How Universities Can Shape Global Identities

How Universities Can Shape Global Identities

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As universities move from being national institutions to international ones, they shift from managing national reputations to seeking international identities. Reputation management may not be at the forefront of many academics’ minds, but when professors go abroad and meet colleagues who have no idea what kind of institution they come from, their interest may pick up.

In an April seminar organized by The Chronicle of Higher Education in Bangkok, “Positioning Your University Globally in the Asian Century,” speakers discussed how universities can create international identities. Many countries want to build “world-class, top-ranked research universities.” But that phrase has become a cliche, as anyone who makes the rounds of international higher-education meetings knows. The reality is that only a few institutions can compete in that race. Universities are more apt to make the leap to global status with a select handful of programs.