1

Prof. dr hab. Tomasz Domański

University of Lodz, Poland

Faculty of International and Political Studies

Department of International Marketing and Distribution

Internationalisation Strategies in Higher Education — Polish Experience.

Case Study of the Faculty of International and Political Studies

of the University of Lodz

Introduction

At the beginning of the 21st century internationalisation is one of key strategic challenges to Polish

universities as they are still lagging behind their European and Anglo-Saxon peers (see OECD

reports1). Yet, Polish public universities have to compete for foreign students with higher education

institutions from Central Europe, Germany, as well as Scandinavian countries2

or the United

Kingdom3.

Education policy stimulates universities to develop market-oriented strategies and attract non-EU

students who pay higher tuition fees. Higher education has ceased to be an exclusively public service

and has become a market product that generates additional revenue4.

To face challenges related to internationalisation, Polish universities will need to develop and

continuously improve unique educational curricula taught in English and competitive marketing

strategies. The latter should stem from strong market-orientation and high quality of paid educational

services.

The paper — besides international literature studies on educational policies and

internationalisation strategies of universities — draws on Author’s personal experience based on many

years of development and implementation of an original internationalisation strategy of the Faculty of

International and Political Studies of the University of Lodz. It also uses results of empirical studies

conducted by the Author based on in-depth interviews with foreign students of business specialty

course International Marketing (2015) at the Faculty.

1 OECD (2007), Higher education and regions: Globally competitive, locally engaged, OECD Publishing, Paris 2007; OECD (2006),

Education policy analysis: Focus on higher education, Paris 2006. 2 Y. Cai, J. Kivisto, Tuition Fees for International Students in Finland: Where to Go From Here?, “Journal of Studies in International

Education”, February 2013, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 55–78. 3 M. Toyoshima, International strategies of universities in England, „London Review of Education”, vol. 5, no. 3, November 2007, pp. 265–

280. 4 Y. Cai, J. Kivisto, op. cit., pp. 55–78.

2

1. Notion and conditions of internationalisation of higher education

1.1. Definition of internationalisation (key research lines)

Internationalisation of higher education is defined as ”the inclusion of international, intercultural

and global dimension into the curriculum and teaching learning process at academic level”5.

Internationalisation is driven by political, economic, social, cultural, and academic6 reasons. It can be

perceived from both local and national perspective7. It links to globalisation and, in accordance with

the principle of convergence, it promotes a unified fully English-taught model of education8. However,

it may also lead to the differentiation of curricula and educational models stemming from diverse

contexts and cultural differences.

In many countries internationalisation is also a powerful political project. It can be conditioned by

factors of social and cultural (understanding different cultures, social and cultural development of

given community), political (foreign policy and national security framework, national and regional

identity, mutual understanding), economic (economic growth, labour market, financial circumstances),

and academic (international dimension of research and teaching, development of a given higher

education institution, improving teaching quality and innovation)9 nature.

The approach proposed in this area by Jane Knight is sometimes criticised for being over-

enumerative. Other authors propose to examine internationalisation based on concrete strategies of

higher education institutions and overall conditions of the process10

. This line of research broadly uses

case study method. Our approach in an attempt to synthesise both stances and analyse overall

conditions of the process and concrete internationalisation strategies.

S. Vincent-Lancrin11

identified four types of conditions and strategies of internationalisation, such as: 1)

mutual understanding between cultures, 2) striving for excellence and competing for talents, 3) generating

additional revenue, 4) development of universities.

Globalisation created completely new conditions for the internationalisation of education and

obviously accelerated the process. Universities compete in the global market, which is why they need to

develop new strategies12

.

In general, conditions for internationalisation of universities can be divided into internal and

external. The first ones depend on the universities themselves and come as effects of specific strategic

decisions taken with the financial performance in mind. The second ones are connected with the

situation in national and international market of educational services and probable change scenarios.

5 S.-J. Chan, Internationalising higher education sectors: explaining the approaches in four Asian countries, „Journal of Higher Education

Policy and Management”, 2013, vol. 35,   no. 3, p. 316, quoted after: J. Knight, Updating the definition of internationalization,

„International Higher Education”, 2003, 33 (Fall), pp. 2–3. 6  J. Knight, Internationalisation of Higher Education, [in:] Quality and Internationalisation in Higher Education, Organisation of Economic

Cooperation and Development, OECD, Paris 1999, Chapter 1, pp. 13–28. 7  J. Taylor, The response of Governments and Universities to globalization and internationalization in higher education, [in:] Globalisation

and internationalization in higher education, F. Maringe, N. Foskett (eds), Continuum, London 2010. 8  M. Tadaki, Ch. Tremewan, Reimagining internationalization in higher education: international consortia as a transformative space?,

„Studies in Higher Education”, 2013, vol. 38, no. 3, p. 369. 9  J. Knight, Internationalization, concepts, complexities and challenges. In International handbook of higher education, J.J.F. Forest, P.G.

Altbach (eds), Springer, Dordrecht 2007, pp. 207–227; M. Tadaki, Ch. Tremewan, Reimagining internationalization in higher education:

international consortia as a transformative space?, „Studies in Higher Education”, 2013, vol. 38, no. 3, p. 369. 10 S. Marginson, Global perspectives and strategies of Asia-Pacific research universities, [in:] Paths to a world-class university: Lessons

from practices and experiences, N.C. Liu, Q. Wang, Y. Cheng (eds), Sense Publishers, Rotterdam 2011, pp. 3–27; X. Jiang, A Probe into the

Internationalisation of Higher Education in the New Zealand Context, „Educational Philosopfy and Theory”, 2010, vol. 42, no. 8, pp. 881–

897. 11 S. Vincent-Lancrin, Cross-border higher education: trends and perspectives, [in:] Higher education to 2030, Part 2: Globalisation, ed.

Organization for Economic Cooperation Development, OECD Publications, Paris 2009, pp. 63–88. 12  S.S. Bagley, L. M. Portnoi, Setting the Stage: Global Competition in Higher Education, „New Directions for Higher Education”,

December 2014, vol. 2014, no. 168, pp. 5–11.

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They refer to market variables independent of universities, as well as broadly understood government

and international regulations.

1.2. Internal conditions

Looking at the strategy of a higher education institution from the perspective of its financial

revenues encourages us to develop an educational offer for the most profitable market segments.

Thinking about public universities in a market perspective is a totally new challenge to many Polish

universities13

, while it is rather a standard approach at Anglo-Saxon14

and many European Union

higher education institutions. In neoliberal perspective, internationalisation of universities has got a

purely economic dimension15

. To foreign students, graduation is an element of their personal strategy

aimed at enhancing their own competitiveness in global labour market, which impacts the readiness to

invest in studying at foreign universities.

Budget conditions

Among the major internal conditions we need to list financial performance of universities and the

need to seek new sources of revenue. Hence, the key dimension of internationalisation of higher

education includes deepening commercialisation and market orientation16

. This is true about

American, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian or British universities and increasingly often about

European universities. Building international partnership networks and academic consortia that favour

various forms of internationalisation based on multilateral and bilateral relations is an essential link in

the process17

.

Limited government funding calls for taking a new perspective on educational market.

Deteriorating financial standing of public universities will force out diversification of the sources of

revenue and seeking foreign, more profitable market segments. Tuition fees paid by foreign students to

many universities may represent vital source of revenue.18

Fees paid by foreign students facilitate

decentralised management at universities. Internationalisation also increases flexibility with which

faculties create new educational formats and innovations in educational services.

13 T. Domański, Marketing of Higher Education — Future Challenges. Marketing szkół wyższych — wyzwania przyszłości, „Management

and Business Administration. Central Europe”, vol. 22, no. 4(127), 2014, pp. 118–132; T. Domański, Marketing szkół wyższych — nowe

wyzwania strategiczne, [in:] Marketing przyszłości. Trendy. Strategie. Instrumenty. Konkurencyjność i wizerunek podmiotów rynkowych, G.

