Canada’s Global Engagement Challenge: A comparison of national strategies

Abstract

A key strength of Canada’s international education engagement is its openness to a multi-faceted exchange of knowledge and ideas across borders. But while Canada excels and continues to grow in international research collaboration, institutional partnerships, and inbound student mobility, its performance in the realm of outbound mobility is less impressive: a mere 3.1 percent of university students participate annually. Participation of college and high school students is even lower. This paper looks at recent developments in Canada and six other countries and regions to compare approaches regarding international learning experiences. It first examines the Canadian situation, then the various rationales for a high degree of participation in education abroad, followed by a review of international approaches. It concludes that Canada needs to redouble its efforts and investments or young Canadians will be less equipped to participate than their peers from other countries.

Keywords

Global Engagement Challenge education abroad study abroad international education post-secondary students competitiveness future leaders

A key strength of Canada’s international education engagement at the national and institutional level is its openness to a multi-faceted exchange of knowledge and ideas across borders, to “the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of [post-secondary education].”¹

In a 2014 survey conducted by Universities Canada, 95 percent of Canadian universities include internationalization or global engagement as part of strategic planning, with 82 percent identifying internationalization as one of their top five priorities.² Moreover, 81 percent offer collaborative academic programs with international partners, and international research collaboration is part of the institutional strategy of over 50 percent of universities. In fact, Canada has the seventh highest rate of international co-authorship—43 percent of Canadian papers are co-authored with one or more international collaborators.³ Over 80 percent of Canadian universities have in place a degree or certificate program with an international partner.⁴

Canadian colleges and institutes also place great importance on internationalization. In a 2010 study by Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), over 60 percent of respondents said that internationalization “prepares students to succeed in and contribute to [the] global economy and develops international competencies in students.”⁵ In fact, fully 60 percent of Canadian colleges and institutes are engaged in internationalization to some extent—over 80 percent are involved in international cooperation, almost 70 percent have a dedicated office for international activities, and 61 percent are involved in the delivery of programs and services abroad.⁶

In addition, Canadian institutions have considerable expertise in distance education and many offer some programs by distance. Of the universities responding to an International Association of Universities (IAU) 2014 internationalization survey,⁷ over 90 percent offer distance, online, and/or e-learning courses/degree programs that are also available to students in other countries.

In internationalization-at-home initiatives, CICan’s 2010 study indicated that 77 percent of Canadian colleges and institutes are involved in internationalization of the curriculum and training⁸ and Universities Canada’s 2014 survey shows that 72 percent of universities engage in activities to internationalize the curriculum.⁹ The IAU survey indicates that 80 percent of universities have programs/courses with an international theme (such as international relations, development studies, global health) and 77 percent offer activities that develop students’ international perspectives, such as online curriculum co-operation, international projects and internships at home, and internationally focused research.¹⁰

Whether in the form of international research collaboration, best practice-sharing in curriculum and pedagogy, capacity-building projects, or support for international students, Canadian governments—federal, provincial, territorial—non-governmental organizations, and educational institutions all contribute to the expansive approach that has positioned Canada as a global education hub.

And while Canadian institutions have not made inroads into one aspect of internationalization, transnational education—40 percent have not undertaken any offshore activities in the past three years¹¹—this is in keeping with trends elsewhere,¹² while Canada’s performance in the realm of outbound mobility is not.

This paper looks at recent developments and research in Canada and six other countries and regions to compare approaches to international learning experiences for citizens. It first examines the Canadian situation, and then the various rationales for a high degree of participation in education abroad, followed by a review of international approaches. It concludes that Canada needs to redouble its efforts and investments or young Canadians—future leaders in business, government, and social development—will be less equipped to participate than their peers from other countries.

Canada’s Global Engagement Challenge

In its 2014 submission to the House of Commons Finance Committee,¹³ the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) stated that Canada’s grand challenge is to increase the number of Canadian students participating in international education experiences, including study abroad, field schools, cross-border internships, and experiential learning. Such experiences can prepare Canadian students to become global citizens who are able to participate fully in society both locally and globally.

