Challenges for research in higher education: the case of internationalization between the explanandum and the explanans

Abstract A key issue in higher education research is that its nature is shaped by the contexts within which it is produced, in response to agendas that reflect more policy coordination demands than disciplinary concerns. The research problematiques are construed mostly out of the theoretical framewo...

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Main Authors: Amélia Veiga, António Magalhães
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul 2020-08-01
Series:Sociologias
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1517-45222020000200046&tlng=en
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author Amélia Veiga
António Magalhães
author_facet Amélia Veiga
António Magalhães
author_sort Amélia Veiga
collection DOAJ
description Abstract A key issue in higher education research is that its nature is shaped by the contexts within which it is produced, in response to agendas that reflect more policy coordination demands than disciplinary concerns. The research problematiques are construed mostly out of the theoretical framework of the disciplines, which, in turn, are diluted within an applied research mode. Internationalisation, quality, and access, for instance, tend to be explored from an implementation and managerial perspective. We convene the criticisms of methodological “isms” to highlight how they shape our conceptualisations and understanding of the transformations in higher education. Under this stance, conceptual narratives on internationalisation of higher education prompted by the Brexit momentum are identified in the study Higher education and Brexit: current European perspectives to bring forward the extent to which internationalisation as a conceptual narrative acts as an explanation of the strategies to address the topic, and what is needed to be itself explained. The paper identifies discursive elements stemming from conceptual narratives convened to approach internationalisation in higher education research, and how they reflect the reification of the state and higher education. By focusing on the Brexit momentum that brought to the front stage the centrality of the nation-states and their competition/cooperation relationship, this paper contributes to call attention to the epistemological and methodological implications of isms.
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spelling doaj.art-ebb4542ccc23470490885dd03e3e07a12022-12-22T04:13:19ZspaUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulSociologias1807-03372020-08-012254466310.1590/15174522-97866Challenges for research in higher education: the case of internationalization between the explanandum and the explanansAmélia Veigahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5220-4019António Magalhãeshttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2979-2358Abstract A key issue in higher education research is that its nature is shaped by the contexts within which it is produced, in response to agendas that reflect more policy coordination demands than disciplinary concerns. The research problematiques are construed mostly out of the theoretical framework of the disciplines, which, in turn, are diluted within an applied research mode. Internationalisation, quality, and access, for instance, tend to be explored from an implementation and managerial perspective. We convene the criticisms of methodological “isms” to highlight how they shape our conceptualisations and understanding of the transformations in higher education. Under this stance, conceptual narratives on internationalisation of higher education prompted by the Brexit momentum are identified in the study Higher education and Brexit: current European perspectives to bring forward the extent to which internationalisation as a conceptual narrative acts as an explanation of the strategies to address the topic, and what is needed to be itself explained. The paper identifies discursive elements stemming from conceptual narratives convened to approach internationalisation in higher education research, and how they reflect the reification of the state and higher education. By focusing on the Brexit momentum that brought to the front stage the centrality of the nation-states and their competition/cooperation relationship, this paper contributes to call attention to the epistemological and methodological implications of isms.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1517-45222020000200046&tlng=enhigher education researchthe narrative approachmethodological ismsinternationalisation
spellingShingle Amélia Veiga
António Magalhães
Challenges for research in higher education: the case of internationalization between the explanandum and the explanans
Sociologias
higher education research
the narrative approach
methodological isms
internationalisation
title Challenges for research in higher education: the case of internationalization between the explanandum and the explanans
title_full Challenges for research in higher education: the case of internationalization between the explanandum and the explanans
title_fullStr Challenges for research in higher education: the case of internationalization between the explanandum and the explanans
title_full_unstemmed Challenges for research in higher education: the case of internationalization between the explanandum and the explanans
title_short Challenges for research in higher education: the case of internationalization between the explanandum and the explanans
title_sort challenges for research in higher education the case of internationalization between the explanandum and the explanans
topic higher education research
the narrative approach
methodological isms
internationalisation
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1517-45222020000200046&tlng=en
work_keys_str_mv AT ameliaveiga challengesforresearchinhighereducationthecaseofinternationalizationbetweentheexplanandumandtheexplanans
AT antoniomagalhaes challengesforresearchinhighereducationthecaseofinternationalizationbetweentheexplanandumandtheexplanans