A Dark Side ofInternationalization

• The importance of internationalization for Sweden has for a long time been hot on the political agenda. The academic field is part of a strong support of internationalization ambitions. But there are degenerate species of internationalization to keep a sharp eye on. One we have in mind concerns how applicants for academic positions are evaluated.Part of this internationalization is that publications in international journals (mostly American or British) are expected to be the prime criteria in evaluation for academic positions. Evaluations also seem to be transformed into a mathematical exercise where content in fact does not count, but only the numbers of publications and the rankings of the journals. A similar trend is the demand for international evaluators of all parts of our national system which is research programs, applications for financial resources for research programs, projects and positions. International is also when it comes to these matters almost equated with experts from the US orwestern Europe even though the academic landscape is transformed worldwide.We question this trend: Is quality promoted in this way? Scandinavian/Nordic systems have qualities that are worth protecting. We will elaborate on our standpoints and give some examples from our own experiences as evaluators and experts.We will also argue that the methods used by many international colleagues could be seen as part of a devaluation of the professional academic system. Unfortunately, we expect the methods used to be the standard in the years to come.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business (hsv//eng)

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)