into account the attractiveness of a foreign partner’s location or the reputation of
the partner university. Sometimes the university’s reputation and the assessment of
students’ learning conditions fall apart. The contacts with foreign partners which
provide a favorable learning environment should be intensified by extending the
student exchange program to include lecturer exchange. Expanding on these no-
tions could allow universities to establish joint degree programs or common re-
search and teaching projects.
6. Conclusion
The past decade is characterized by increasing economization of university educa-
tion worldwide. Universities are managed like companies and lectures, students
and administration therefore are controlled and monitored like parts of business
processes. Following this economic model, the standardization of processes con-
verts learning into homogenous and tradable products which could be easily
measured, sold, compared and exchanged in educational markets. “The dominant
maxim of the science industry seems to be: what matters is measured, which im-
plies the reverse: What cannot be measured does not matter (Prange, p. 501)”.
This maxim is applied to every field of higher education and so as well to universi-
ty internationalization. However it is time to remember the original mission of a
university: the edification (Bildung) of individuals. Bildung of individuals is a
unique value by itself which can’t be converted into cash terms and does not fit
into the world of accountancies, ratios, balance sheets, benchmarking, rankings
and accreditation. Embedded in an institutional concept of learning internationali-
zation could contribute significantly towards the individual’s process of edification.
But internationalization should be never seen as an end in itself or as a means to
fulfilling the interests of the institution “university”. The focus should be always
the individual and its process of Bildung.
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