Internationalisation of higher education: Impacts, challenges and future possibilities

This special issue follows on from a special call for contributions tothe ECER 2016 conference in Dublin on the need to rethink andreconceptualise internationalisation in higher education (HE). Thepapers in this special issue contribute to a critically reflectiveinterdisciplinary discussion on the phenomena ofinternationalisation in terms of the evolution of the structures,systems, and functions of HE institutions. They critique thephenomena from social, educational and spatial perspectives,highlighting the complexity of this field and a common concernregarding the effects of predominantly economic drivers forinternationalisation. The papers provide insights into some of thedrivers and rationales for internationalisation and the ways inwhich policies and power relationships steer the direction anddevelopment of internationalisation at an institutional,programme or personal level. They illustrate the complex andinterdependent nature of the positive and less positivedimensions of internationalisation experiences