The Internationalization of the Small State HEI: A Query of Support at the University of Malta

Abstract

This research measured two separate populations, 28 faculty/staff and 35 students from the University of Malta (UoM) in Malta - a new small state member of the European Community (EC) in an effort to determine the degree of internationalization support by the UoM Administration. The research question asked - How does support from university administration affect the internationalization of a small state campus? - was based on the hypothesis that the Administration does not support its internationalization efforts satisfactorily. Methods used to explore this included self-administered questionnaires modeled after Jane Knight’s 1994 Internationalization model and verbally administered surveys comparing the Knight model to the UoM’s.

Conclusions drawn from this research included significant funding difficulties for this particular small state (not uncommon for small states), deficiencies in the articulation, planning, and reinforcement of the process, and a low degree of support recorded by both populations. Future research would expand this initial exploration of the small state factor drawing the necessary attention to the specific advantages and disadvantages small states face. With little previous documentation of the implementation of the Bologna Process objectives, expanding this research would prove very useful not only to the UoM and the EC, but any Higher Education Institution wishing to internationalize.

Disciplines

International and Comparative Education

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