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Germany’s international branch campuses: neoliberalising the Humboldtian university through the backdoor?

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  • Rottleb, Tim
  • Schulze, Marc Philipp
  • Kleibert, Jana Maria

Abstract

While comprehensive research exists on transnational strategies of universities from the Anglosphere, little is known about why institutions from less marketised higher education systems engage in transnational education provision abroad. Based on semistructured interviews with decision-makers, we investigate why German public universities have established international branch campuses, and explore the underlying rationales and the consequences for university governance. We contribute to interdisciplinary transnational higher education literature by conceptualising the wider socio-political implications and spatialities of arguably nonmarket-driven transnational education. By analysing German branch campus projects against the backdrop of Anglosphere branch development, we show that although neoliberalisation has been subtle in German higher education, decision-making processes in university leadership are nonetheless strongly pervaded by a neoliberal paradigm. We argue that German branch campuses both reflect the specific form of German higher education's neoliberalisation and further accelerate their parent institutions' neoliberal reconfigurations by exposing them to commercialised higher education landscapes abroad.

Suggested Citation

  • Rottleb, Tim & Schulze, Marc Philipp & Kleibert, Jana Maria, 2024. "Germany’s international branch campuses: neoliberalising the Humboldtian university through the backdoor?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest ar, pages 1-20.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:336262
    DOI: 10.1080/03057925.2024.2333517
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marc Philipp Schulze, 2021. "Of Bumping and Bending: Foreign Universities’ FDI Strategies in Malaysia," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 112(2), pages 179-194, April.
    2. Kleibert, Jana M. & Bobée, Alice & Rottleb, Tim & Schulze, Marc, 2020. "Global Geographies of Offshore Campuses," EconStor Research Reports 223315, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    3. Kleibert, Jana M. & Rottleb, Tim & Schulze, Marc & Bobée, Alice, 2021. "Strategy first: Ten questions to answer before starting an international campus," IRS Dialog 2/2021, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS).
    4. Jordi Paniagua & Cristina Villó & Maria Escrivà-Beltran, 2022. "Cross-Border Higher Education: The Expansion of International Branch Campuses," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(6), pages 1037-1057, September.
    5. Kleibert, Jana M. & Bobée, Alice & Rottleb, Tim & Schulze, Marc, 2021. "Transnational education zones: Towards an urban political economy of ‘education cities’," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 58(14), pages 2845-2862.
    6. Jana M Kleibert & Alice Bobée & Tim Rottleb & Marc Schulze, 2021. "Transnational education zones: Towards an urban political economy of ‘education cities’," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(14), pages 2845-2862, November.
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