Internationalization is about 'harmonization of academic curricula, sharing quality systems across the globe, building environment-friendly policies, designing joint curricula, learning from each other how to overcome gender issues, forming university alliances in order to mobilize and speed up the production of new knowledge, but above all, it facilitates transcultural communication' says Prof Jaroslav Miller, Rector of Palacký University Olomouc, and winner of the 2019 Award for Excellence in Internationalization from the European Association of International Educators (E Janebová, personal communication, April 14, 2020) In order to perform multiple roles and lead internationalization of universities, international educators need to have a background in international education, be actively involved in expert communities of international educators, and most of all, to back up their performance with research The Czech higher education sector urgently needs to prioritize and invest in internationalization research and international education Moving from 'mobility' to comprehensive internationalization Internationalization is often wrongly assessed simply in terms of numbers: of incoming and outgoing mobilities, international student recruitment, and international publications According to the latest EAIE Barometer Study (EAIE, 2019) for internationalization to be successful the processes need to be at the core of the university's mission and encompass a wide range of activities
Internationalizing education