The Impact of Education Internationalization on Local Educational Resources: A Study in China

Abstract

Background: Globalization has led to internationalization in education in various parts of the world. China is no different. The internationalization in the country is pushed further by the existence of policies by the government such as Belt and Road initiatives and Project 211 and Project 985. Upon reviewing existing studies, it was found that there is a lack of focused studies on the impacts of such internationalization in China. Thereby, this study aimed to investigate the impacts upon local resources and developed the following research questions, RQ1: What is the current landscape of internalization in China? RQ2: How does International Education Affect the Local Educational Resources? RQ3: What is the response of local educational institutions to internationalisation? Methodology: This study undertook a semi-structured interview with 22 participants. The participants included 10 teachers, 10 students and 2 administrators. The interview was recorded and analyzed through a thematic analysis to identify the patterns among the responses from the participants. Findings: Subsequently, this study found that the universities in China are adopting internationalization through various programs and policies. The adaptations have a distinct impact on academic and teaching resources, financial and human resources. However, the process of internationalization has been having significant challenges. Existing universities are utilizing different methods for addressing the challenges.  Conclusion: This study concluded that the local resources of China are undergoing impact due to internationalization. Additionally, further investigation is required to study adapting strategies in the context of China. Though there are certain limitations such as the introduction of biases due to research design, this study provides a strong base for future studies on the context.