Purpose

This paper aim to argue for Cambodia to take internationalization of higher education seriously and strategically to position it for higher education development, and this starts with enhancing its buy-in among the key stakeholders, fine-tuning its conceptualization and contextualization and a government-funded comprehensive policy and investment program.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper explores policies and practices of internationalization in Cambodia, using Knight's (2004, 2007) conceptualization of internationalization and Wan's (2018) list of six dimensions, by which the authors track and measure internationalization.

Findings

Systematic policy implementation to position internationalization to achieve national and institutional goals is little. Given utilitarianism of internationalization, policy statement has geared more toward employing internationalization to achieve institutional building, in order of significance: mobility, research collaboration, policy formulation and quality control, and much less on networking and aligning with international instruments. Subtle differences among the four universities under investigation exist. While all focus on student and faculty mobility and exchange, some aim at research collaboration and networks; some at indigenous “international” and language programs, and some at joint degree programs. But, internationalization is not a key priority nor is it strategically positioned to achieve institutional aspirations.

Practical implications

Without comprehensive, strategic policy guidance and implementation from the government, internationalization has taken its own course, and such is not healthy for higher education development.

Originality/value

There are few studies on internationalization in Cambodia. Clayton and Yuok (1997), Clayton (2002) and Pit and Ford (2004) examine politics or its politicization and higher education development after the end of the Eastern Bloc's support (Tek and Leng, 2017). Recent studies (Leng, 2015; Leng, 2016; Yun, 2014) underline institutional case studies to illustrate status, issues and challenges in internationalization. This article attempts to provide an overarching map of internationalization to inform policies and practices toward higher education and national development.

中文翻译：

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柬埔寨高等教育国际化：迈向高等教育发展议程

目的

本文旨在主张柬埔寨认真和战略性地对待高等教育的国际化，以将其定位为高等教育发展，这首先是加强其在主要利益相关者中的认同，微调其概念化和背景化以及政府资助的全面的政策和投资计划。

设计/方法/方法

本文探讨了柬埔寨的国际化政策和实践，使用 Knight (2004, 2007) 的国际化概念和 Wan (2018) 的六个维度列表，作者据此跟踪和衡量国际化。

发现

将国际化定位以实现国家和机构目标的系统性政策实施很少。鉴于国际化的功利主义，政策声明更倾向于采用国际化来实现制度建设，按重要性顺序排列：流动性、研究合作、政策制定和质量控制，而不是网络化和与国际文书的接轨。被调查的四所大学之间存在细微的差异。虽然都专注于学生和教师的流动和交流，但有些旨在研究合作和网络；有些在土著“国际”和语言课程中，有些在联合学位课程中。但是，国际化不是关键优先事项，也不是实现制度愿望的战略定位。

实际影响

如果没有政府全面的、战略性的政策引导和实施，国际化就走自己的路，这对高等教育的发展是不利的。

原创性/价值

关于柬埔寨国际化的研究很少。Clayton 和 Yuok (1997)、Clayton (2002) 以及 Pit 和 Ford (2004) 研究了东欧集团支持结束后的政治或其政治化和高等教育发展 (Tek and Leng, 2017)。最近的研究（Leng，2015；Leng，2016；Yun，2014）强调制度案例研究，以说明国际化的现状、问题和挑战。本文试图提供一张国际化的总体地图，为高等教育和国家发展的政策和实践提供信息。