International Trade of Higher Education and Universities, Performance: An Impact Oriented Study

Abstract

The core aim of study was to examine the impact of international trade of higher education on universities’ performance. Nature of the study was descriptive, thus data was assembled via survey and interview. The population of the study was comprised on all BS, MS, Ph.D. students, their faculty and administration of all general public universities of Punjab which were ranked in 2015 by Higher Education Commission (HEC). For sample size, purposive sampling and multi-phase strategy were applied. Data was collected by means of two research tools. For quantitative data, questionnaire was designed on six factors i.e. Leadership role, Quality Teaching, Research, University Ranking, Community Perception and International Trade of Higher Education. The collected quantitative data was analyzed through SPSS-20 and open ended question was analyzed via using MS Excel Sheet. Statistical analysis and graphical representation of data was measured via means, frequency, percentage, cross tabulation, Cronbach Alpha, independent sample t-test, one way ANOVA, Correlation, column, pie and bar charts. For qualitative data collection, semi structured interview questions were generated which contained on eight themes such as significance of Indigenous Qualified Teachers (IQT) and Foreign Qualified Teacher (FQT) in university performance, brain drain and human capital, internationalization and research culture, knowledge driven economy and revenue of the country, global citizens, social integration, role of HEC and mobility of students and teachers. Interview was analyzed via thematic analysis and displayed by bar charts. The results show that all respondents acknowledged the impact of international trade of higher education on universities’ performance. Findings, with the accordance of the triangulation result, illustrated that both qualitative and quantitative respondents suggested that academia should work in physical sense instead of paper work. The study recommended further researches in the field of cross border mobility and its role in university, society and country development. Key Words: International Trade of Higher Education, Teachers/students’ mobility, General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), Leadership, University Ranking, Teaching and Research Quality