Congress 2021 blog edition
How has COVID-19 opened opportunities for equality and justice in internationalized education? What risks do internationalizing university communities face in the year ahead? These were the two guiding questions of an interactive panel discussion that examined the privilege that exists in internationalized higher education.
Revealing problems and privilege, at home and abroad
As Dr. Christina W. Yao poignantly explained, “the pandemic was a new circumstance that highlighted many issues that weren’t really new at all.” Indeed, deeply ingrained social and political issues of Black and Asian racism, discriminatory immigration policy, and increasing revenue and enrolment pressures on universities have come to the forefront, with us watching, hoping, to see them finally be addressed.
Dr. Crain Soudier noted that in March, when the pandemic became truly globalized “institutions were confronted with the question of survival.” Now, “our universal vulnerability requires us to be utterly radical; globalization forces us to confront privilege.”
He says “so far our strategies are falling short. We need to address local problems and situate them in the global context.” The problems of COVID-19 show us our problems are cross-border and international so require those types of solutions.
Dr. Thashika Pillay raised the question of why only now universities are asking their faculty and staff to be mindful of their student’s and colleague’s mental health in this time of crisis. She pointed out that across the world, international students and staff have had to witness and experience crises happening in their own countries--wars, ecological disasters, humanitarian crimes--before the pandemic and now in addition to it.
Limited EDI policy
Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies in higher education tend to be framed in a national and domestic context, but this excludes international students, staff and faculty intensely impacted by injustice. Institutions need to use a global lens when thinking about how they will commit to these principles if they are to keep internationalizing.
Dr. Yao noted “we keep EDI separate, but we connect it when it’s convenient. She used the example of how American universities will aggregate domestic and international students in diversity counts to meet EDI goals like having “X number of POC students on campus.”
Commitments to challenge privilege
If institutions are truly committed to EDI and solidarity during crises, then discussions about these topics should not exclude marginalized and international students and faculty who are disproportionately impacted by injustice.
Dr. Pillay brought up the harrowing concept of “epistemicide,” or the devaluing and silencing of alternative knowledge systems. She explained for universities of the global north to decolonize and break down privileged education hierarchies, there must be policies that acknowledge and enable different forms of knowledge from marginalized groups to coexist with currently dominating structures.
And on how we teach--we must continue to push for alternatives: “Remember the creative and innovative responses the world came up with [during the pandemic] moving forward,” urged Dr. Soudier.
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Dr. Christina W. Yao of the University of South Carolina, Dr. Thashika Pillay of Queen’s University and Dr. Crain Soudier, Chief Executive Officer of the Human Sciences Research Council presented “Confronting Privilege in Internationalization of Higher Education During Covid-19: What Have We Learned?” as part of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education and Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education conferences at Congress 2021.