The OECD states that Internationalization today is important for “student mobility, internationalization research collaboration and education as an export industry”. I have not thought of internationalization in Higher Ed as a commodity that can be exported and imported, but in reality, it is. For student mobility, the intake of foreign students is good for growth of that institution where as the export of foreign students is good for over populated countries who cannot keep up with the demand, such as China. For students, the question is “Where to go to study”? For the government the question is, “Where do we need to have a presence and who can we benefit from”, and for the universities the question is, ”How do we increase revenue, expand internationalization and at the same time, increase diversity”? It is a win-win for all when this is achieved.
Dobbins, et al refers to Higher Ed as being “marketized” and states that “universities function more effectively when operating as economic enterprises within and for regional or global markets” and defines marketization as “policies that are aimed at strengthening student choice and liberalizing markets in order to increase quality and variety of services offered”. If universities are going to be marketized by government policies, how do we ensure quality and which government decides the policy? Is it the home country or the visiting country? And who are the staff? Are they imported and exported as well? Will exported staff achieve the goal of internationalizing our students? Will local staff be able to understand the way the U.S. higher Ed system works?
Cultural differences is one the benefits of internationalization to achieve global awareness. Global awareness is very important today for employers and for students. The lack of global awareness can cause unnecessary situations. I work in a career center with many international students at the graduate level. We were having the discussion of reneging on a job offer and how your reputation is at stake when you do so. The Chinese student who reneged did not understand this because in China if you renege, you pay a fine and move on.

Marketization also seems to follow the trends of today and has changed Higher Ed in many ways. It is suggested in the readings that we follow trends but incorporate them into an already rich historic foundation to make Higher Ed even better today. One way this can be achieved is by being able to reach more students in areas that would not have Higher Ed if it wasn’t for internationalization and Marketization of importing and exporting this rich commodity called education.