Rosy, A. Smalec (eds), „Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego” no. 710, „Problemy Zarządzania, Finansów i Marketingu” no. 24,

Uniwersytet Szczeciński, Szczecin 2012, pp. 173–183. 14 Chapman A., Pyvis D., Quality, identity and practice in offshore university programmes: issues in the internationalization of Australian

higher education, „Teaching in Higher Education, April 2006, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 233–245; Currie J., DeAngelis R., Boer H., Huisman J.,

Lacotte C., Globalizing Practises and University Responses: European and Anglo-American differences, Praeger, Westport, CT 2003; De

Wit H., Internationalization of higher education in the United States of America and Europe: A historical, comparative, and conceptual

analysis, Greenwood Press, Westport 2002; De Wit H., Strategies for Internationalisation of Higher Education: A comparative study of

Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States of America, EAIE, Amsterdam 1995; Toyoshima M., International strategies of

universities in England, „London Review of Education”, vol. 5, no. 3, November 2007, pp. 265–280, DOI: 10.1080/14748460701661328;

Warwick Ph., Moogan Y.J., A comparative study of perceptions of internationalization strategies in UK universities, „Journal of

Comparative & International Education”, January 2013, vol. 43, nr 1, pp. 102–123, DOI: 10.1080/03057925.2013.746573. 15 J. Currie, R. DeAngelis, H. Boer, J. Huisman, C. Lacotte, Globalizing Practises and University Responses: European and Anglo-American

differences, Praeger, Westport, CT 2003, p. 11. 16 S.E. Goddard, Uncommon ground: Indivisible territory and the politics of legitimacy, „International Organization”, 2006, 60, pp. 35–59. 17 U. Teichler, The changing debate on internationalization of higher education, „Higher Education”, 2004, 48, pp. 5–26. 18 T. Domański, Marketing of Higher Education — Future Challenges. Marketing szkół wyższych — wyzwania przyszłości, „Management

and Business Administration. Central Europe”, vol. 22, no. 4(127), 2014, pp. 118–132; T. Domański, Marketing edukacyjny w warunkach

globalizacji rynku, [in:] Marketing w szkole wyższej. Przemiany w orientacji marketingowej, G. Nowaczyk, D. Sobolewski (eds),

Wydawnictwo Wyższej Szkoły Bankowej w Poznaniu, Poznań 2011, pp. 23–30; Y. Cai, J. Kivisto, Tuition Fees for International Students in

Finland: Where to Go From Here?, „Journal of Studies in International Education”, February 2013, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 55–78. DOI:

10.1177/1028315311429001.

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International orientation as a source of competitive advantage and innovation

Strong international orientation may also become an important pillar of a lasting competitive

advantage of a university. It also stimulates innovation, which enhances operational flexibility of

universities and contributes to their bigger openness to change, various cultures and expectations of

international community of students.

A university open to external contacts is also ready to more quickly appropriate best practices

worked out by foreign partners and competitors. Such innovation should be introduced at selected —

the most internationalised — faculties and educational programmes. Implementation of specific

innovation is much easier in smaller, more homogenous structures or for curricula taught in foreign

languages than across all university units. The foregoing refers mainly to organisational units with

extensive network of international contacts19

.

1.3. External conditions

Recently we witnessed a clear reinforcement of the role of external factors in generating changes in

educational market. The changes relate to globalisation, increased students’ mobility, as well as

employers’ expectations as to graduates’ knowledge about the specificity of international market.

Internationalisation of higher education is also a vital instrument of government policy at political and

economic levels. Universities — even though they wish to retain the autonomy — also become

instruments of a specific educational, international or economic policy that serves the interests of their

respective countries20

.

Cultural and social conditions of internationalisation have given way to economic conditions.

Foreign graduates of higher education institutions become not only consumers of educational services

but also catalysts of trade exchange between their home countries and the country where a given

university is based. It is very clear in internationalisation pattern of U.S., Australian, Canadian or New

Zealand universities. Moreover, tuition fees paid by foreigners are in most cases much higher than

those paid by domestic students. For example, in New Zealand they are three times higher21

. New

Zealand, Australia and Canada position themselves in global educational market as alternatives to

traditionally preferred English speaking universities in the United States or United Kingdom22

.

Economic factor is also visible in internationalisation of European universities23

.

China24

is the example of primacy of political conditions in internationalisation.

Internationalisation strategy of Chinese universities reveals the evolution of the policy over recent

thirty years. They shifted from realising the importance of internationalisation (1980s) through the

building of world-class university (1990s) to the development of global international going global

internationalisation strategy after 2000.

International education has become a powerful political instrument of promoting China and its

system of values and culture. Internationalisation of education serves very well international

19 M. Tadaki, Ch. Tremewan, Reimagining internationalization in higher education: international consortia as a transformative space?,

„Studies in Higher Education”, 2013, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 367–387. 20 J. Knight, Internationalisation of Higher Education: A conceptual framework, [in:] Internationalisation of Higher Education in Asia

Pacific Countries (pp. 5–20), J. Knight, H. de Wit (ed.), European Association for International Education, Amsterdam 1997, pp. 25–36; X.

Jiang, A Probe into the Internationalisation of Higher Education in the New Zealand Context, „Educational Philosophy and Theory”, 2010,

vol. 42, no. 8, p. 884. 21 X. Jiang, A Probe into the Internationalisation of Higher Education in the New Zealand Context, „Educational Philosophy and Theory”,

2010, vol. 42, no. 8, p. 884. 22 X.P. Jiang, Impacts of Globalisation and the Knowledge Economy upon Higher Education in China and New Zealand: Internationalisation

in the making, Guangdong People’s Publishing House, Guangzhou 2006. 23 H. de Wit, Strategies for Internationalisation of Higher Education: A comparative study of Australia, Canada, Europe and the United

States of America, EAIE, Amsterdam 1995. 24 L. Wang, Going global: the changing strategy of internationalization of education in China, „Journal of Higher Education Policy and

Management”, 2013, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 305–315.

5

expansion of China by means of soft power mechanisms disseminated in the series of publications by

Joseph Ney Jr.25

This is the third dimension of the advantage individual countries may get, besides

military and economic power26

. Educational mobility schemes are specific investment in the future

that produces political, economic and cultural effects that are delayed and distributed over time.

Some neoliberal reforms in educational sector put in place in China after 2000 strengthened

market orientation of some universities, which were privatised and decentralised27

. International

ranking of universities, which includes Chinese universities, surely acts in favour of

internationalisation. Chinese government strongly supports the promotion of Chinese culture and

values all over the world, paying special attention to important foreign markets. Global expansion of

Chinese education system is connected with powerful promotion of learning Chinese as a global

language. Such activities are designed to better get to know and understand each other (the Chinese

Bridge Project — han yu giao)28

. They are consistent with the efforts of Chinese universities to aspire

for the top world standards. Internationalisation policy is backed up by Confucius Institutes that have

been opened in almost one hundred countries, which demonstrates the scale and scope of global

policy. Their strategic goal was to teach Chinese to ca. 100 million people within five years. Currently,

Chinese is a course offered by two thousand three hundred universities across the world in ca. one

hundred countries29

. Analysis of the role of Confucius Institutes shows their role in Chinese soft power

policy consisting in building concrete, politically, economically and culturally desirable attitudes vis-

à-vis China30

. Internationalisation of higher education as a policy is particularly visible in relations

between China and Africa, where both sides selected twenty universities each for international

cooperation. Scholarships schemes that allow African students to study in China are very well

developed.

Nowadays, similar models of promoting international education are being developed in Japan (The

Japan Foundation) and in South Korea (The Korea Foundation). All of them take advantage of the

earlier experiences of institutions from Western Europe, such as: British Council, Alliance Française

or Goethe-Institut.

