Does internationalisation of Higher Education still matter? Critical reflections on student learning, graduate employment and faculty development in Asia

In the last few years, there has been a growing trend of anti-globalism and the rise of nationalism spreading across different parts of the world. Promoting internationalisation of Higher Education has brought with it the globally connected phenomenon with regard to inter-university collaboration and student mobility across national borders but also the locally divided phenomenon when people question the value of international education. Recent elections not only in Europe and the United Kingdom but also in the United States show the rise of popularism and nationalism. Against such a wider sociopolitical context an increasing number of people believe the call for internationalisation of education has indeed favoured the elite and the rich but marginalised the poor. The major objective of this article is to set out the wider policy context for the present special issue with a theme of ‘Transnationalisation of Higher Education and Student/Faculty Mobility’. More specifically, this article identifies and discusses key issues confronting the growing tides of transnationalisation and internationalisation of Higher Education, highlighting the major arguments presented by the selected articles in this issue. This article concludes by critically examining the implications of internationalisation/transnationalisation of Higher Education for education policy and university governance.