A Home Away from Home?

We are at an important moment in thinking about international students in Australian and South African higher education and indeed for other higher education institutions in todays globalised world. The enhanced mobility of people includes students who more than ever before have the option to study abroad. Higher proportions of students are drawn from countries outside the home bases of universities, and tertiary institutions have become increasingly dependent for their financial viability on the revenues derived from these students. As a result, an activity that has historically been evaluated in terms of its contribution to the public good is now more likely to be assessed through the application of business and marketing principles. The character of the higher education experiences in many countries, including in South Africa and Australia, has also been dramatically changed by the increasing diversity and cosmopolitanism associated with the flow of students from a range of countries. This timely and distinctive collection of papers enhances understanding of the complex issues associated with international education in globalising times. Drawing on a range of social theories, the papers analyse key issues that have demanded the attention of research in this area, thereby helping the field to move forward. They provide detailed accounts of international education questioning the adequacy of many current higher education policies, including the Australian governments related current immigration policy. Many of the papers challenge the current emphasis on international education as a commodity rather than as a public good and propose alternate ways of framing the debates and formulating policies. The papers included in the volume come from a conference organised by the Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements in partnership with Monash South Africa, and held at Monash's Johannesburg campus 24-26 November 2010. The focus of the conference was international students in South Africa and Australia. A distinctive feature of the conference was the theme of racism in its many forms that has attracted much media attention, particularly in Australia. Leading scholars and public figures from South Africa and Australia participated. The collection brings together their important contributions to the study of international education in a single volume.