International Branch Campuses (IBC)

Thanks to globalization, our world is now more interconnected and homogenous than ever before.  We study, travel and trade with relative ease across national borders.  In addition, many of us share currencies, languages and cultural practices.  All sectors of the economy have had to adapt to this radical and irreversible shift – and Higher Education (HE) is no exception.  The process whereby HE adapts to globalization is known in the literature as internationalization.  This takes many forms, of which the international branch campus (IBC) is but the latest instantiation. 

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In this article, I place IBCs into the wider contexts of transnational education (TNE) within the HE sector and highlight some of the challenges faced when implementing a successful IBC. 

1. The Internationalization of HE

The world has changed and the job market has changed along with it.  Employers now seek candidates who can thrive in a digital, interconnected world.  This trend pushes universities to reconsider the service they offer to graduates.  Moreover, it cements the status of English as a global means of communication.  The international status of the English language makes it even easier for students to study outside their national borders.  These developments (and more besides) have prompted an increase in cross-border education.  In other words, more students are either (i) choosing to study overseas, or (ii) choosing to access HE delivered by an overseas provider.

HE institutions must adapt to survive in this new globalized environment.  This means that institutions must incorporate an international perspective into each of their operations – teaching, research and service.  In its simplest form, this could refer to foreign-language education to home students (such as the languages for all programme), study abroad opportunities (such as Erasmus) and provision for visiting academics.  In addition, HE institutions are keen to attract students from overseas – for the obvious raft of social and financial benefits to wider society that these students bring. 

2. Transnational education (TNE)

The internationalization of HE is a far-reaching agenda which covers teaching, research and service functions.  Moreover, it has benefits for overseas students, home students, academic staff and even the wider community.  Traditional approaches to internationalization often require students to undertake foreign travel.  However, we reserve the term transnational education (TNE) for those internationalization initiatives which do not imply travel.  Instead, TNE refers to any education where students are based in a country which is different from the country of the awarding institution. This can involve distance learning as well as other forms of collaboration. 

In any TNE collaboration, there is a provider nation (which offers the services) as well as a host nation (which receives the services).  Providers tend to be developed countries while hosts tend to be developing countries.  The reasons are as follows.  In many developing nations, demand for HE far outstrips supply.  These are often the same developing nations which impose strict regulations on their domestic HE sectors, thereby preventing their HE institutions from expanding.  This climate of unmet demand and strict regulation serves to increase the competitive advantage of TNE providers, especially in the Asian market.

3. International Branch Campus

Given the above, it is not surprising that Asian universities have embraced different forms of TNE in an effort not to lose students to overseas providers.  It is also not surprising that the largest numbers of TNE students are to be found in Asia, notably in China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.  While Asia as a whole attracts the largest share of TNE, attitudes towards this type of provision differ across the continent.  For instance, India and China are different from other Asian nations in that their priority is to keep foreign university presence permanently.

The International Branch Campus (IBC) is one form of TNE which does allows developing nations to attract foreign university involvement on a more permanent basis.  Like all forms of TNE, IBCs have the potential to improve mutual understanding and social cohesion.  However, IBCs have additional benefits which are not necessarily shared by other forms of TNE.  First, IBCs allow developing countries to boost the capacity of their education systems, which in turn yields wider economic benefits for host nations¹⁵.  Second, IBCs reduce the risk of brain drain.  This is because students remain in their home countries to study courses which are provided by overseas institutions. 

4. Challenges for IBCs

As previously stated, globalization has broad implications for the HE sector.  The internationalization agenda for HE takes many forms and yields many benefits.  Transnational Education (TNE) differs from more traditional internationalization initiatives in allowing students to receive a foreign education while remaining in their home countries.  However, there are criticism of TNE.  Some believe that TNE programmes and institutions perpetuate unwanted Westernization which is seen as a threat to some cultures and languages.  Other researchers point to an increase in negligent providers.  Yet more lament the commercial aspect of TNE with its emphasis on profits.

TNE providers have a responsibility to ensure that their offshore programmes are sensitive to the cultural and linguistic concerns of receiving nations.  In practice, however, it is not clear how this aim can be achieved.  It is difficult to achieve cultural sensitivity when offering TNE for at least two reasons.  First, there is a tension between two priorities: (i) for the overseas programme to be the same as the home programme, and (ii) for the overseas programme to be tailored to suit the local context.  University staff may wish to promise international students exactly the same experience as home students receive.  In reality, the student experience invariably diverges to meet local needs and mores

The second reason is related to staff training and staff awareness of cultural differences.  There are four components to effective TNE teaching: (i) an understanding of local culture and political climate; (ii) an understanding of how one’s own culture affects our beliefs; (iii) an understanding of social interactions, and (iv) an understanding of one’s social, cultural and educational background.  This kind of cross-cultural knowledge is rare among teaching staff, who are often sent abroad without much preparation and without an appreciation of their teaching context.

5. Possible steps forward

A Higher Education Academy (HEA) report on TNE highlighted the relative immaturityof TNE as a research field.  Moreover, issues such as teaching and learning are said to have a lower prioritythan issues such as globalization, trade and regulation.  The report highlights the need for a vision of quality education which is oriented towards culture.  The quality of TNE education for Chinese students is particularly important, given that many of these students view TNE programmes as a gateway to studying at a physical institution overseas.  It is clear that more research is needed in the field of TNE in general.  However, within the field of TNE, focus needs to shift away from the policymaking aspect and more onto the teaching and learning aspect.

Given the above, there are steps which university staff can take.  It is incumbent upon all teaching staff to understand their local teaching context.  This could involve simple desktop research, conducting student-voice surveys or calling for cross-cultural awareness training.  However, it goes beyond simple cultural knowledge.  As stated earlier, there is a tension between (i) the need for parity between home and IBC provision, and (ii) the need for IBC provision to be sensitive to local needs.  We can resolve this tension by applying the same regulatory frameworks in both home and IBC contexts as well as by adapting teaching and learning in light of cultural differences.

6. Conclusion

Globalization has transformed the HE sector.  The internationalization agenda for HE is a response to globalization, which includes student exchanges as well as online and distance learning options.  In the TNE scenario, a provider nation (typically a developed nation) offers HE services to a host nation (typically a developing nation).  This type of international education has the potential to increase HE capacity for developing countries, thus reducing their risk of brain drain.  Moreover, TNE may even yield wider economic benefits for host nations.  However, TNE faces challenges related to cultural sensitivity.  First, we must ensure that overseas students receive the same quality of education as home students do.  Second, we must ensure that overseas students receive programmes of study which are culturally appropriate for them and their learning context.  The responsibility for addressing these concerns lies with both managers and teaching staff.

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