thesis comprises four articles that explore three policy settings:international student recruitment, bilateral research funding/science diplomacy, andresearch security. A qualitative, multi-case policy analysis is employed to illustrate howthese instruments are constructed, interpreted, and implemented across the multilayeredHE policy system. Quantitative data are also partially used to triangulatefindings and to enhance a mixed-methods approach. In the concluding discussion, the thesis highlights the significance of combiningvarious policy instruments, and their relationship to governance modes in establishingconditions for academic internationalisation. Governance is portrayed as a process ofcontinuous recalibration, where autonomy, control, openness, and protectionism arerelational dynamics influenced by instrument design, actor agency and implementationprocesses. From this perspective, the governance of internationalisation is less aboutseeking an optimal balance than about managing ongoing negotiations betweencompeting imperatives, a challenge likely to intensify amid growing geopolitical uncertainties.

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