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Internationalisation and academic mobility have long been integral parts, although serving different purposes in the higher education industry. Internationalisation has played a crucial role in facilitating academic exchange, knowledge sharing, research partnerships and collaborative innovation. However, the rise of neoliberalism has introduced the market forces of global capitalism that have significantly impacted higher education worldwide – invading the sector with neoliberal market values. This chapter aims to explore the impact of neoliberalism on the internationalisation of higher education in Africa, with a specific focus on trends in international student mobility. The chapter argues that the influence of neoliberalism on international mobility extends beyond market dynamics, encompassing discussions on hegemony within international knowledge systems, where African countries and institutions often find themselves marginalised. The study relies on published materials and publicly available statistical data from both governmental and non-governmental organisations. By examining the interplay between neoliberalism and the process of internationalisation in higher education, this chapter sheds light on the intricate and multifaceted aspects of both concepts, as well as their practical implications for international student mobility. Moreover, the chapter reflects on the implications of neoliberal entanglements for the prospects of internationalisation in African higher education.

Drawing from the literature on internationalization, higher education marketing and place branding, this paper aims to link the internationalization of higher education to country branding. It explores the impact of internationalization within the higher education system on Egypt’s destination brand equity. This investigation offers insights for decision-makers in both the higher education and country branding sectors.

This empirical paper adopts an exploratory approach and serves as an initial step for researchers. It utilizes a quantitative methodology, employing a survey with 366 responses, to examine the effects of internationalization efforts in higher education on country brand equity.

The results reveal a direct correlation between student engagement and the brand equity of international branch campuses (IBCs), as well as a link between IBCs and Egypt’s brand equity. Notably, the study highlights the mediating role of IBC brand equity in the relationship between student engagement and the overall brand equity of Egypt.

This paper is innovative in its method of assessing the impact of internationalization efforts in higher education, specifically at IBCs in Egypt, on Egypt’s destination brand equity. Additionally, the study identifies student engagement as an antecedent to IBC brand equity.

Proponents of micro-credentials envision them as vehicles for upskilling or re-skilling individuals. The study examines how integrating micro-credentials in the higher education ecosystem enhances employability. It aims to offer insights from the perspective of stakeholders who may benefit from these credentials at an institutional or individual level.

Online in-depth interviews are conducted with 65 participants from India, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom to explore how micro-credentials can be a valuable addition to the higher education ecosystem. A multi-stakeholder approach is adopted to collect data.

The analysis highlights two possible methods of integrating micro-credentials into the higher education ecosystem. First, micro-credentials-driven courses can be offered using a blended approach that provides a flexible learning path. Second, there is also the possibility of wide-scale integration of micro-credentials as an outcome of standalone online programs. However, the effectiveness of such programs is driven by enablers like student profiles, standardization and the dynamics of the labor market. Finally, the study stipulates that micro-credentials can enhance employability.

The study's findings suggest that, for successful integration of micro-credentials, an operational understanding of micro-credentials, their enablers and strategic deliberation are critical in higher education. Institutions must identify the determinants, address technological limitations and select a suitable delivery mode to accelerate integration. However, micro-credentials can augment employability, considering the increasing emphasis on lifelong learning. An overview of the findings is presented through a comprehensive framework.

The research goal is to summarize the insights from an investigation of the higher education institutes (HEIs) and university's educational services promotion strategy, which incorporates social media as a medium for keeping in touch with important people throughout time. The study centered on the impact of promotional efforts done by higher education Institutes (HEIs) on social media on students’ decisions for their selection of HEIs and universities as well as the study focus factors that influence the students' decisions. In the third quarter of 2022, based on a carefully chosen sample, researchers used an internet questionnaire to conduct an empirical study. The assessment of the outcomes focused on identifying the significant aspects and their significance in the marketing endeavours conducted on social media platforms, which serve as predictors of student decision-making. Three important predictors Social Media Engagement, Content Contribution, and Stakeholders Review were identified and their significant impact on social media marketing by HEI are hypothesized and tested. All the study variables confirm the existence of a significant relationship with the dependent variable. The study concluded that these factors were identified as significant influences on the choice of study and higher education institution. Gaining new followers, prominence content display and stakeholders' feedback builds long-lasting linkages with the immediate environment. As a foundation for creating successful social media marketing strategies for higher education institutions, this research is useful for marketers since it elucidates the dynamics of the market and the habits of potential pupils.

How do informal lending institutions affect entrepreneurship? This paper aims to investigates the role of formal and informal credit market institutions in the decision to become an entrepreneur over the life cycle.

The author developed a dynamic Roy model in which a decision to become an entrepreneur depends on the access to formal and informal credit markets, nonpecuniary benefits of entrepreneurship, career-specific entry costs, prior work experience, education, unobserved abilities and other labor market opportunities (salaried employment and nonemployment). Using detailed Russian panel microdata (the Russia longitudinal monitoring survey) and estimating a structural model of labor market decisions and borrowing options, the author assesses the impact of the development of informal and formal credit institutions.

The expansion of traditional (formal) credit market institutions positively impacts all workers’ categories, reduces the share of entrepreneurs who borrow from informal sources and incentivizes low-type entrepreneurs to switch to salaried employment. The development of the informal credit market reduces the percentage of high-type entrepreneurs who borrow from formal sources. In the case of default, a higher value of the social network or higher costs of losing social ties demotivate low-type entrepreneurs to borrow from informal sources. The author highlights the practical implications of estimates by evaluating policies designed to promote entrepreneurship, such as subsidies and accessibility regulations in credit market institutions.