Universities Canada’s 2014 study shows that 97 percent of Canadian universities offer study abroad programs and expanding outbound student mobility is among the top five priorities for 74 percent of institutions. When asked, “over the past three years, how has the level of overall funding to support specific internationalization activities changed at your institution?” 50 percent of respondents said that funding for “outgoing mobility opportunities/learning experiences for students” has increased. This was higher than any other single item.¹⁴ At Canadian colleges and institutes, 82 percent of respondents to CICan’s 2010 study offer study abroad, travel, internship, and exchange programs and 70 percent have financial assistance available to students to facilitate undertaking an out-of-country experience.¹⁵

But while universities and colleges are putting considerable energy and resources into mobility programs for their students, a mere 3.1 percent of full-time Canadian undergraduate university students annually have a credit or not-for-credit education abroad experience,¹⁶ and 1.1 percent of full-time college students participate in credit or not-for-credit international experiences.¹⁷

The value of educational experiences abroad

Canadians value educational experiences abroad. In a 2009 public opinion poll, 90 percent of Canadians agreed that students should have an opportunity to study abroad.¹⁸ This is likely due to a commonly held belief that internationalization fosters “attributes of openness to and understanding of other world views; empathy for people with different backgrounds and experience to oneself; the capacity to value diversity; and respect for [indigenous peoples] and knowledge.”¹⁹

In terms of the benefits to the individual, Marie Kendall Brown says of study abroad, “The extent to which college students acquire the knowledge, skills and awareness to behave in interculturally effective ways during college has direct implications for the quality of their citizenship in an increasingly diverse [American] society and interconnected world.”²⁰ Perry, Stoner, and Tarrant posit that “when coupled with an adequate pedagogical framework, short-term study abroad could serve as an educative opportunity for fostering transformative learning environments where new experiences and perspective may be developed” and that “the promotion and nurturing of the shifts in students’ worldviews seems to be rooted in the transformative nature of the experiences had while studying abroad and the critical reflection process that is concomitant to these types of student experiences.”²¹

In addition, study abroad benefits society as a whole and is in the national interest. It can be argued that Canada’s economic prosperity is linked to having sufficient numbers of people who are competent in international business. International trade currently represents more than 60 percent of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) and one in five jobs in Canada is linked to exports, according to Canada’s Global Markets Action Plan.²² For a major trading nation whose continued prosperity hinges on cross-border mobility of people, goods, and services, ensuring that we have a critical mass of professionals who are well prepared to navigate the risks and maximize the benefits of international business is essential.

The connection between international education and economic development is illustrated by many of today’s leaders. In a blog for CBIE alluding to his own exchange experience in Germany while an undergraduate at McGill University, the former minister of citizenship and immigration said, “Our economic future is tied to these inward and outward flows of young people seeking education and exciting new careers. As we seek to build strategic economic relationships in Asia, to partner with the Pacific Alliance in Latin America, and to capitalize on the historic Canada–EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, we are literally building an agenda of growing human, academic, innovation, investment and trade ties that can underpin our growth over the coming decades.”²³

While important, international business skills are not the only reason or even the primary reason for international study and educational experience. The world we inhabit is fraught with issues of global importance. Canadians need to be prepared to participate and to lead in the global village, working across borders, cultures, languages, and values to mutual benefit. This preparedness is critical if Canada wishes to maintain the positive place in the world it now enjoys, and the will to share and contribute are key elements of what Governor General David Johnston terms “the diplomacy of knowledge.” In his words, the diplomacy of knowledge is “the process of uncovering, sharing and refining all kinds of knowledge across disciplinary boundaries and international borders… While cross-disciplinary action can be conducted locally, regionally and nationally, it’s most potent when we cross international borders and cultivate interactions among teachers, students, researchers and others in different countries.”²⁴

Canada’s strategy

In January 2014, the federal government released Canada’s first International Education Strategy (IES), signalling that global perspectives and experience are needed to ensure Canada’s prosperity in the twenty-first century.²⁵ The IES is an important achievement for the education sector, which had been urging a pan-Canadian strategy for two decades. It provides a useful framework for action and demonstrates a remarkable degree of consensus across governments, organizations, and institutions for a country in which education is a provincial and territorial jurisdiction and there is no national education ministry. The strategy values international education as a cross-cutting public policy priority, recognizing that it underpins Canada’s diplomacy, trade, and immigration objectives, and impacts on the country’s standing in the world.

