At the start of last year, 2021, ACA prioritised learning more about and supporting inclusion in international higher education in the context of Europe. We decided to publish our insights along the way with the help of experts in the area of inclusion through a  ACA Think Piece series, Inclusion in International Higher Education: European Perspectives & Insights.  With this article, we are closing this series while preparing for the next one on the topic of digitalisation

In January’s piece, Inclusive Internationalisation: An invitation to ask honest, perhaps uncomfortable questions instead of ticking ‘diversity’ boxes, authors Eva Janebová, Christopher Johnstone and Christopher Medalis, suggest an action-oriented approach to disrupt the norm in inclusive internationalisation. They advocate doing this through a number of ways that challenge and question existing structures and practices, including, in particular, reflecting on who is included in internationalisation policies and practices and to question which stakeholders have access to which resources. 

This piece draws attention to the importance of inclusive internationalisation beyond the student experience to consider teaching and learning environments and the broader academic environment, including academics and non-academics alike. The authors remind us that inclusive internationalisation does not have an endpoint, but should be approached cyclically with regular reflection and consideration of both structures and attitudes at play. The authors end the piece by questioning excellence’s exclusive nature within internationalisation to emphasise that inclusion is excellence.

This article is the final piece in the series Inclusion in International Higher Education: European Perspectives & Insights of our “ACA Think Pieces”. Each contribution in this series has explored the multi-faceted nature of inclusion from a different international education perspective, including, for example: concrete advice regarding developing strategic inclusion plans for inclusive higher education mobility, synergies of excellent inclusion practices from the Erasmus+ youth sector relevant for higher education, activities that have proven to be successful at an institutional level. The articles were authored by expert colleagues in internationalisation of higher education and inclusion, and were published on ACA’s website towards the end of every month from March 2021 until February 2022. Our upcoming series of ACA Think Pieces will focus on strategies and practices in digitalisation starting at the end of March 2022. 

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