Robert Coelen: Internationalisation in the Netherlands

The movement of people across borders for education has been steadily increasing as a result of globalisation. According to the Dutch Organization for Internationalisation in Education (Nuffic), more than 4.5 million degree students studied abroad in 2016, mainly in English-speaking countries. About 90,000 of them chose the Netherlands as their destination. Over the past years, the number of international students in the Netherlands has been growing continuously. In the academic year 2018-2019, the RUG had around 7,000 international students, making up around 22% of the student population. The Hanze University of Applied Science and NHL Stenden host more than 2,000 students from abroad.

The ongoing influx of international students has led to structural changes at Dutch Universities, but has also sparked a heated debate around the costs and benefits of increased internationalisation. From the increased amount of programmes offered in English and an increased focus on international and intercultural competences, to housing problems and a discussion about the main language at Dutch universities, the extend of internationalisation remains disputed.

So how should we go from here? What are possible solutions aiming to compromise the opposing positions?  

Trying to find an answer to these questions, we will be joined by Dr Robert Coelen. He is Professor of Internationalisation of Higher Education at NHL Stenden University in the Netherlands, Director of the Centre for Internationalisation of Education at the University of Groningen, and Visiting Professor at Research Institute of Higher Education,  Tongji University, China. Prior to this appointment, he was Vice-President International at Leiden University, and senior executive on internationalisation at The University of Queensland and James Cook University in Australia. He has worked for about 25 years in the field of international education after a successful Australian career in Molecular Virology.

After the lecture, there will be ample room for debate during the Q&A session.

The event is organised in collaboration with the Groninger Studentenbond and City Central. It is free and open to everybody.