Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/59793

JaLCDOI : 10.14943/bull.fish.65.2.117

KEYWORDS : Internationalization;Higher education;Southeast Asia;ASEAN Economic Community

This study presents and discusses the results of a survey of internationalization of higher education in fisheries science at four universities in Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. Faculty members were asked about the importance, rationales, benefits and risks of internationalization at their universities. Information was also collected on the importance of foreign-language training, geographic priorities, and obstacles. More than 90% of respondents ranked internationalization either a high or medium priority. At every university, the most important reason to internationalize was to strengthen research and knowledge capacity and production. Key benefits included improved academic quality, and strengthened research and knowledge production. Nearly two-thirds of respondents noted internationalization also has associated risks; the most important were loss of cultural or national identity, and brain drain. The foreign language ranked most important was English. Japan and the ASEAN region ranked consistently high in importance for international collaboration, indicating the importance of intra-Asia collaboration, but efforts should be made to prevent less-developed countries and institutions from being left behind. The most important obstacle to internationalization at all universities was lack of financial support.