• collaboration, in the sense that a common target could be reached only by
collaboration of both individuals. Collaboration between researchers could
be working on a common project or writing an academic article. Similarly,
students could collaborate on group projects or research papers.
The answer to the question asked earlier about the value of internationalization for
universities is that internationalization could and should be an important stimulant
for the learning and reflection process of students and researchers. Because the
central function of universities is to educate critical thinkers, internationalization
could be a major strategy in fulfilling this task. However, learning, which includes
reflection about learned theories, models and personal behavior etc., is a very indi-
vidual and complex process. Definitely there is no clear input-output relationship.
One cannot assume that putting more emphasis on internationalization of a uni-
versity as an input will automatically result in an output of better educated gradu-
ates. If the general learning environment of a university is not favorable for stimu-
lating a reflection process of students and researchers, the benefit of international-
ization may be limited. Vice versa, if the university provides a favorable learning
environment, then internationalization becomes a key strategy for stimulating the
reflection process of students and researchers.
3. Definition of university internationalization
The most commonly used definition of the term “internationalization” in literature
is that of Knight (1994) as cited in Knight (1995:16):
“Internationalization of higher education is the process of integrating an interna-
tional/intercultural dimension into the teaching, research and service functions of
the institution”
This definition contains several key elements which matches perfectly with the
previously described concept of the value of internationalization:
• Process, meaning that it is dynamic and not stable. The environment
changes constantly, as does the university which is part of this dynamic
environment.
• Process means also that there is no isolated measure to introduce interna-
tionalization. This requires a set of measures of change. Internationaliza-
tion is a program which includes a set of measures which capture all as-