Higher Education Internationalization And Institutional Quality Of Saudi Colleges And Universities In Light Of The Saudi Vision 2030 Of Educational Improvement
Abstract
This dissertation examined the higher education internationalization and institutional quality of Saudi colleges and universities in light of the Saudi Vision 2030 of educational improvement. The aim of the study is to investigate the extent to which Saudi colleges and universities implement higher education internationalization and institutional quality in light of the Saudi Vision 2030. Three tools were used in this dissertation. First, The American Council on Education index was used to measure higher education internationalization practices at Saudi colleges and universities. Second, the researcher developed a new tool to explore the faculty perception of internationalization practices in their universities. Finally, the third tool was to collect statistical information about Saudi colleges and universities' performance in the years 2015 and 2020. The instruments used in this study were validated using the face validity of the instruments and Cronbach's Alphas to assess the internal consistency of each questionnaire.
The findings of the study showed that the overall result of higher education internationalization at Saudi colleges and universities in the year 2020 was at an average level. The American Council on Education index revealed that Saudi colleges and universities had a moderate level of internationalization implementation practices. The faculty perceptions tool indicated that faculty members see their universities applying higher education internationalization at an average level. The implementation of higher education internationalization is not affected by the university's location, university type, or Faculty-student ratio. For institutional quality: English Proficiency, faculty H-index, and university Ranking were not affected by the university's location, university type, or Faculty-student ratio.
Academic offerings, external funding, international students and study programs, student engagement, and faculty engagement were all statistically significant in predicting English proficiency scores in 2020 across Saudi colleges and universities. External funding and organizational resources were statistically significant in predicting faculty H-index scores in 2020 across Saudi colleges and universities. Articulate commitment, academic offerings, organizational infrastructure, international students and study programs, student engagement, faculty engagement, and organizational resources were all statistically significant in predicting university Ranking scores in 2020 across Saudi colleges and universities. The overall results of Saudi colleges and universities' institutional performance showed a positive increase in students' English language proficiency, Faculty H- index, and colleges and universities ranking. Finally, Saudi colleges and universities demonstrated a notable response to the Saudi Vision 2030 endeavors.
The study recommends allocating independent departments for internationalization practices in Saudi universities and developing clear plans, programs, and mechanisms in understanding the connection between internationalization and institutional quality of Saudi higher education in terms of the Saudi Vision 2030 Educational Improvement Program.
Description
Keywords
Higher Education Internationalization Institutional Performance, Institutional Performance