Internationalisation in the digital transformation: A scoping review

Abstract

Since March 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges to higher education internationalisation by disrupting long-standing practices, accelerating the adoption of digital technologies, and pushing universities further into the ‘digital turn’. Nevertheless, it remains unclear to what extent higher education institutions (HEIs) have systematically integrated digitalisation into their broader internationalisation strategies. Therefore, this scoping review aims to trace the evidence in the international scientific literature on the intersections between COVID-driven digitalisation and HEIs' internationalisation strategies. The focus lies on teaching and learning, cooperation, support structures, and leadership processes. We reviewed 45 studies from an initial selection of 648 sources retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science. Results showed that digitally supported internationalisation strategies are often associated with more cost-effective, inclusive and sustainable models. Despite ongoing calls for comprehensive approaches, the systematic adoption of virtual internationalisation strategies remains largely a normative subject.