Provocation: We All Need to Be Global Leaders for a Better Future

One aspect of American higher education that rarely changes is our penchant for inwardness. All systems of higher education across the globe largely have an international perspective. Thomas Friedman’s predictions that globalization would prevail somehow just did not take in our higher education system. And, given the need for fresh ideas on some key challenges, more borrowing and exploration of international policy might prove beneficial. Take the challenge of valuing teaching, for instance: other countries have managed to solve this issue. Or the challenge of scaled transfer across institutions: many countries have aligned systems. Clif Adelman has written several articles over the years on how the United States can learn from the Bologna Process in Europe, including about the way they handled transfer of credits across the system. Another challenge is the soaring costs of higher education that other countries have managed and contained while maintaining quality. There are dozens of issues that seem intractable in the United States that have been tackled abroad. The pandemic certainly has been a lesson on the absolutely essential connection of international issues to U.S. interests and the ways that international cooperation can solve critical issues.

Change has a very long history of featuring articles about international issues of interest, but these articles have tended to have less readership than other articles. Change magazine has always pushed the boundaries to bring the content leaders should read—not just the content leaders think they want to read—and we will continue to play this role in higher education.

It is with a recognition of this ongoing challenge that Change kicks off its first regular feature on internationalization/globalization, with a new column by consulting editor Gerardo Blanco. Gerardo Blanco is associate professor of higher education and academic director of the Center for International Higher Education (CIHE) at Boston College. He follows Phil Altbach, a long-time editorial board member and regular contributor to Change, in his role at CIHE. Dr. Blanco’s contributions will help readers expand their knowledge of international trends, understand opportunities for borrowing key policies, and discover new ways to internationalize our system of higher education. Additionally, our Books Worth Reading column, under Peter Felten’s leadership, will now feature international books and be coauthored with international scholars.

Since taking over as editor, I have worked to seek out international scholars to write articles, international editorial board members, and U.S. scholars who understand international/global higher education issues. I have been excited to publish articles on Chinese higher education postpandemic, trends in study abroad programs, changes and trends in U.S.–international partnerships, and stories that stress the importance of mutual partnerships with countries that often possess less power and resources than U.S. campuses. Hans de Witt and Phil Altbach’s (2023) article—“International Higher Education for the Future”—made a persuasive case for why campuses across the globe need to partner to solve the social, political, economic, and health challenges we face, and they demonstrated how the pandemic was a helpful example of international cooperation. This article received a much stronger readership than past articles on internationalization, which I hope signals the beginning of a new era, when higher education leaders recognize the need to look beyond their local, regional, and even national borders, incorporating more international perspectives to guide policy and practice.

Further, I hope to challenge higher education leaders to position themselves as global higher education leaders no matter what their role. I find inspiration for this stance in the work of my late colleague Rob Rhoads. His book—Global Citizenship and the University: Advancing Social Life and Relation—pointed out the ways that we do a disservice to students if we do not help them become global citizens. The nationalist views supported by universities have enabled climate change, war, violence, abuse, public health dilemmas, and poverty. Rhoads argues that campuses in the United States and abroad need to take more global views and to ensure students leave with a broader view of their ethical and professional obligations that can help create a better world in the future.

How might we all think about how our role on campuses supports the creation of global citizens who will create a better future? That is a leadership role that sees beyond day-to-day management to leading for a sustainable and thriving future. I hope that you can make this question part of your daily mantra: How will I contribute to creating global citizens? The stakes are high, and you can make your mark for a better future.

—Adrianna Kezar