The IES aims to increase the number of international students in Canada from the 2012 level of 239,000 to 450,000 by 2022. In 2013, there were 293,500 international students in Canada from 194 countries—a doubling over the previous five years, an 84 percent increase over the last decade, and well on the way to achieving the IES target.²⁶ While it is evident that international student numbers were already increasing due to effective promotion by institutions, organizations, and existing provincial and federal programs, the IES focused attention on the potential for a dramatic increase.

The IES states an intention to enhance people-to-people connections, and calls international education a “two-way street.” However, Canada’s national strategy has no targets or stated goals for education abroad, despite the recommendation of the advisory panel whose report provided the underpinnings of the IES for 50,000 study abroad awards annually by 2022. This is a gap in the IES and it puts Canada at a disadvantage compared to other countries that are making education abroad a priority.

Rationales for education abroad

International development and global issues

International education offers mutual, yet distinctive, benefits between and among partners in the international community. As knowledge, expertise, values, innovation, the economy, technology, and culture transcend national borders, the potential for solutions to global issues increases.²⁷ Indeed, Canada’s diplomatic role in supporting international development relies heavily on Canadians’ understanding of their role within the world. For Canadians, meaningful international engagement and support for those in need is a core value.

Cross-cutting skills

Some of the most sought-after cross-cutting skills required in today’s knowledge economy are gained or advanced by educational experience abroad. According to the Intercultural Student Attitude Scale (ISAS), which evaluates the impact of international study on undergraduate students and appraises the effectiveness of study abroad programs by scoring changes in student attitudes, “study abroad students’ scores rose significantly [after studying abroad] while control students’ scores did not change.”²⁸ Students were scored in the areas of adventurousness, desire for an international career, cultural open-mindedness, stress management, self-confidence, and interest in studying foreign languages. Michael Tarrant adopts a conceptual framework to explore the role of studies abroad in nurturing global citizenship, maintaining that for students “engaging in an experientially structured study abroad program, a new worldview, predicated on a change in environmentally oriented values, norms, and behaviors, is nurtured and promoted.”²⁹

CBIE’s 2009 report on Canadian post-secondary students and study abroad concluded that “The learning which can be generated through a study abroad experience extends beyond the conventional subject-based content knowledge frequently associated with campus-based courses. Study abroad has the potential to be no less than a transformative experience that alters a student’s sense of self and understanding of others in the world.”³⁰

In a 2014 CBIE survey, 128 Canadians who had participated in 181 study abroad programs in 49 countries stated that interpersonal skills (89.8 percent), cross-cultural competency (89.8 percent), adaptability (89 percent), self-awareness (86.7 percent), and communication skills (84.3 percent) were the top cross-cutting skills gained through these educational experiences abroad.³¹

Employability

Recent research suggests highly positive linkages between education abroad and labour market success and underscores the value employers place on educational experiences abroad. In a 2014 Erasmus scholarship program impact study, the share of employers who say that experience abroad is important to employability almost doubled from 37 percent in 2006 to 64 percent in 2013. Concomitantly, one of the main motivations for students’ participation is the desire to enhance their employability, with 85 percent citing this as their reason to study abroad.³² The study also found that alumni of study abroad had greater values in six personality traits that employers said were important to employability: tolerance of ambiguity, curiosity, confidence, serenity, decisiveness, and problem-solving skills.³³

The QS Global Employer Survey 2011, an online survey carried out by the higher education research arm of QS, elicited a strong correlation between educational experiences abroad and employment. Ten thousand executives and hiring managers in 116 countries were asked whether they valued studies abroad. Fully 60 percent said that they “value an international study experience and the attributes that the experience may confer to mobile students.”³⁴

In the 2014 CBIE alumni survey, 88.4 percent agreed that their education abroad experiences had contributed to their career achievements and 91.6 percent of all skills obtained or enhanced during study abroad experiences are still applied in respondents’ current careers. Of those who had pursued studies in a country whose language is different from their own, 85.3 percent said they had improved their language skills, with 50.5 percent continuing to apply these skills in their current job.³⁵

