Developing global perspectives : responding to the state of international education in Australian universities

The volume of university students travelling overseas has increased rapidly in recent decades. Student flows are asymmetrical: Students from wealthy nations disproportionately study in the Global North, and students from developing economies travel to more industrialized countries, especially English-speaking, to pursue degrees. This pattern, however, is shifting towards Asia, with a growing sense that students need greater cross-cultural skills and familiarity with the region. Ambitious university targets to increase outbound student mobility require international offices to create new types of short-term placements, especially to democratize international study opportunities. The sector needs to better share hard-earned knowledge about how to design and administer these increasingly diverse programmes. This chapter discusses this volume's origin in "strategic priorities" set by the Australian Government's Office of Learning and Teaching.