The Internationalization of Singapore Universities in a Globalised Economy - A Documentary Analysis

This study traces the internationalization of Singapore universities from a historical and developmental perspective. The main Research Question is: “Why and how have Singapore universities internationalized since the beginning of nationhood in the early 1960’s to the globalized economy of today?” It seeks an in-depth understanding of (a) the meanings of internationalization, (b) the rationales for it; and (c) the approaches to it - from the Singapore government’s and universities’ perspectives. The study is located within the interpretative paradigm with a qualitative research approach using documentary analysis as the sole data collection method. The focus is on the three publicly-funded universities, namely NUS, NTU and SMU in Singapore. Being publicly-funded, the rationales for internationalising and the strategies used are more likely to be influenced by governmental policies and direction. Relevant sources examined include published government and university documents available from university libraries, web-sites and government archival records. Among the key findings are - that the internationalization of Singapore universities is inevitable given 21st century globalization and knowledge-based economies; and the government’s tight instrumental interdependence between education and economic development. The term ‘internationalization’ of universities is interpreted as ‘going global’ by the government; and ‘to be a global university’ by the three case universities. Singapore‘s universities are used as key ‘instruments’ to foster and attract talent, both local and foreign – to overcome a scarcity of skilled labour. Hence, the ‘internationalization’ of Singapore universities aims to – produce ‘world ready’ graduates, enhance ‘global competitiveness’, and talent augmentation (attracting foreign talent). Some of the Internationalization strategies adopted by the government and universities are unique. Two analytical models of internationalization of universities are developed from the study as its theoretical contribution.