Internationalization of Universities as Internationalization of Bildung

Abstract

Internationalization receives top priority in nearly any university mission statement. But why? What is the value of internationalization for a university? Is the purpose to improve a university’s ranking, or to explore new revenue sources by entering foreign, mostly Asian, educational markets? Internationalization is not - or better - should not be an institutional end in itself. Internationalization is a powerful means to fulfill a university’s central task “Bildung of individuals” as it significantly contributes to the learning process of students and professors within the university system. By focusing on the individual’s learning process this article provides a new perspective to internationalization and develops a different approach for reaching the university’s mission of internationalization.

Keywords: Internationalization, education, university systems, Bildung, formation, edification, cultural differences

JEL Classification: A10, A13, A14, A2, B31