In a recent survey of small and medium enterprises across Canada undertaken by Leger Marketing for Universities Canada, two out of three hiring managers surveyed said Canada is at risk of being overtaken by dynamic economies like China, India, and Brazil unless young Canadians learn to think more globally, and 82 percent said employees who have cross-cultural knowledge and an understanding of the global marketplace enhance their company’s competitiveness.³⁶

Furthermore, in a report by the Asia Competence Task Force for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, 60 percent of the “Asia practitioners” polled—Asia-engaged professionals in the public, private, and academic sectors—said that it was difficult to find Canadians with the competencies needed to fill Asia-related positions. The report concludes that Canada “has a serious Asia competence challenge, which, if not addressed, will be to the detriment of our next generation” and stresses that “it is [also] of vital importance that we encourage and enable young Canadians to gain experience in Asia, to better understand Asian cultures, to study how business is done, and to learn Asian languages.”³⁷

Canada’s education abroad context: Decentralization

Central to any discussion about education abroad for Canadians is an acknowledgement of the decentralized nature of Canada’s education governance, which is the purview of provincial and territorial governments.

The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (now Global Affairs Canada) spearhead a national effort to market Canadian education internationally under the “Imagine Education in Canada” brand. The individual governments set policies and implement programs related to international education in connection with their education, research, science, trade, immigration, labour force development, and other agendas. CBIE is Canada’s national organization for international education and has a mandate to encourage and influence policy and programs that enhance understanding and participation in all aspects of international education.

The Canadian Consortium for International Education (made up of CBIE, Colleges and Institutes Canada, Canadian Association of Public Schools—International, Languages Canada, and Universities Canada) works on behalf of their collective membership in such areas as monitoring and advocating for policy and programs supportive of international education.

While this multi-dimensional group of actors represents a wealth of expertise and interest that can be harnessed in support of education abroad, the varied priorities and areas of responsibility, coupled with lack of a strong coordinating mechanism or lever, have so far resulted in uncoordinated policy and sporadic action.

Outbound mobility policies in six countries

Educating young people abroad is valuable both in preparing students to navigate a global environment and as a national strategy. More specifically, outbound mobility is a critical part of a comprehensive internationalization approach. As detailed below, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, the UK, and the US are pursuing bold visions for education abroad for their students.

Australia

The New Colombo Plan

The number of Australians taking up international education experiences increased by 60 percent between 2007 and 2012. According to the Department of Education, just over 15,000 Australians studied abroad in for-credit experiences in 2007, while in 2012 nearly 25,000 did so.³⁸ New strategic initiatives aim to increase and diversify this strong education abroad performance.

Australia’s New Colombo Plan (NCP), launched in 2014, is an initiative of the federal government that aims to increase knowledge of the Indo-Pacific region in Australia by providing scholarships for educational experiences, study, work, and internship or mentorship programs to Australian undergraduates in the region. The Australian government is providing $100 million in new funding over five years. The government intends the NCP to be a transformational experience for those involved and to deepen ties in the region at the individual as well as institutional level, and has called for a partnership between governments, institutions, and industry to support the goals of the plan.³⁹

Brazil

Ciências sem Fronteiras

Brazil’s Ciências sem Fronteiras (CsF, or Science without Borders) scholarship program aims to build theoretical knowledge and practical skills for 101,000 students in science, technology, mathematics, engineering, and creative industries at universities around the world in order to catapult Brazil into the knowledge economy.⁴⁰ Launched in December 2011, CsF 1.0 has already awarded 83,184 of the planned 101,000 scholarships. To date, the countries that have received the most students are the United States (32 percent), United Kingdom (11 percent), Canada (8 percent), France (8 percent), and Germany (7 percent). Brazil has recently announced a Phase 2.0 for this program.⁴¹

France

Stratégie nationale de mobilité européenne et international

The French government’s national strategy for European and international mobility, launched in 2013, aims to increase the number of young people receiving an educational experience abroad and diversify the type of student that goes abroad, so that young people from modest backgrounds can also benefit from international experiences.