2. Specificity of internationalisation of higher education in Poland

2.1. Enhanced competition in Polish higher education market

Over recent twenty years (1995–2015) Polish market of education became very competitive.

Policy of liberalisation triggered rapid mushrooming of private universities and ensured mass

availability of higher education. After 1990 almost 400 non-public higher education institutions of

different profile have been established in Poland. In the future many of them will disappear from the

market as they will not be meeting formal requirements and the demand will drop due to low birth

rates. The best public and private universities will use internationalisation strategies as foundations for

building a lasting competitive advantage and ensuring survival in the market. The degree of

25 J.S. Jr Nye, The information revolution and American soft power, „Asia Pacific Review”, 2002, 9, pp. 60–76; Nye J.S. Jr, Soft power: The

means to success in world politics, Public Affairs, New York 2004; Nye J.S. Jr, Public diplomacy and soft power, „The Annals of the

American Academy of Political and Social Science”, 2008, 616, pp. 94–109. 26 J.S. Jr Nye, Bound to lead: The changing nature of America power, Basic Books, New York 1990. 27 L. Wang, Higher Education governance and university autonomy in China, „Globalisation, Societes and Education”, 2010, 8, pp. 477–495. 28 L. Wang, Going global: the changing strategy of internationalization of education in China, „Journal of Higher Education Policy and

Management”, 2013, vol. 35, no. 3, p. 308. 29 Ibidem, p. 310. 30 D. Starr, Chinese language education in Europe: The Confucius institutes, „European Journal of Education”, 2009, 44, 65–82.

6

internationalisation of a university often becomes the indicator of the quality of its services, market

position and prestige31

.

In Poland in 2015 there were 59 public universities and almost 380 non-public higher education

institutions (including many vocational ones).

2.2. Demographic conditions — drop in the number of potential students

For some years in Poland we have been observing very clear decreases in the number of domestic

students. The trend should encourage universities to actively penetrate foreign markets. It is estimated

that in 2025 the drop in the number of population in the age group 18–24 years, compared to 2005,

may be as deep as 40%, meaning dramatic shrinking of the group of potential students. These changes,

assuming the current politics is continued, will reduce the number of students from 1,788 k in 2005 to

1, 034 k in 2025 (754 k). It is a dramatic drop by 42%, calculated in relation to the base year 2005.

High, although still incomparable with Poland, reductions will be reported by the following countries:

Slovakia (–35%), Korea (–33%), Czech Republic (–21%), Japan (–19%) or Hungary (–18%). Hence,

internalisation strategy of higher education and attracting foreign students is the best remedy for

reductions in the population of potential domestic students.

2.3 State policy vis-à-vis internationalisation

So far government policy vis-à-vis internationalisation of higher education in Poland has been based

mainly on the EU Erasmus Programme32

. On the other hand, the government has not got any clear

internationalisation policy addressed to non-EU students.

One might have an impression that internationalisation of higher education is slowed down by immigration

and visa policies that limit the inflow of foreigners. Enhanced mobility requires taking a new perspective at

principles of Polish foreign policy that impact this very profitable market segment. It seems the policy should

be more open to future benefits to Polish economy stemming from teaching foreigners. Diversification of the

community of international students from countries who are strategically vital as far as the economic growth of

Poland is concerned, as well as selected cities and regions should be an important priority. Apparently, these

activities are not fully coordinated or subordinated to clear strategic goals (educational, policy, foreign policy,

economic policy, regional development policies). Key challenge to Poland will still consist in coordinating the

recruitment of foreign students with economic objectives of the country, in particular with labour market

evolution. Guiding principle of foreign policy33

may and should play central role in higher education

internationalisation strategy.

Internationalisation strategy of higher education strongly depends on external conditions. The most

open and innovative internationalisation strategy of a university would never be implemented under very

restrictive visa policy exercised by the state or its consulates in other countries. That is why we need to

coordinate strategic goals and programmes. This aspect once again shows how much universities depend

on external factors and testifies to the difficulty of undertaking decentralised activities. It also points to

the need to build internationalisation strategies in cooperation with key strategic partners, such as: the

31 T. Domański, International Model of Higher Education, „Outsourcing and More”, nr 4 (5), July/August 2012, pp. 88–87; T. Domański,

Marketing of Higher Education — Future Challenges. Marketing szkół wyższych — wyzwania przyszłości, „Management and Business

Administration. Central Europe”, vol. 22, no. 4(127), 2014, pp. 118–132; T. Domański, Marketing edukacyjny w warunkach globalizacji

rynku, [in:] Marketing w szkole wyższej. Przemiany w orientacji marketingowej, G. Nowaczyk, D. Sobolewski (eds), Wydawnictwo Wyższej

Szkoły Bankowej w Poznaniu, Poznań 2011, pp. 23–30. 32 T. Domański, Role of Erasmus Programme in the Development Strategy of the Faculty of International and Political Studies (FIPS) of the University of Lodz (pp. 231–262), [in:] The impact of the Erasmus programme on mobility and employability, T. Domański, P. Bryła (eds),

Łódź University Press, Łódź 2014, pp. 304. 33 C. Berry, J. Taylor, Internationalisation in higher education in Latin America: policies and practice in Colombia and Mexico, „Higher

Education”, 2014, 67, pp. 585–601.

7

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry

of Labour and Social Policy, Ministry of Economy or representatives of foreign and domestic regional

authorities interested in synergy among business, regional development, and university education.

2.4. Polish government framework programme of internationalisation of higher education

Polish government policy of internationalisation of higher education was sketched in 2014 in the

Programme of Internationalisation of Higher Education (MNiSZW, Warsaw 2014)34

.The Ministry

decided that “internationalisation is one of major challenges facing Polish higher education”

(p. 2). The Programme is designed to: “improve the competitiveness of Polish universities in

international market”, “increase the share of science in economic growth of the country”, and to foster

the position of Poland as the “centre of development of science and education” in international

markets.

According to the authors of the Programme, weaknesses of Polish internationalisation are due to

still too few courses taught in English, too few international educational agreements and few foreign

lecturers at Polish universities. Individual universities do not have detailed internationalisation

strategies that would be incorporated in their wider development strategies. Thus, there is a twofold

deficit in international orientation at the level of universities and at the central level35

.

The Programme of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education also provided for financial

support to internationalisation-oriented organisational changes in universities. It specifies, inter alia,

special funds for training and consultancy in the transfer of best practices developed at various

universities as parts of their internationalisation strategies and improving intercultural competences

among administration staff (23.7 million euro to improve management skills of managers and

administration staff).

Internationalisation will also need modern marketing campaigns on-line aimed at building positive

image of Poland and Polish universities as attractive locations to study. We need to strive to achieve

synergy between the image of the country and positive image of universities. To this end, on www.go-

poland.pl we can find marketing strategy “Ready, Study ,Go! Poland” targeting strategic educational

markets (countries of Eastern Partnership, China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey, Saudi

Arabia, and Qatar). Social media are widely used in promotion together with the Study in Europe

website of the European Commission (Programme…, MNiSzW, p. 34).

Against the backdrop of the change of government following autumn elections in 2015, we need to

ask: to what extent the new government is going to implement the programme, and how many new

programming and budget assumptions will be adopted in internationalisation of higher education.

Potentially, university development strategies that include internationalisation should be a priority

to any subsequent government. Such strategies require continuity and changes may and should refer to

only selected priorities that correspond with detailed government strategies.