This study contributes to the literature in several ways. Unlike other studies that focus on individual characteristics in the selection for self-employment [Humphries (2017), Hincapíe (2020), Gendron-Carrier (2021), Dillon and Stanton (2017)], the paper models labor and borrowing decisions jointly. Previous studies discuss transitions between salaried employment and self-employment, taking into account entrepreneurial earnings, wealth, education and age, but do not consider the availability of financial institutions as a driving factor for the selection into self-employment. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper shows for the first time that the transition from salaried employment to self-employment is standard and consistent with changes in access to financial institutions. Another feature of this study is incorporating both types of credit markets – formal and informal. The survey by the European Central Bank on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (2018) shows 18% of small and medium enterprise in EU pointed funds from family or friends. Therefore, the exclusion from consideration of informal credit markets may distort the understanding of the role of the accessibility of credit markets.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a key role in facilitating increases in socio-economic growth and economic development. Sustainable development goal 4 (SDG 4): quality education is dedicated to ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities. This study aims to gain leadership perspectives on the extent to which South African HEIs are meeting SDG 4 and deliver insights into whether significant variances in progress exist between public and private institutions.

Integrating the sustainable development frameworks of the United Nations and times higher education impact rankings in a positivist research design, this study surveyed 16 leaders from public South African HEIs and 59 from private South African HEIs using an online survey platform.

Responses indicate underperformance across institutions concerning the following: the prioritisation of SDG 4 at the highest levels of management, the effective inculcation of this agenda across the entire institution, alignment between SDG 4 strategies and staff expectations and education for sustainable development and global citizenship. Public HEIs have progressed towards the realisation of SDG 4 in aspects such as access to scholarships, inclusion of first-generation students and contributions through research output.

This study contributes to the limited literature on leaders’ perceptions of progress towards SDG 4 among HEIs in developing economies.

This study investigates the distribution, integration and practices of university accelerators in higher education institutions of a developing country. Next, this study proposes a pedagogic mode that combines theoretical and experiential learning to enhance higher education institutions’ ability to co-create and deliver an entrepreneurial learning environment for its students, graduates, and academic staff.

This study applied a multi-methods design. The quantitative design collected secondary data of entrepreneurship education programmes and university accelerators by browsing websites of 39 Malaysian higher education institutions in June 2023. The qualitative design collected primary data in the form of narratives of practices of university accelerators and secondary data in the form of descriptions of practices of university accelerators from selected exemplar entrepreneurial universities.

Twenty-five higher education institutions, consisting of 15 public higher education institutions and 10 private higher education institutions, have some form of university accelerator initiatives. However, there is a lack of evidence to suggest integration of entrepreneurship education programmes and university accelerators in Malaysian higher education institutions, with the exception of a few higher education institutions. Lastly, this study found heterogeneity in the characteristics and outcomes of different university accelerators in Malaysian higher education institutions.

This study is exploratory and subjected to the availability and accuracy of published information on the websites and in the reports of Malaysian higher education institutions surveyed.

This study contextualises university accelerators in a developing country where this type of research is scarce and contributes to the body of knowledge by replicating prior empirical analyses.

In the 21st century, placing higher education institutions in the global world has become the norm. Therefore, many higher education institutions in Ghana and across the globe have set out to internationalise or become world-class universities as part of their strategic ambitions. Thus, finding ways to become visible on a global scale and transcend beyond the countries in which they operate has become of major interest to most universities. The authors of this chapter were curious to determine how universities adopt imported organisational templates as a strategic ambition. One should not assume that the semblance of such imported concepts is mere institutional isomorphism stemming from internationalisation and globalisation. The study employed semi-structured interviews and institutional documents as data collection tools among ten (10) university actors in a flagship university in Ghana. The study used postcolonial theory to critically examine the drivers and current practices embedded in dominant hegemonic global discourses, such as internationalisation. The findings revealed that the drivers and reforms underpinning university internationalisation ambition are framed within economic rationalities, producing human capital, self-marketisation to promote visibility, and a quest for global competition couched within global neoliberal ideology. The study recommends the need for university actors to (re)focus and (re)evaluate university internationalisation discourse to ensure a balance between local relevance and global forces.

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight how universities got into the predicament in which they currently find themselves in, or somewhat planned to be in, in the 2020s. The historical account outlines the purpose of higher education and who it was for throughout the last few centuries, before a more in-depth analysis of the last few decades will highlight how, and why, neoliberal and subsequently managerial aspects of leadership and performance metrics crept into universities before an analysis of the last 5–10 years, including the onset and consequences of COVID, will demonstrate that many ‘COVID recovery plans’ around staff cuts and course reforms were already in place before COVID, but it was COVID that allowed these plans in most cases to be escalated.

The UK government has taken the lead in accelerating the capacity of higher education to engage with sustainability accounting and adopting a novel systematic approach toward a collective implementation of and contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN SDG 16 “Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions” promotes the (re)building of effective and accountable institutions. In line with the institutional logics metatheory, we provide empirical evidence on how the alignment between social mechanisms alongside the reputation of higher education institutions (HEIs) and SDGs on transparent and responsible service (SDG 16) affect the students' overall experience. Using a sample of 142 UK HEIs, interpretative content analysis and ordinary least squares, the results show that integrating HEIs' responsible-oriented research agenda proactively with high sustainability reputation adds significantly to greater student satisfaction.