Impacts of Study Abroad on Higher Education Development : Examining the Experiences of Faculty at Leading Universities in Southeast Asia

Abstract

This open-access book is an exceptional contribution to the burgeoning fields of higher education development and higher education internationalization as it empirically examines the impact of the study abroad experiences of faculty members on individual and institutional development. The research and its outcomes presented here utilize results from a large-scale survey and interviews of faculty at ten leading universities in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The analyses show that the study abroad experiences of faculty members impact not only improvements in research quality and development of educational programs but also serve as the foundation for international activities at the university, crucially important in today’s higher education landscape. On the other hand, the research reveals the rapid development of higher education at the local and regional levels including the development of graduate programs for faculty training in the home country leading to increasing rates of study abroad within Southeast Asia. Through the analyses presented, this book offers a new understanding of higher education development and internationalization in Southeast Asia by examining the impact of study abroad on the academic profession, higher education institutions and the higher education sector.