2.5. Latest trends in migrations of foreign students into Poland

In 2016 we have had more than 57,000 foreign students from 157 countries in Poland. Compared

to 2015 their population increased by 10, 000 people (ca. 23%!). Foreign students represent more than

4.1% of all students in Poland; to compare, in 2008 they accounted only for 0.6%. Such visible

advancement in internationalisation is the effect of drop in the overall number of students at

Polish universities (consequence of low birth rate), and the inflow of foreign students from

34 Program umiędzynarodowienia szkolnictwa wyższego, Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego, Warszawa 2014, quoted after: http://www.nauka.gov.pl/g2/oryginal/2015_06/ed5a831ec649a91c619602597f1ae553.pdf (access on: 13.06.2016). 35 See the diagnosis: Program…, MNiSzW, Warszawa 2014, op. cit.

8

Ukraine. Decrease in the number of Polish students is permanent and has been observed for some

years. In the academic year 2015/2016 there were in total 1, 405, 133 students at Polish universities,

i.e. by 64, 254 fewer than in the academic year 2014/2015 [–4,6% (!!)]. Foreign students only partly

compensate the drop in the overall students’ population. In the academic year 2015/2016 the gap was

11%.

Domination of Ukrainian students

According to data provided by GUS (Main Statistics Office of Poland)36

in 2016 in the academic

year 2015/2016 in Poland there were as many as 30, 589 Ukrainian students (increase by 23.5%

within one year!!). This high dynamics results from political factors but also from substantial

reduction of tuition fees charged by Polish universities from Ukrainian students. The latter was

dictated by solidarity policy pursued by the Polish government vis-à-vis Ukraine, which encouraged

Polish higher education institutions to offer preferential fees to these students. Many universities

reduced them to the level paid by Polish students who take paid courses.

At the same time, we must clearly stress that the central system of incentives in practice did not

involve any support offered to the universities by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Paradoxically, reduction in tuition fees for Ukrainian students, however justified by moral and

solidarity-driven reasons, meant de facto drop in revenues from paid courses without any

compensation from the Ministry. This is another example of internationalisation of higher education

without government support. Internationalisation of higher education continues to be financed by

universities.

At present, students from Ukraine have the biggest share in international students population in

Poland (53%) and it regularly increases. That is the effect of marketing campaigns as well as direct

consequences of armed conflict caused by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Armed conflict and threats

involved in it motivate young Ukrainians to look for a safe place to study in Poland.

Equally strongly we need to stress geographical, cultural and linguistic vicinity between Poland

and Ukraine. Studies in Poland are attractive as financially they remain within the reach of potential

students and the price is competitive compared to rich, developed countries of the old European

Union. To Ukrainian students Poland is the closest EU member state. Moreover, we need to highlight

historical relations between Poland and Ukraine and a big group of Ukrainians of Polish extraction

who wish to establish new relations with the homeland of their ancestors. Some Authors openly speak

about “Ukrainization of Polish universities”37

.

The phenomenon of “Ukrainization” of internationalisation de facto leads to clear domination of

one national group, which may distort cultural differentiation of students’ community. Interestingly, in

parallel to very dynamic increase in the number of Ukrainian students in Poland we can notice

progressing downsizing of the population of Ukrainian students in Germany. Apparently, cultural

vicinity makes Ukrainians more interested in staying in Poland upon the completion of studies. Inflow

of Ukrainian students to Poland depends on the engagement of universities, as well as agents who

recruit potential students. Attractiveness of Poland as a place to study stems from its being a safe

country with familiar culture offering diplomas recognised in the EU and very competitive quality of

education to price ratio and reasonable cost of living.

36

See B. Siwińska, Już ponad 46 tysięcy studentów zagranicznych w Polsce,

http://www.perspektywy.pl/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2221:juz-ponad-46-tysiecy-studentow-zagranicznych-w-polsce&catid=24&Itemid=119 (access on: 17.05.2016). 37 B. Siwińska, Raport „Studenci zagraniczni w Polsce w 2015 roku”,

http://www.studyinpoland.pl/konsorcjum/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6922%3Araport-qstudenci-zagraniczni-w-polsce-2015&catid=220%3A115-newsletter-2015&Itemid=20 (access on: 13.06.2016); V. Gierko, „Ukrainizacja” polskich uczelni na tle

umiędzynarodowienia kształcenia na poziomie wyższym w Polsce, „Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska”, vol. XL, 2, Section 1,

Lublin, Polonia, 2015, pp. 103–119.

9

Among foreign students in Poland, Belarusian students were the second biggest group in 2016

(4,615 people) followed by: Norwegians (1,581), Spaniards (1,407), and Swedes (1,291). In the case

of Ukrainians and Belarusians we can also consider the relevance of geographical, cultural and

linguistic vicinity. On top of that, Belarusian students often have Polish ancestors and, thus, are

historically linked with Poland.

Internationalisation and Poland’s Eastern policy

Undoubtedly, the number and structure of foreign students in Poland are to a large extent effects

of the Eastern policy pursued by the Polish government. Following the year 2000, the policy was

mainly promoting the inflow of students of Polish extraction originating from the former USSR

countries. It was also connected with the tradition of giving instruction to foreign students in Polish,

which did not require any adjustment of the teaching offer to their expectations. The policy took

advantage of cultural and linguistic ties that were broken during the times when USSR existed.

Advantages of the model included big adaptation capabilities of these students to external variables.

The strategy generated excellent possibilities for graduates to stay in Poland upon the completion of

studies. As shown by studies conducted on this category of graduates, many of them decide to stay in

Poland38

. Legal and financial solutions adopted by Polish government facilitate holders of the so called

“Polish Charter” [Karta Polaka] applying for Polish scholarship and studying for free at Polish

universities. This arrangement is used by many foreigners of Polish extraction, mainly from Ukraine,

Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, and other states of the former USSR.

We also need to stress that although the number of foreigners of Polish extraction clearly

increased within recent 20 years, from 2,454 people in 1995 to 5,610 in 2014, their relative share in

the overall community of foreign students in Poland decreased over the same period from 47.2% to

15.6%. The conclusion is obvious, dynamics of the scholarship programme addressed to students of

Polish extraction was much smaller than the dynamics of internationalisation. At the same time, we

witnessed shifting from the model based on historical links with foreigners of Polish extraction

towards international groups without any earlier links with Poland. Changes can be seen as positive in

the light of internationalisation, although it seems that Poland did not use the resources of foreign

students with Polish extractions, who could potentially stay in Poland or become active ambassadors

of contacts with Poland.

At present, from economic point of view, Polish universities should aim at developing the

structure of foreign students dominated with non-EU students as their higher tuition fees nurture

budgets of universities and help attracting new sources of revenue.

Relatively low share of students from Asia

The share of Asian students among international students at Polish universities is very small. In

the academic year 2015/2016 there were only 6,896 students from Asia accounting for ca. 12% of all

international students. Compared to other countries and in the light of their high global mobility, the

ratio is very low. The data suggest Poland’s relatively weaker position vis-à-vis the countries-

addressees of marketing activities in educational market. It is also an evidence of some weakness of

the policy of internationalisation of higher education in relation to these target markets. This is the

area where individual, decentralised actions of universities or their faculties dominate over any

coherent programme pursued by various ministries, in particular, Ministry of Science and Higher

Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy, and Ministry of the Interior and

38 See V. Gierko, Badania losów absolwentów polskich uczelni wyższych z krajów byłego ZSRR, „Studia Politologica Ucraino-

Polona”/”Ukrainian-Polish Politological Studies”, 2013, Vol. 3 (irbis-nbuv.gov.ua). The publication is based on the paper under the same

title, presented to the International Interdisciplinary Conference "Quo Vadis, Young Polonia?", held in Pultusk, Poland on 17–18 November

2012.

10

Administration. Effective internationalisation policy should de facto be based on a common strategy

adopted by specific government agencies, local authorities (regional and municipal self-government)

and business. Apparently, educational policy of the government is still little correlated with foreign

policy and economic growth, and with attracting foreign investors and business partners from the

leading emerging markets in particular. Among students from Asia, students from India are the biggest

group — 896 (the highest year-to-year growth dynamics — increase by 351 people, i.e., more than

64%) followed by the Chinese — 846; Taiwanese — 505; Vietnamese — 234, and Malaysian — 182

students), which only testifies to the unused potential of these countries.

