Is higher education internationalisation sustainable?

Discussions about the internationalisation of higher education go in two conflicting directions. The first is around rising nationalist and protectionist sentiments and contests the myth of unlimited growth. The second points to the continuous increase in student and programme mobility as proof of internationalisation’s unchecked momentum. At the end of June, researchers, students and practitioners of international higher education from more than 20 countries came together at Canada’s University of Toronto to discuss these two trains of thought, at the “Shaping Sustainable Futures for Internationalization in Higher Education” conference. Canada is an ideal location for a conference that debates the sustainability of internationalisation as its institutions have faced significant growth in international student enrolments over the past few years. In fact, as Karen Dalkie of the Canadian Bureau for International Education noted, Canadian institutions have surpassed government’s target for international recruitment, set in 2014, a full five years ahead of schedule.