Faculty and Staff Perspectives: Internationalization Development in Chinese Private Universities
Lina Wei
Piyapong Sumettikoon
Globalization has significantly impacted higher education institutions worldwide, prompting a growing emphasis on the internationalization of higher education. Nevertheless, there needs to be more scholarly investigations specifically examining the experiences of faculty and staff at Chinese private universities about internationalization, especially understanding how internationalization enhances global competitiveness. This study evaluates the internationalization functions of private universities across various dimensions, including promoting professionalism, personal development, and international engagement, relying on the Internationalization Theory for its framework. The research adopted a survey research design to elicit responses from faculty and staff of 20 selected private universities across 16 regions in China using an online questionnaire. Data was collected from November 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024, and analyzed using the R language software package using descriptive statistics and hierarchical analysis methods. The results from 473 respondents were analyzed, showing positive ratings across all dimensions, with mean scores ranging from 4.570 to 4.800 out of 5. The skewness values suggest a favorable skew towards higher ratings, indicating a positive perception among respondents. Enhancing professionalism received the highest mean score and the slightest standard deviation, indicating strong endorsement and minimal variability among respondents. The findings highlight the significance of academic and humanities exchanges and international exchange programs in shaping the internationalization landscape of private universities, indicating areas for further improvement. Future research can employ qualitative methods to gain deeper insights and compare public and private universities’ staff experiences to find disparities and parallels.
Keywords:Globalization, Teachers, Internationalization, development, China, Private universities