Low share of students from South America

A handful of students originating from countries of South America (in total 173) is mainly due to

scholarship schemes offered to them by their respective governments. Almost half of the group are

Brazilian students (82). The same can be observed in other countries as the mobility of Latin

American students depends on the availability of government scholarships for studying abroad in a

given country (effect of bilateral agreements and government agreements connected with them).

Poor representation of students from Africa

The group of students from Africa continues to remain small — around 1,197, although we need

to stress that a significant increase was reported in this case compared to the previous year (by 478

people, meaning the dynamic of 66%!!). We need to bear in mind that this might be the outcome of

concrete steps undertaken by parliamentary groups working towards the stimulation of cooperation

with African countries, which used to be intensely represented at Polish universities. It seems that

these countries have a huge potential but to be able to benefit from it, we need to add flexibility to our

visa policy vis-à-vis potential candidates and offer facilities in applying for residence and work

permits.

Higher ranking of students from Turkey

The case of Turkey calls for special attention as the number of students from this country at

Polish universities has been increasing on a regular basis reflecting a high dynamics. In the academic

year 2015/2016 in Poland there were 1,205 students from Turkey paying tuition fees. Their inflow to

Poland was stimulated by the EU Erasmus Programme, delivered with the involvement of many public

and private Turkish universities. The Programme offers mobility opportunities to students who can get

acquainted with Poland and often decide to continue their education here. It is also a vehicle to

promote Poland as an attractive place to study to Turkish students. Additional impulse to study in

Poland comes from the vicinity of Germany where many students have families and friends and where

they plan to move after graduation with a higher education diploma from the EU country. The cost of

studies in Poland combined with low cost of living adds on to the attractiveness of Poland as a place to

study, in particular compared to Germany. On top of that, good standard of university infrastructure

and high quality of education favour our country. Other incentives that stimulate the inflow of Turkish

students include active involvement of Turkish private companies that recruit future students.

Weaknesses identified in students from Turkey include: relatively lower quality of their general

education, poorer preparedness to study and lack of fluency in English, which is vital especially when

it comes to fully English-taught courses for international students. For these reasons, Turkish students

should either take a preparatory course before they become fully-fledged students abroad or they

should take part in additional classes already when they are at universities.

Turkish students are an interesting target market to Polish universities, although they call for

personalised approach.

11

In Poland, the policy of “generating additional revenue” through internationalisation has been so

far delivered as a bottom-up arrangement at interested universities within the framework of their

original marketing strategies. At governmental level we lacked a coherent and consistently pursued

vision of internationalisation of Polish higher education sector.

Among factors expected to promote internationalisation of Polish universities we can list the need

of a wide promotion and image-creating campaign of Poland and its universities orchestrated by the

government. Promotion activities should explicitly highlight good value for money as high quality

university education is available in Poland at relatively low cost, including the cost of living.

3. Internationalisation of higher education models

Internationalisation of higher education model is to a large extent conditioned by cultural,

civilisation and economic contexts. Progressing globalisation has led to the domination of a model based

on English as the language of instruction. Studies conducted by the International Association of

Universities (IAU) — show that to 87% of universities internationalisation is a vital element in their

strategies, while to 78% the relevance of internationalisation very clearly increased within recent three

years. Studies were conducted on a sample of 745 universities from 115 countries 39

.

3.1. English-based model in English-speaking countries

These countries have a lasting competitive advantage (U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia,

Canada, New Zealand) over the rest of the world. The advantage is also an effect of treating

educational services as important export product. Internationalisation required these countries to

reconsider the role of universities, which was linked to liberalisation of international market of

educational services promoted by global trade, financial and economic organisations (World Trade

Organization — WTO, World Bank — WB, (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development — OECD)40

. In 2009 English-speaking countries attracted ca. 40% educational

migrants. Most international students studied in the U.S. (18%), United Kingdom (10%), and Australia

(7%)41

. Discussed strategies are designed to attract foreign students to universities but also to export

the curricula abroad. Internationalisation strategies are based on English as over 1,000 million people

across the world speak the language and English-speaking countries or fully English-taught courses

are the first choice for mobile students.

Strategies exercised to attract international students to universities in English-speaking

countries

Countries that compete with the United Kingdom and United States, such as Australia, New

Zealand or Canada are interesting material for analysis. All of them launched specific policies already

in the 1990s.

To New Zealand commercialisation of higher education was the starting point for attracting

international students to full study programmes already in the period between 1999 and 2003. After

new regulations have been put in place, the number of foreign students quadrupled reaching 35 k

39 See Internationalization of higher education: Global trends, regional perspectives, eds. E. Egron-Polak, R. Hudson, IAU 3rd global survey

report, International Association of Universities, Paris 2010. Quoted after: C. Berry, J. Taylor, op. cit., p. 585. 40 M. Czinkota, D. Grossman, R. Javalagi, N. Nugent, Foreign market entry mode of service firms: the case of US MBA programs, „Journal of

World Business”, 2009, 44 (3), pp. 274–286. 41 Por. OECD (2011), Education at a Glance 2011: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2011-en.

12

people42

. It was also triggered by reduction in State subsidies, which made the universities seek new

sources of revenues. Extremely high demand for educational services and higher income in Asian

countries of the region (China, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, etc.) also played their roles.

On the supply side, educational offer of New Zealand was positively assessed, also with respect to the

price (substitution effect), compared to the U.S. or British universities.

Advancing internationalisation of higher education invites an obvious question: to what extent

individual universities and countries are ready to build foreigners-friendly environment that would

encourage many international students to stay in the country where they studied. For that we need to

harmonise the activities of universities, local and regional authorities and central government

regulations.

British universities are interesting examples of internationalisation in Europe. They have been

subjects of many case study analyses43

. They attract international students predominantly for financial

reasons. Tuition fees paid by them are the key source of revenue to British universities44

. In 2006 the

cost of recruiting one foreign student amounted to ca. GBP 1,500 in the UK and ca. GBP 1,300 in

Australia. Tuition fees paid by an international student to universities in England ranged at that time

between 7,000 to 12,150 pounds45

.

Looking at these fees from the perspective of Poland in 2015 we need to stress that discrepancies in

tuition fees charged to foreign students in the European market are huge. British costs of recruiting an

international non-EU student are close to tuition fee for studies in Poland (EUR 2,500 in 2015), which

also demonstrates differences in marketing outlays. In universities examined in 200646

total marketing

outlays per university ranged between GBP 150k and GBP 1 million. To recruit international students

universities usually deploy agents who operate in selected markets (China, India, Taiwan, Korea, Japan,

Thailand, Malaysia, etc.). Each university has got its own network of agents and in one university

covered by the study researchers identified the network of eighty agents in various target markets.

Compared to other European universities, British universities are much stronger marketing — and

market-oriented, which started during Margaret Thatcher government at the turn of the 1980s and

1990s. Policy pursued at that time commercialised university education and made universities more

business-oriented, which stimulated export of educational services. The process obviously contributed

to the internationalisation of higher education. In this particular case, government policy that

encouraged universities to adopt business orientation coincided with commercialisation and

internationalisation of higher education. In Poland we are still missing a clear-cut and unambiguous

policy that would stimulate such strategies and market-oriented behaviour.

International students play such an important role in the budgets of English universities and

without fees from them many universities would not survive. Over a decade (1994/1995–2004/2005)

the number of international non-EU students more than doubled from 111 k to 218 k. The group of EU

students increased over the same time from 85 k to 100 k (2004)47

. Within the same period, non-EU

students represented ca. 9.5%, and EU students accounted for ca. 4.4% of all students at British

universities. China and India are the most important target markets to British universities. All

universities included in the study strongly emphasize their efforts to diversify international students’

community to the maximum.

