Globalization, economic crisis and national strategies for higher education development: research papers; Research papers iiep; 2009

UK universities to support expansion of India’s 
HE sector
, media release from Universities UK, 29 April 2008). 
Private higher education institutions offer an easy entry point for foreign institutions. In fact, in 
many countries, transnational providers operate through private institutions and offer courses 
in limited subject areas. They offer market-friendly courses, catering to private businesses, both 
foreign and national. Courses in business administration, computer science, accounting, marketing, 
economics and communication are very common in such institutions and nearly 80 per cent of 
the courses offered by foreign institutions are either in business or hotel management (Bhushan, 
2005). Collaboration with foreign universities and institutions helps local private universities since, 
in some cases, it allows them to obtain academic credibility, quality appeal, and also enables them 
to levy high fees, at times in hard currency. 
4.2 Cross-border teacher mobility 
Teacher mobility can be seen as an example of the impact of globalization on education. The 
movement of teachers across borders, especially at the school level, shows how a less attractive 
profession in the developed world becomes a very attractive position for migrant teachers from 
the developing world. The cross-border mobility of teachers is primarily due to two reasons: (a) to 
meet quantitative shortages; and (b) to enhance the prestige of the institution and the quality of 
instruction. Teacher shortages can be due either to the non-availability of quali
fi
ed persons or to 
the unattractiveness of the profession (Varghese, 2009
b
). The former is the case in many African 
countries, while the latter seems to be the case in some developed countries. Another reason for 
cross-border teacher mobility, in the context of globalization, may be to attract foreign students. 
The globalization process has provided new employment opportunities, especially in the private 
sector. These jobs offer higher salaries. Teaching jobs have traditionally not been 
fi
nancially very 
attractive and, with new avenues of employment opening up, the appeal of the teaching profession 
has been further eroded. A study on teacher shortages in the UK has shown that salaries and working 
conditions for teachers have not kept pace with those of other sectors (Robinson and Smithers, 
1998). To overcome teacher shortages, the UK and USA governments (New York) have engaged 
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Globalization, economic crisis and national strategies for higher education development
in the large-scale recruitment of teachers from Caribbean countries such as Jamaica, and from 
African countries such as South Africa. This has led to teacher shortages in the sending countries, 
which have accused the host countries of ‘raiding their resources’ (Appleton, Morgan and Sives, 
2006) and have demanded compensation from the recruiting countries. Bilateral discussions have 
resulted in the development of a strategy of ‘managed migration’ (Morgan, Sives and Appleton, 
2006) and a Commonwealth protocol on teacher recruitment following the discussions at the 
Commonwealth Education Ministers’ Conference held in Edinburgh in 2003. It needs to be noted 
that teacher migration is not always from developing to developed countries. Teachers also move 
within developed countries and among developing countries. Teachers from Australia, Canada and 
New Zealand are found in the UK. Teachers from India, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe are found 
in Botswana. However, large-scale migration still continues to be from developing to developed 
countries. 
Teacher mobility in higher education takes different forms. Some universities have departments 
specializing in regional studies and these departments attract teachers from those respective 
regions. For example, the Center for Latin American Studies of Chicago University attracts at least 
three visiting professors every year, and more than 30 professors from Latin America have visited 
and taught in the university this decade (Tinker visiting professors). At times, teacher migration is 
in selected subject areas. This is more often the case in those areas where there is high demand 
from the corporate sector. As mentioned earlier, very often students, on completion of their doctoral 
studies, would like to stay in the host country and take up a teaching job. It is estimated that more 
than 8,000 Indian teachers work in universities in the USA. Indian professors, including some Nobel 
laureates, are engaged in research and teaching activities, predominantly in science, engineering 
and social science subject areas (Melwani, 2009). Under the Erasmus Mundus programme, more 
than 1,000 university teachers from developing counties came to Europe between 2004 and 2008. 
Under the same programme, efforts have been made to establish collaborative arrangements to 
promote student and staff mobility between 12 European and 8 Indian universities (EurAsia News, 
09.06.2008 ).
Some universities appoint foreign professors to improve their image and international competitiveness 
in order to promote research, improve the quality of teaching, and to attract foreign students. 
For example, the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Republic of Korea plans to 
recruit 300 foreign professors in the coming years. The proposal indicates that “It is part of our 
efforts to enhance the quality of education at national universities to meet the global standard” 
(Tee-Jong, 2008). Seoul National University (SNU), a state-funded university, is planning to recruit 
150 professors to promote its international competitiveness. Further, language pro
fi
ciency to 
lecture in English is an important consideration when recruiting domestic (Korean) teachers to 
SNU (Korean Times, 22 January 2001 ). The Japanese Government has initiated steps to change 
the faculty composition to attract more foreign students. Between 1983 and 1995, the number of 
faculty members from foreign countries in Japan increased from 1,168 to 3,558 (Koshi, 1997).
4.3 Cross-border student mobility
Cross-border student mobility is increasing rather fast. In 2005, nearly 2.7 million students pursued 
cross-border education (UIS, 2007). The market for cross-border students is expanding; the pro
fi
ts 
remain very attractive and hence the competition among higher education institutions to attract 
foreign students continues. The most familiar pattern of cross-border student 
fl
ow used to be from 
developing to developed countries. According to data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics 
(UIS, 2007), North America and Western Europe continue to be the favourite destinations for most 
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Globalization and cross-border mobility
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students from any region, except for students from Central Asia who tend to go to the Russian 
Federation or to other Eastern European countries. Nearly three fourths of mobile students from 
all regions, except Central and East Asia and the Paci
fi
c, seek higher education in OECD countries. 
Nearly 90 per cent of mobile students from North America and Europe cross the border to study 
in another country of the same region; 80 per cent of students from Latin America travel to North 
America and Western Europe for their studies. 
The USA attracts the single-largest share of foreign students (