The Erasmus exchange program (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students), established in 1987, was re-launched across the European Union (EU) as a more comprehensive program—Erasmus Plus—in early 2014. The French government’s latest national strategy includes increasing the budget of Erasmus Plus 2014 to 2020 by more than 40 percent; focusing on technological and vocational education, a request from ministries; increasing the number of students who take up international volunteerships by 25 percent; increasing the budget for the Franco–German Youth Office; strengthening Franco–Québec programs through the Franco–Québec Youth Office; and putting in place new coordinated methods of informing young people of opportunities.⁴²

Germany

Strategy 2020 and Go out! Study Abroad

With 30 percent of German graduates having an educational experience abroad, they are among the top mobile students in the world. However, in recent years, the German higher education landscape has undergone changes that are affecting the number of students who wish to study abroad, and the number of German students with an education experience abroad has increased only slightly since 2007.

In 2006, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) launched the Go Out! Study Abroad campaign. It encouraged study in destinations that were not typical for Germans, such as Africa, China, Eastern Europe, India, and Latin America. Go Out! began by awarding grants to institutions with innovative education abroad programs. The campaign also included biannual surveys of German student mobility. Recently, the campaign is focused on increasing visibility to a wider swath of students, including secondary school students, through an innovative communications strategy.⁴³ In its 2013 strategy, the DAAD announced a goal of increasing the number of German graduates with an education abroad experience to 50 percent by 2020, also in line with the EU’s goal, calling on institutions and governments to put in place the necessary structures to enable educational experiences abroad.

The United Kingdom

Outward Student Mobility Strategy

Launched in 2013, the UK’s Outward Student Mobility Strategy aims to increase the proportion of students who have an educational experience abroad to 20 percent by 2020 (in line with the EU’s target); for 2011–2012 only around 6 percent of students graduating from UK post-secondary institutions have had an education abroad experience. The strategy is federally funded, jointly by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).⁴⁴

The United States

100,000 Strong Educational Exchange Initiatives

One Hundred Thousand Strong started in 2009 as an initiative to dramatically increase the number of American students studying in China within five years, as an effort to strengthen relations between the US and China. As part of this effort, and a support to the American initiative, the Chinese government has committed to 10,000 “bridge scholarships” for American students to study in China. The initiative expanded in 2011 to include “100,000 Strong in the Americas” in a similar vein, designed to increase the number of Americans studying in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the goal of “foster[ing] region-wide prosperity through greater international exchange of students, who are [our] future leaders and innovators.”

The Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program (commonly known as the Lincoln Commission) laid the foundation for the 100,000 Strong Initiatives in its 2005 report, “Global competence and national needs: One million Americans studying abroad.” The report provided context, rationale, and recommendations for the United States to undertake a concerted effort in growing the number of American students undertaking international educational experiences to reach one million by 2016–2017.⁴⁵

Generation Study Abroad

Fewer than 10 percent of American students that graduated in 2012 participated in a credit or non-credit study abroad program. Generation Study Abroad, launched in 2014, is a five-year initiative of the Institute of International Education (IIE) that aims to double this number from 295,000 to 600,000 by 2019. The IIE is investing $2 million in the initiative, and will provide scholarships to college and high school students, and grants to institutions. It is also seeking commitments of support from 500 institutions that will pledge to significantly expand study abroad; ten institutions that will require study abroad; 10,000 alumni and students joining the campaign; 1,000 high school teachers pledging to increase awareness of study abroad among their students; and external funding for study abroad.⁴⁶

Lessons learned: What international education abroad strategies have in common

In order to make significant headway in outbound mobility for their students, the countries cited above have placed great importance on ambitious education abroad strategies and programs at the national level. These programs have a number of common characteristics:

Strategy: Most plans have a focus on a particular region of interest at the national level. In the US, the focus is on China and Latin America and the Caribbean; the Australian plan is focused on the Indo-Pacific region.

Collaboration and high-level support: All the initiatives have a high degree of collaboration at the national level engaging government agencies, institutions, and industry. They are also championed by top leaders, for example, in the United States and Brazil, by their presidents.

Ambition: All the plans target substantial increases in the number or proportion of students studying or pursuing internships abroad.

Blending: A number of the plans place importance on both study and internship experiences abroad, and on both credit and non-credit opportunities.

Support: The plans are well supported by scholarships and grants benefiting from government investment first, supplemented by business support.

Awareness: Most plans include a modern, high-visibility communications strategy, in particular using strong website and social media resources.