42 X.P. Jiang, Impacts of Globalisation and the Knowledge Economy upon Higher Education in China and New Zealand: Internationalisation

in the making, Guangdong People’s Publishing House, Guangzhou 2006. 43 M. Toyoshima, International strategies of universities in England, „London Review of Education”, vol. 5, no. 3, November 2007, pp. 265–

280. 44 Ibidem, p. 269. 45 Ibidem, p. 272. 46 Ibidem, p. 275. 47 See B. Ramsden, Patterns of higher education institutions in the UK: sixth report, Universities UK, London 2006, quoted after: Toyoshima

M., International strategies of universities in England, „London Review of Education”, vol. 5, no. 3, November 2007, p. 271.

13

Export strategies of universities (delocalisation and partner strategies)

Delocalisation is a strategy in the area of exports of services, which is linked to establishing

educational activities abroad. Internationalisation strategies are considered mainly from the viewpoint

of the profitability of foreign target markets and seeking maximum prestige effect. For example,

Australian public universities prefer low-risk strategies of entry to foreign markets, with no capital

involvement due to the unwillingness to take risk48

. Decisions to choose particular markets result also

from “regulations on educational services offered by foreign operators” (legal limitations)49

.

Australian studies demonstrate that, besides financial goals, universities attach great attention to the

building of their reputation abroad.

Australian, New Zealand, Canadian or British universities developed original export strategies for

educational services in Asian markets. These strategies form part of a wider economic policy that

provisionally generates high revenues and builds up future economic, political and cultural relations

with selected countries. There is close synergy between short- and medium-term objectives and

strategic macroeconomic long-term goals.

3.2. English-based model in non-English speaking countries

Non-English speaking countries develop English-based internationalisation models to compete

with Anglo-Saxon universities and other non-English speaking countries. This model owes its

competitiveness to strategic links with Anglo-Saxon universities and attracting lecturers from English-

speaking countries. It is increasingly often developing in non-English speaking countries and its

strength is based on good knowledge of the local market and good relationships with foreign investors

present in this market who are awaiting graduates of such programmes (especially business and

management-engineering courses).

In Poland internationalisation model of higher education is implemented predominantly under the

umbrella of EU Erasmus programme with a small share of fully-paid courses addressed to non-EU

students. Scandinavian countries, e.g., Finland and Denmark50

are very active in this field in the

European Union. The process is linked with commercialisation of higher education. For example,

Finland’s education policy encourages universities to develop market-oriented strategies, designed to

attract international, non-EU students who pay higher tuition fees51

.

Polish model of studies and curricula fully taught in English has been so far promoted on special

Internet website “Study in Poland”, which brings together 59 leading public and private universities

which offer almost 400 various curricula attractive to foreigners.

3.3. National model — non-English, hybrid or mixed

Internationalisation model of higher education where students are taught in the language of a respective

country, which they must learn is going away. It was very much popular in the past and it assumed

international students would fully embrace and fit domestic model of instruction. Such a model was also

implemented in Poland52

. Before starting a course at a public university, a foreign student took a language

48 M. Tayar, R. Jack, Prestige-oriented market entry strategy: the case of Australian universities, „Journal of Higher Education Policy and

Management”, 2013, vol. 35, no. 2, p. 155. 49 Ibidem, p. 156. 50  A. Mosneaga, J. Agergaard, Agents of internationalisation? Danish universities’ practices for attracting international students,

„Globalisation, Societies & Education”, November 2012, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 519–538. 51 Y. Cai, J. Kivisto, Tuition Fees for International Students in Finland: Where to Go From Here?, „Journal of Studies in International

Education”, February 2013, vol. 17, Issue 1, pp. 55–78. 52 T. Domański, Marketing miasta akademickiego. Rola uczelni wyższych w promocji Łodzi, Łódź University Press, Łódź 2014, p. 276; The

role of universities in promotion of cities and regions, T. Domański (ed.), Department of International Marketing and Retailing University of

Lodz, Lodz 2015, p. 292.

14

course, which was a pre-condition to study. The model is still practiced at universities, which do not offer

fully English-taught programmes. It seems that the model will be gradually phased out and replaced with

English-based models. In the transitional period, a hybrid model is likely to be used as a solution addressed

to selected groups of foreign students who can speak the language of a given country.

Internationalisation requires complete university curricula in English and fluency in English

among administration staff who take care of international students. For some languages we may

combine English-taught courses with courses in domestic language, e.g., Portuguese, Spanish or

French53

. The dilemma concerns the balance between the share of English-taught and domestic

language curricula.

Analyses of OECD countries show that internationalisation ratio of Polish higher education is one

of the lowest, besides Croatia, in OECD (1.74% in 2012). It is also visibly lower than in neighbouring

countries of Central Europe, such a the Czech Republic, Hungary or Slovakia and in the Baltic States:

Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Internationalisation ratio in Bulgaria is also higher. Despite that, it is

estimated that international students contribute EUR 150 million into Polish economy. However, it is

still too little compared to the value of international educational market, where 4.5 million

international students generate the total revenue of USD 100 bn a year54

.

The most internationalised markets in the world are: Australia (21.2%), the UK (16.0%), Austria

(15.4%), and New Zealand (14.2%). The majority of the most internationalised countries in Europe

(Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands) oscillate around the average, which for the

OECD countries is ca. 8%.

Medical (8.58% in 2012) and economic schools (2.08) are the most internationalised in Poland as

usually they offer fully English-taught separate curricula. We also observe higher internationalisation

in some private universities. It stems from their market-orientation as well as more flexible and liberal

approach to students and grades they get (2.07%). Thus, we may conclude that some private

universities, mainly in Warsaw and Krakow, have specialised in courses addressed to international

students.

4. Case study of the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the University of

Lodz (WSMiP UŁ)

Internationalisation starts with curricula fully accessible to any international English-speaking

student. These curricula should meet international educational standards in a given field and be better

than those of their competitors.

Studies on internationalisation of higher education are dominated with the approach that analyses

different forms of academic activities, such as: inflow of international students, exchange schemes for

students and staff, international publications, curricula available in English, international research

programmes, dual diplomas with foreign partners, involvement in international programmes and

partnership networks, programmes offered abroad55

. The Faculty of International and Political Studies

of the University of Lodz (Polish abbr. WSMiP) practises all formats of international cooperation .

The case of the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the University of Lodz,

Poland excellently illustrates the thesis that internationalisation strategy should be built on

53 V. Kerklaan, G. Moreira, K. Boersma, The role of Language in the Internationalization of higher Education: an example from Portugal,

„European Journal of Education”, 2008, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 241–255. 54 B. Siwińska, Over 57 119 international students in Poland, http://www.studyinpoland.pl/en/index.php/news/43-over-57-119-international-

students-in-poland (access on: 20.06.2016). 55 H. de Wit, Internationalization of higher education in the United States of America and Europe: A historical, comparative, and conceptual

analysis, Greenwood Press, Westport 2002.

15

interdisciplinary organisational units open to innovation and international collaboration. The idea of

marketing strategy of the Faculty in question takes account of the requirements of international

market. Internationalisation philosophy has been streamlined into all elements that make up

educational services. The case of WSMiP also confirms the thesis that the implementation of

internationalisation strategy is easier in new organisational units more clearly positioning themselves

internationally than in the entire institution, were many processes get “watered down” (absence of

thinking in terms of a process). International positioning must be combined with the promotion of

diversity (multiculturalism). Interdisciplinary faculties that deal with broadly understood international

issues at business, political, social, cultural and media levels are best suited to build such strategies.

