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Higher Education Policy

, Volume 28, Issue 3, pp 259–276 | Cite as

The Drive to Internationalize: Perceptions and Motivations of Israeli College Directors

  • Miri Yemini
  • Vered Holzmann
  • Hans de Wit
  • Efrat Sadeh
  • Anat Stavans
  • Dalia Fadila
Article
First Online:

Abstract

Given the relatively high degree of academic freedom granted to institutions in Israel in conjunction with the lack of governmental policy on internationalization, directors of higher education institutions comprise key agents in the institutional internationalization process that is taking place in Israeli higher education. In this study, we took a qualitative approach to explore the views and attitudes of seven college directors in Israel. We show that motivation for internationalization is a multifaceted phenomenon influenced by the college directors’ personal characteristics as well as by the colleges’ contextual factors. Moreover, it seems that second-tier colleges use internationalization to promote themselves towards the status of first-tier research universities. The study provides a first insight into the perceptions and motivations of Israeli educational institutions’ leaders regarding the development of institutional-level internationalization strategies.

Keywords

second tier higher education institutions internationalization Israel higher education 
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Copyright information

© International Association of Universities 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Miri Yemini
    • 1
  • Vered Holzmann
    • 2
  • Hans de Wit
    • 3
  • Efrat Sadeh
    • 1
  • Anat Stavans
    • 4
  • Dalia Fadila
    • 5
  1. 1.School of Education, Tel Aviv UniversityTel AvivIsrael
  2. 2.Holon Institute of TechnologyIsrael
  3. 3.Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation, UCSC, Milan, and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
  4. 4.Research Authority and English DepartmentBeit Berl CollegeIsrael
  5. 5.Al-Qassami CollegeTiraIsrael

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