Essay-The positive effects of the globalization of higher education PDF

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The positive effects of the globalization of higher education...

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The positive effects of the globalization of higher education The word of globalization and its influence on higher education has existed for many years (Altbach 2004), especially in recent years, the prosperity of social economy and the advancement of technology has greatly promoted the globalization of higher education, but the unfairness of higher education is controversial(Docherty, 2013). This essay shows the positive effect of the higher educational globalization in the area of various channels of knowledge dissemination, the increasing number of worldwide experts, the function of promote academic barrier-free communication and the improvement of personal abilities. The obvious positive effect is the globalization of higher education has made it more efficient and convenient to spread knowledge. Both Bourn (2008) and Altbach (2004) mention that global education brings different forms of pedagogy, especially online learning. It means learning can take place anywhere without the help of a teacher, which makes the student-centered learning model come true. In contrast, Yang (2003) mentioned that the globalization of higher education causes some poor people disconnecting from the whole process of globalization because they lack chances to access to computers, which intensifies the gap in education level between the rich and poor. However, Yang’s opinion are too extreme, online learning benefits the majority of people in the world, including some people from disadvantaged background, such learning methods provides them with more free opportunities to gain knowledge in their spare time and achieve the true sense of the knowledge sharing. Otherwise if only the traditional education of the school is offered, some people have no access to higher education in their lifetime because they have to support their family. Consequently, one of the benefits of the globalization of higher education is that the knowledge and ideas of higher education is spread to and accepted by more people. The number of talents over the world increases rapidly thanks to the development of global higher education. According to Wildavsky (2010), the reason for that is those

leading team and resources in the well-known institutions attracts numerous excellent international students every year. Almost all of them pursue to study in such top universities where makes a platform for them to show their ability as much as possible. However, Altbach (2004) claimed that developing countries will suffer a severe outflow of experts, as few students come back to their motherland after they attain their degrees, most of them seek job at the host countries and settle down. The result is the developed countries are full of talents whilst the professional personnel of developing countries are being poached, which means that the gap of economic and technical development will be widen(ibid). Although Altbach has his point, it has been more than a decade since he wrote this article, now that many developing countries, such as China and India, have built prosperous economies and have room for development, many overseas students are eager to show their talents back home. Other important brain compensation is people from some developed countries to seek opportunities in developing countries due to the fierce competition. This causes a cycle of brain from developed ones to developing ones. The globalization of higher education has established an international standard in many aspects, those criteria helps the more students receive better higher education and some of them promote the barrier-free exchange of views from different cultural background. As Altbach (2004) points out that the convention of receiving general education at the beginning of degree program and the wide use of common textbooks in many countries are both the advantageous products of globalization of higher education. Their functions of improve students’ critical thinking and enlarge their background knowledge has been recognized and recommended(ibid). Additionally, The significance of English as an intermediate transfer language on the academic stage is increasing at the moment. This is reflected in the fact that English is the official language of many international conferences and many top journals requires contributors to write in English(ibid). The aim of this kind of strategy is to gain more target audience and readers. However, he also argues that some Englishspeaking countries has dominated almost the whole academic world(ibid). An

example is many of the top journals are judged by scholars from English-speaking countries such as the US and the UK, making it difficult for non-native English researchers to publish articles on them. But this points seems to be weak，because in this age of globalization, where all parts of the world have to interact with outside people and organization. If not English, there will be other languages that replace English as the official language of academia. English as a transfer language makes academic communication more accurate and effective, avoiding the possibility of misinterpreting the original author's or speaker’s original meaning caused by translation problems. Therefore, these international uniform standards seem to set many rules and cause unfair phenomena. In fact, as a scale, they have fully considered every audience group to maximize their interests and finally enable the cross-cultural communication of ideas. The global higher education, new models of higher education generating from globalization, such as twinning programs and branch schools in other parts of world or studying abroad, focus on developing student’s personal ability. According to Kelly (2010), majority of American students desire to become mature rather than experiencing foreign cultures or improving their professional skills through studying aboard. Although this expectation may not be applicable to foreign students from other countries, it can show that the new higher education models do bring some personal improvement to students. In contrast, Yang (2003) points out the current problems with high pass rate of these new models, that even the basic teaching quality is hard to guarantee, let alone what skills can be improved through these courses. He goes on to say that some low-level institutions and diploma mills even sell worthless or not certified diploma to students, which already involves crime. However, most of the problems above can be mitigated by strict supervision by academic department and organization. If the government strengthens the relevant legal system and increases the penalty, It is

true that the diploma mills will disappear. Additionally, There should be some policies to regulate the curriculum of these new types of higher education, which makes the faculty and programs aimed at international students match the goals they aspire to as much as possible. Finally, students can make progress in various aspects, such as mastering a foreign language or think critically.

In conclusion, from a long-term prospective, the future of impact on higher education globalization is bright. As Wildavsky (2010) mentioned that the final aim of global higher education is to create win-win situation, both for the prosperity of society and individuals achievements. but there is an urgent need to establish relevant policy to ensure the equality and quality of higher education at the moment.

Reference Altbach, P. 2004. Globalisation and the university: myths and realities in an unequal world. Tertiary Education and Management 10, pp.3-25. Bourn, D. 2018. Globalisation, Education and Skills. In: Bourn, D. ed. Understanding Global Skills for 21st Century Professions. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Docherty, T. 2013. Globalisation and its discontents. Times Higher Education. January 17. Kelly, D. 2010. Student learning in an international setting. New Directions for Higher Education. 150, pp.97-100. Wildavsky, B. 2010. Why colleges shouldn’t fear global competition. Chronicle of Higher Education. 56 (30).

Yang, R. 2003. Globalisation and Higher Education Development – A Critical Analysis. International Review of Education. 49(3-4), pp.269-291....