The Faculty of International and Political Studies of the University of Lodz was established in 2000

and as an interdisciplinary unit and it is best placed to offer international business studies. Business

studies taught at the Faculty with strong international orientation get a clear competitive edge over

courses offered by classical mono-disciplinary faculties (of Management, Economics, Law and

Administration or Philology). Such approach helps students from various countries better communicate

and collaborate in a multinational team.

The starting point for the strategy was marked with the development of original curricula in

English at all levels (bachelor/undergraduate, master and postgraduate courses). The strategy is also

based on interactive teaching formats in international project teams working on international markets

and international corporate strategies.

Internationalisation strategy at WSMiP allows international and Polish students to study

international business and marketing in English at bachelor (three years), master (two years) and post

graduate (one year) levels. In the future we plan to offer doctoral studies in English (four years). It is a

unique proposal in Poland and in the entire non-English speaking regional zone. English-taught

marketing studies are the flagship product of international educational offer of WSMiP. Students get

the diploma in International Relations, specialist course International Marketing.

The strategy was developed as an original idea by the team of leaders in internationalisation

headed by the Dean and implemented as a decentralised solution. Every year in total ca. 150 students

begin these studies at all levels and work in small groups, maximum of 30 students. This approach

ensures direct interactive relation between students and lecturers. To recruit students we created

special marketing programmes and set up a team that services international students. Revenue from

these studies represents almost 20% of total revenue and helps us generate budget surplus to be used

for statutory goals and adjust curricula and teaching formats to the expectations of international

students. The share of international students at individual years sometimes exceeds 50%, which

contributes to the internationalisation of the educational process in practice.

6.1. International teaching staff

English-taught courses are constantly being improved and require a wider involvement of foreign

lecturers. We need Anglo-Saxon lecturers as well as visiting Professors from other countries. For the

strategy to be successful local teaching staff must also be internationally oriented. Strategic idea of the

programme was conceived by academic leaders with many years of international experience. One

more success factor is a continuously expanded international network of academic links (invitations or

contracts for foreign lecturers and foreign managers of companies that operate in Poland).

6.2. Learning to work in international team of students

Importantly, English-taught specialist business course International Marketing gives students a

unique opportunity to work in an international team of students. Young Polish and foreign students

16

already at the age of 18–19 start learning in a strongly diversified international environment. The

Faculty aims at preserving the diversity although recently we can observe that Ukrainian and Turkish

students dominate. At the faculty we have representatives of 50 countries, which surely favours

internationalisation. The share of Polish students in English-taught courses ranges between 35% and

65%, depending on the year. International students who select business as specialist course come

from various countries, meaning all of them can fully benefit from internationalisation. Such a

multicultural group excellently prepares students to work in international teams. They experience

cultural diversity in practice. Thus we can offer equal opportunities and level the differences.

6.3. Expanded network of contacts with international business at Faculty and university level

Comparative advantage of the Faculty is based on extensive relations with representatives of

international business at municipal and regional levels. To this end, we continuously build strategic

partnership between the Faculty and foreign investors. Partnership includes jointly developed

university curricula, selected classes taught by foreign investors, business projects carried out within

the framework of diploma works and team projects, and internships for international and Polish

students in companies owned by foreign investors. The partnership and its forms may and will evolve

depending on the scope of strategic cooperation between the university and foreign business.

University and business cooperation in organising internships for foreign students and generating

future jobs are big challenges.

6.4. Personalised education of international students

Internationalisation model for International Marketing assumes building competitive advantage

based on individual approach to students. Marketing orientation to international students consists in

personalised education and active vocational counselling. Such approach requires enhanced marketing

orientation of all administrative and teaching staff who take care of international students. The

principle of openness to international students also necessitates good knowledge concerning the

expectations of foreign participants. This approach based on the awareness of students’ expectations

gives them equal opportunities in terms of access to the labour market compared to Polish students.

Often, because of their language competences, foreign students have competitive edge over their

Polish colleagues.

6.5. Planning individual career path

In model solution, personalised approach to a foreign student should lead to the working out of the

plan of her/his individual career path. This approach, besides excellent knowledge of student’s

expectations, should include widely understood counselling as to the forms of education and

establishing contacts with business environment. Under new internationalisation model a university,

besides providing international students with specific knowledge, offers vocational counselling and

relationship marketing. Contacts with graduates of WSMiP, who may act as mentors in foreign

companies, which they own or where they work as managers is a vital element of these relations.

WSMiP internationalisation model requires building very good relations with foreign students. Tuition

fee is also the price for a series of complementary services students need when they prepare to enter

the labour market.

17

6.6. Stimulating internationally-oriented students’ entrepreneurship

Teaching entrepreneurship and encouraging students to launch their own international business

projects are vital components of internationalisation of education. These projects, delivered in

parallel with education, should be carried out in Lodz in cooperation with entities from foreign

students’ home countries. In the first stage, building business projects may and should focus on the

local market and be based on assets connected with relationship marketing and being familiar with

international student’s home country. We can then work out synergy between knowledge about

foreign and local market and the system of building new business relations56

. Observations of

foreign students show that the most entrepreneurial among them start working or start-up a business

already when they are at the university. There are also special classes that assist in developing

internationally-oriented small businesses (Entrepreneurship and Business Planning).

WSMiP internationalisation strategy

Faculty of International and Political Studies since the very beginning has been consistently

building up its internationalisation strategy. Against the backdrop of other faculties of the

University of Lodz, WSMiP has the highest share of international students in the total

student population (ca. 15%) while specialty business courses have the record breaking,

also at national level, share of almost 60% of foreign students. WSMiP has got students

from more than 50 countries. It confirms the thesis that high internationalisation rates can

be achieved only in properly prepared academic units.

International educational offer covers a wide series of programmes and specialty

courses fully English-taught at bachelor, master and postgraduate levels. That is the case

of international business courses International Marketing (bachelor, master and

postgraduate courses); Asian Studies (bachelor course), American Studies (master

course), Intercultural Communication (bachelor and master courses), Political

Management (master course). Curricula are built up as a result of bottom up

decentralised activities.

Pricing strategy — our pricing strategy is competitive compared to both private

universities in the Polish market and universities abroad. The Faculty is not competing

just in terms of price but it strives to broaden the range of personalised complementary

services addressed to international students when it comes to mastering their command in

Polish, vocational counselling and internship programmes in Polish and foreign

companies operating in the local market. Tuition fee for English-taught courses does not

exceed EUR 600 for Polish and EU students and EUR 2,500 for non-EU students, and is

very competitive especially in relation to the quality of education.

Marketing communication is aimed at building international brand for the Faculty

“Open to the World and to People”. Social media play a prominent role in it together

with word-of-mouth marketing consisting in satisfied students’ recommending our

curricula to their friends abroad. For marketing communication cooperation with the unit

that deals with international cooperation of the university is vital as they promote the offer

of our university at international fairs and on Internet websites.

56 T. Domański, Marketing miasta akademickiego. Rola uczelni wyższych w promocji Łodzi, Łódź University Press, Lodz 2014, pp. 204–214.

18

Internationally-oriented lecturers — they teach regularly also at foreign universities as a

part of Erasmus staff mobility scheme. Besides, the Faculty regularly employs professors

from countries, such as: United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Spain,

Japan, India, Mexico, Ukraine, etc. This policy is designed to continuously expand the

pool of lecturers from abroad. Our specificity is young team of lecturers, fully fluent in

English, who combine theoretical knowledge with managerial practice and business

consultancy to Polish and international companies.

Services to students are international students-oriented. Administration services are tailor

made, foreign students have mentors from among the team of young lecturers.

Administration staff delegated to deal with international students are trained in languages

and multicultural communication on a regular basis.

Widening mobility exchange scheme — The Faculty continuously increases the number

of agreements concluded with renown EU universities and universities from all over the

world (at present there are more than 100 agreements). New agreements were concluded

with, inter alia,: China, Japan, India, U.S., Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia,

Georgia, Brazil, and Turkey. New international contacts are usually based on personal

contacts and emerge as bottom up initiatives formalised in agreements or cooperation

agreements.