Canada has not yet approached internationalization of the next generation as a national imperative but rather has offered boutique programs that are helpful to a limited cohort, and in many cases, for a limited time.

Where next?

Canada faces a grand challenge: getting more of our students outbound for educational experiences in other countries and preparing them to thrive in the global economy. This critical component of a national international education strategy will require investment.

In 2015, the senior education leaders who make up CBIE’s Internationalization Leaders’ Network published a set of internationalization principles and encouraged Canadian schools, school boards, and post-secondary institutions to use the principles as a guidepost in their work. The principles call for an inclusive approach to internationalization, and outbound mobility is a critical piece of the puzzle.

Recalling the recommendation of the advisory panel for 50,000 study abroad awards per annum, CBIE is urging the federal government to invest in a major program that will progressively provide grants to Canadian secondary and post-secondary students, eventually reaching the target by 2022. CBIE has also urged that the government make a solid start as a way to mark Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017.

In addition to federal government investment, the private sector—in particular the export sector—and the provinces and territories need to step up with support, to their own advantage and for the national good.

CBIE will be focusing its efforts in the coming years on Canada’s Global Engagement Challenge, working with schools, post-secondary institutions, the public sector and the private sector to increase the number of Canadian students with an education abroad experience. “International education allows current and future generations of Canadians to acquire a global perspective, thus helping them to become citizens of the world who can contribute to the ‘diplomacy of knowledge.’ In an increasingly integrated world, and in light of Canada’s own growing engagement in trade/investment and geopolitical affairs, providing Canadian students with a global perspective is of great strategic importance.”⁴⁷

Increasing understanding of the importance of education abroad, and funding students’ ability to participate, requires bold vision and swift action. Canada can draw from international best practices as we develop our own national approach to education abroad. Canada’s future position on the world stage and in the world economy demands this.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

1

Jane Knight, “Updated definition of internationalization,” International Higher Education, no. 33 (Fall 2003): 2–3.

2

Universities Canada (formerly Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, AUCC), “Canada’s Universities in the World: AUCC Internationalization Survey,” 2014, (accessed 19 February 2015).

3

The Expert Panel on the State of Science and Technology in Canada, Council of Canadian Academies, “The State of Science and Technology in Canada, 2012,” 2012, (accessed 3 March 2015).

4

Universities Canada, “Canada’s Universities in the World: AUCC Internationalization Survey,” 2014.

5

Colleges and Institutes Canada, “Internationalizing Canadian colleges and institutes: The first national report on international education and mobility,” 5 June 2010, (accessed 19 February 2015).

6

Ibid.

7

Custom results sent to CBIE. Eva Egron-Polak and Ross Hudson, Internationalization of Higher Education: Growing Expectations, Fundamental Values. IAU 4^th Global Survey (Paris: International Association of Universities, 2014).

8

Colleges and Institutes Canada, “Internationalizing Canadian Colleges and Institutes.”

9

Universities Canada, “Canada’s Universities in the World: AUCC Internationalization Survey,” 2014.

10

Ibid.

11

Custom results, Egron-Polak and Hudson, Internationalization of Higher Education.

12

See Chris Havergal, “The end of branch campus boom?” Times Higher Education, 28 May 2015, for a discussion of the decreasing importance of branch campuses in Europe, (accessed 19 February 2015)

13

Canadian Bureau for International Education, “Canada’s Global Engagement Challenge: CBIE’s Pre-Budget Submission to the Finance Committee of the House of Commons,” 14 August 2014, (accessed 19 February 2015). The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) is an international education organization with 150 member institutions.

14

Universities Canada, “Canada’s Universities in the World: AUCC Internationalization Survey,” 2014.

15

Colleges and Institutes Canada, “Internationalizing Canadian Colleges and Institutes.”

16

Universities Canada, “Canada’s Universities in the World: AUCC Internationalization Survey,” 2014.

17

Colleges and Institutes Canada, “Internationalizing Canadian Colleges and Institutes.”

18

Canadian Bureau for International Education, World of Learning: Canadian Post-Secondary Students and the Study Abroad Experience (Ottawa: CBIE, 2009), 27.

19

Canadian Bureau for International Education, “Internationalization Statement of Principles for Canadian Educational Institutions,” November 2014, (accessed 3 March 2015).

