The Third Goal of Higher Education Internationalization: A Reflective Essay

The third goal of higher education internationalization is a global education goal of building a more equitable world, after the individual goal of preparing students’ intercultural competence for a global job market and the national goal of gaining a country’s competitiveness in the global knowledge economy. The third goal has not been prioritized in past internationalization practices. This reflective essay hopes to highlight the raw fact that if the third goal is not achieved, the first two goals will be at risk. A global education turn is forced upon us in higher education internationalization. It is imperative for universities to foreground the third goal of internationalization through a focus on educating global citizens. Strengthening global citizenship education is a realistic and tangible action that universities can take to start an ethical turn in higher education internationalization.