Conclusion — future challenges

Internalisation strategy of a university should be implemented in cooperation with its most

international organisational units and curricula. They should act as strong, specialised

internationalisation centres, who work out best practices in this area. Internationalisation should

stimulate innovation and improve university’s ability to adjust to the conditions of international labour

market.

Building such strategy calls for the expansion of fully English-taught courses. Some Polish public

universities produce excessively elaborate internal offers, which implies the risk of internal

competition in attracting international students (a sort of “marketing cannibalism”). Effective

internationalisation requires original interdisciplinary curricula and the best lecturers available at a

given university.

In the long run, the success of internationalisation strategy at a university will depend on how

clearly it has positioned itself internationally and on the ability to build a strong, international brand

of a faculty. Working out a strong international brand needs time and improving educational services

in line with international students expectations. One of fundamental challenges is to build a team of

teachers who fully identify themselves with the strategy and English-taught courses. The engagement

of all staff, not just the project leader, is decisive to see the programme in international perspective.

In Poland — also at WSMiP — English-taught courses should be treated as generational product,

created based on young teaching staff educated abroad, open to collaboration with international

students. It is not enough to be familiar with curricula and academic reality of other countries.

Lecturers must be specifically predisposed to work with international students. Internationalisation of

a university means it should be increasingly more marketing-oriented. Dynamic changes in

educational market make it extremely vulnerable to external impacts, including economic and political

circumstances.

19

Strategically, to expand the scope of internationalisation we need to build the system of education

based on individual approach to foreign students. Personalisation is the only way to take account of

cultural differences among students in education. Teaching a foreign student will have to include

developing new procedures and tools that will help examine her/his expectations before, during and

after the completion of education. This is the only approach that enables to master the system of

communication with international students. We should start improving the building of relations with

international students before they come to the university, during the studies and after graduation

(relations with graduates). New challenges link to very deep cultural diversity of a group of

international students and objective differences in their already acquired education. Such approach is a

novum to public universities, which, as a rule, standardise their educational services.

For internationalisation strategy — individual approach needs to consider cultural differences

connected with respective countries of origin and adaptation to the new environment. Against the

backdrop of standardisation and treating curricula as a mass product observed in many countries,

internationalisation of the strategy may and should be linked to personalised approach to foreign

students. Under such circumstances, personalisation becomes a crucial element of value added of the

educational service. Diverse students’ expectations provide higher education institution with

motivation to launch innovation. Personalised educational services based on individual tutoring,

coaching or mentoring may in the future be the defining feature of the Polish internationalisation

model practised at selected universities. More importantly, that would give them a unique competitive

advantage, unavailable at a given price in Western state universities. Higher education institutions in

Western countries discuss only special cultural integration programmes, which, however, are

completely different57

.

As a result, Polish universities would get a competitive edge not only in terms of price but also in

terms of quality of educational services they offer. Building the value added of educational service on a

new system of relations with the environment will remain a serious challenge to internationalisation.

Particular stress should be put on relations with international business, as well as local and regional

authorities as potential allies in internationalisation. The above listed challenges are connected with

increasingly more changeable external environment, which makes universities continuously improve

their market adaptation capabilities. The latter is particularly difficult at public universities where

adaptation capabilities and ability to change unfortunately remain in striking contrast with internal

academic values, such as stability and unwilling attitude to external changes.

Speaking of challenges connected with offering equal opportunities, we need to stress that

internationalisation of higher education, as the example of WSMiP shows, creates many opportunities to

eliminate differences in students’ education and offers better opportunities of their individual

development.

The main lines of the strategy include:

— teaching Polish and international students how to operate smoothly in international environment — in

the future they will stand a better chance of benefiting from international mobility being able to work

in international teams in a competitive labour market;

— teaching students to be more open to other cultures — which may result in better communication in

international teams;

— personalised instruction and individual counselling — better developmental opportunities for foreign

students in a new cultural setting;

57 H. de Wit, Strategies for Internationalisation of Higher Education: A comparative study of Australia, Canada, Europe and the United

States of America, EAIE, Amsterdam 1995.

20

— individual counselling in seeking internships and traineeship schemes that will better prepare them to

enter the labour market;

— teaching small groups of students using interactive teaching strategies stimulates their individual

development and eliminates differences in education. That is particularly relevant to foreign students

from countries with lower quality of education at secondary or higher levels.

In the above presented approach, internationalisation of higher education combined with its

commercialisation ensures effective provision of equal opportunities through a more personalised

educational model. At the same time, tuition fees charged for higher education within the framework of a

non-profit model do not pose barriers in access to students with lower income.

Polish model of internationalisation practised at WSMiP is strongly oriented at eliminating

differences and offering additional developmental opportunities to international students, especially

those originating from developing countries.

The above principles concur with higher education development model predicted by the OECD as

“Open networking” — that involves trends connected with harmonisation of educational systems at a

global scale, personalisation of higher education, interactive teaching techniques, instruction in

English, and internationalisation of universities.

21

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Abstract

The aim of the publication is to examine internationalisation strategies of higher education

institutions in the context of experiences accumulated in many countries. Wide range of foreign

experiences is used as a background to identify conditions for internationalisation of Polish public

universities. Special attention is paid to the case study of internationalisation of the Faculty of

International and Political Studies (Polish abbr. WSMiP) of the University of Lodz. The Faculty

strategy is considered a model approach to internationalisation that could be replicated in other

universities in Poland. The model is based on a far-reaching decentralisation of decision-making

when it comes to internationalisation and wide discretion in choosing communication strategies

addressed to potential recipients of educational services at national and international levels. Its

foundations are provided by curricula taught in English at bachelor, master, and postgraduate levels,

which makes them available to all international students.

The future of internationalisation is based on further commercialisation of such programmes, which

call for personalised approach to foreign students, an expanded array of educational services offered to

them, and individualised counselling in developing future professional career models.

Internationalisation model adopted by the Faculty is also based on diversification of students’ groups

and extensive relationships with local business community.

Słowa kluczowe

Internacjonalizacja uczelni wyższych, marketing uczelni wyższych, usługi edukacyjne, segment

studentów zagranicznych, strategie marketingowe uczelni wyższych, indywidualizacja usług

edukacyjnych.

Key words

Internationalisation of higher education institutions, higher education marketing, educational services,

international students segment, marketing strategies of universities, personalised educational services.

Tomasz Domański is a Professor at the Faculty of International and Political Studies where he acts as

the Head of the Institute of International Marketing and Distribution. From 2008 until 2016 he was the

Dean of the Faculty and earlier, in the period 2002–2008 a Deputy Dean for Science and International

25

Cooperation. In the Faculty development strategy he always stressed internationalisation, which led to

the signing of almost one hundred cooperation agreements, vibrant student and staff mobility under

Erasmus Programme and deep diversification of the structure of international students community. In

2015 WSMiP provided educational services to students originating from over fifty countries. He also

successfully launched fully English-taught business specialty course of International Marketing at

bachelor, master and postgraduate levels, which raises a lot of interest among Polish and foreign

students. The share of international students at the first year of the course reaches almost 65% and is

unquestionably the highest at the University of Lodz. Prof. T. Domański favours interdisciplinary

teaching and research models. Since 1991 he also runs Polish-French Management Studies (equivalent

of MBA) delivered in close cooperation with the Institut d’Administration des Enterprises, University of

Lyon III that provide the graduates with the French Master diploma and Polish MBA-type diploma.

In his research work, Prof. T. Domański focuses on international retail chains strategies,

internationalisation strategies of higher education, marketing of institutions of culture and marketing of

cities. He has successfully supervised 12 PhDs in management studies.