Key Trends and Challenges in International Higher Education and its implications for the meaning and direction of its internationalisation. 

Upcoming seminar: Key Trends and Challenges in International Higher Education and Its Implications for the Meaning and Direction of Its Internationalisation 
Date: 3rd December, 2025 
Time: 10:30am – 12:00pm 
Mode: RMS204, Runme Shaw Building, HKU & Zoom 
Speaker: Hans (J.W.M.) de Wit, Emeritus Professor, Boston College 
Chair: 杨力苈, Assistant professor, The University of Hong Kong 
Registration link: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_er1OMn8ZyjqtLHo

Abstract: 

Higher education globally over the past 3 decades has seen a rise in massification, support and innovation. The competitive environment of the knowledge economy has stimulated higher education in high- and middle-income countries. Excellence initiatives, rankings and more funding for research in these countries have had a positive impact on higher education and international collaboration, although at a high cost of inequality between the top universities and the rest of the system and between low-income countries and the other two. Although the dominance of the Global north continued, some of the middle-income countries increased their reputation and scientific performance, in particular but not exclusively China. Bur nationalism, anti-educational sentiments and geopolitical tension are on the rise. What does this mean for higher education and is the impact different by region? What does it mean for internationalisation of education, research and services?  

About the speaker:

Hans de Wit is Distinguished Fellow of the ‘Center for International Higher Education’ (CIHE) at Boston College, USA, and Emeritus Professor of the Practice in International Higher Education, Boston College. From 2015-2020 he was full-time director of CIHE.   

He is IAU Senior Fellow by the International Association of Universities (IAU).  

He is a Scientific Committee member and teaches in the Higher Education Leadership and Management Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), Luiss Business School, Rome/Amsterdam.  

He is the Founding Editor of the ‘Journal of Studies in International Education’ (Association for Studies in International Education/SAGE), Co-Editor of the journal Policy Reviews in Higher Education (SRHE), and Co-Editor of the CIHE journal International Higher Education. 

He has been involved in quality reviews of internationalisation strategies and of internationalisation as part of institutional and national quality reviews around the globe. He is author of many books, academic articles and blogs/essays on internationalisation in higher education.