20

Marie Kendall Brown, “A mixed methods examination of college students’ intercultural development,” doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, 2008, (accessed 11 June 2015).

21

Lane Perry, Lee Stoner, and Michael Tarrant, “More than a vacation: Short-term study abroad as a critically reflective, transformative learning experience,” Creative Education 3, no. 3 (September 2012): 679–683.

22

Government of Canada, “Global Markets Action Plan,” 2014, (accessed 19 February 2015).

23

The Honourable Chris Alexander, “International students: Then and now,” CBIE’s Blog, 22 November 2013, (accessed 3 March 2015).

24

His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, “Fulbright Award Presentation and Panel Discussion,” The Governor General of Canada website, 28 May 2013, (accessed 19 February 2015).

25

Government of Canada, “Canada’s International Education Strategy: Harnessing our Knowledge Advantage to Drive Innovation and Prosperity,” 2014, (accessed 19 February 2015).

26

Canadian Bureau for International Education, A World of Learning: Canada’s Performance and Potential in International Education (Ottawa: CBIE, 2014), 21. International student numbers are based on valid study permits. Students in Canada for less than six months are not required to hold a study permit, and are therefore not counted. This includes many language school students and exchange students. The 2013 data provided by Citizenship and Immigration Canada are preliminary and may be adjusted slightly in future data sets.

27

Jane Knight, “Higher Education and Diplomacy,” CBIE, October 2014, (accessed 19 February 2015).

28

Julia Shaftel and Timothy Shaftel, “Evaluation of study abroad outcomes,” University of Kansas, 2000, (accessed 11 June 2015).

29

Michael Tarrant, “A conceptual framework for exploring the role of studies abroad in nurturing global citizenship,” Journal of Studies in International Education, vol. 14, no. 5 (November 2010): 433–451.

30

Canadian Bureau for International Education, A World of Learning, 9.

31

Ibid., 62.

32

European Commission, “Erasmus Impact Study: Key Findings,” 22 September 2014, (accessed 19 February 2015).

33

Ibid.

34

QS Intelligent Unit, “QS Global Employer Survey Report: How Employers Value an International Study Experience,” QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd., 2011, (accessed 19 February 2015).

35

Canadian Bureau for International Education, A World of Learning, 62.

36

Leger, The Research Intelligence Group, for Universities Canada, “International/Intercultural Skills: Importance Assigned by Employers and Perceived Impact on Employee Performance,” 2014. PDF highlights sent directly to CBIE.

37

Asia Competence Task Force, “Canada’s Asia Challenge: Creating Competence for the Next Generation of Canadians,” November 2013, (accesses 11 June 2015).

38

Australian Government, “Outgoing International Mobility of Australian University Students,” July 2014, (accessed 11 June 2015).

39

Australian Government website, (accessed 11 June 2015).

40

Science without Borders, (accessed 23 November 2015).

41

Canadian Bureau for International Education, “Brazil’s President announces phase two of Ciência sem Fronteiras (CsF) scholarships,” 27 June 2014, (accessed 23 November 2015).

42

France diplomatie, “La mobilité internationale est une chance pour notre jeunesse, pas une menace pour la France,” 12 December 2013, (accessed 3 March 2015).

43

German Academic Exchange Service, “Strategy DAAD 2020,” May 2013, (accessed 19 February 2015).

44

Her Majesty’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, “International education: Global growth and prosperity,” July 2013, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/229845/bis-13-1082-international-education-accompanying-analytical-narrative.pdf (accessed 19 February 2015); and UK Higher Education International Unit, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, “UK strategy for outward mobility,” 5 December 2013, (accessed 19 February 2015)

45

Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, “Global competence and national needs: One million Americans studying abroad,” 14 November 2005, (accessed 11 June 2015).

46

Institute for International Education, “Generation Study Abroad,” (accessed 19 February 2015).

47

Advisory Panel on Canada’s International Education Strategy, “International Education: A Key Driver of Canada’s Future Prosperity,” 2012, (accessed 11 June 2015).

Author Biographies

Janine Knight-Grofe is research manager for the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), Canada’s national organization dedicated to international education.

Lisa Deacon is manager of research and special projects with the Canadian Bureau for International Education.