The Meso-level Professionals Approaches to Internationalization of Higher Education at the MTU

According to Jane Knight, in internationalizing higher education, it is best to practice the dynamic activity approach and process approach to internationalization. Giving attention to one approach alone could contribute to a less focused approach and could potentially hinder the institutions from receiving the maximum benefits of internationalization. This study is part of a larger research that explores the approaches to the internationalization of higher education in the experiences of meso-level professionals of a Malaysia Technical University (MTU, a pseudonym). A qualitative case study methodology is adopted to gain adequate information from the internationalization key actors of the institution through an in-depth interview and was analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the major focus on internationalization from the perspective of meso-level professionals at MTU was viewed through a list of international activities which are the recruitment of international students, the execution of international programs, and the development of collaboration with international partners or organizations. This view represents the concept of the activity approach to internationalization per se. However, internationalization experts have long promoted the ideal practices of internationalization to be in a dynamic way between the activity approach and process approach. The result of this study offers the MTU valuable information on internationalization approaches to serve as a guideline in measuring the internationalization practices, strategies, and improvement of the institution.