A Comparative Study Of Undergraduate Internationalization In Public Research Universities

The construction of world-class universities has become a long-term development goal of higher education throughout the world,and internationalization of higher education is also regarded as one of the measurement standards of world-class universities.In this context,as an important part of internationalization of higher education,students’ internationalization has gradually become an important topic of higher education research in all countries.This study uses quantitative and comparative research methods to examine differences of international activities participation and international knowledge and skills of undergraduates in 13 public research universities in China and the United States.The results show that,at the institutional level,degree of international activities participation of undergraduate students in American universities is higher than that of Chinese universities,and at the same college ranking level,degree of international activities participation of undergraduate students in American universities is higher than that of Chinese universities.In addition,degree of international activities participation of undergraduates majoring in humanities/social sciences,engineering/computer science in the United States is significantly higher than that in China,while there is no significant difference between Chinese and American undergraduates majoring in medicine/law/health and natural science/science.At the individual level,the study finds that there is a big gap between Chinese college students and American universities in internationalization knowledge and skills.International knowledge and skills of American undergraduates at the same ranking level is slightly higher than that of Chinese universities.International knowledge and skills of American undergraduates majoring in humanities/social sciences,medicine/law/health and natural sciences/sciences is stronger than that of Chinese undergraduates,while there is no significant difference between Chinese and American undergraduates majoring in engineering/computer.Finally,based on the above conclusions and analysis,this study offers some recommendations for improving internationalization of higher education and students’ internationalization in China.