The internationalization of higher education

The importance of internationalization for higher education is self-evident, even though these themes have remained insufficiently underestimated in a Chinese context. Guided by several disciplines including anthropology [24], language and communication [25], business and marketing [26], futurist studies [27], strategic leadership and pedagogy [28], internationalization challenges have emerged as a top priority for foreign universities all around the globe. Chinese colleges and universities are not bystanders to these global trends. This is in part a reaction to the changing global environment and cultural surrounds, but it is also a response to the globalisation shift itself, which, pushed to its logical conclusion, is a bottom-line development plan for any ambitious international institution. Adopting a coupling coordination model, Geng and Zhao [29] conduct a regional and temporal examination of the link between the characteristics of sustainable higher education development and the coupling coordination relationship. In addition, they present a number of concrete and actionable recommendations for ensuring the continued growth of the higher education sector. Many aspects of contemporary globalization make it necessary for institutions to modify and define the concept in accordance with their own goals; as a result, prevailing conceptions of the meta-discipline of globalization in discipline have become increasingly complex as a result of such development [30]. To a certain extent, this is especially obvious in countries where institutional internationalization is still in its early phases and where traditional Western ideas of internationalization must be studied further for their relevance in local situations. In these countries, internationalization of institutions is still in its early phases [31]. Our comprehension of the benefits and constraints associated with internationalization practice in China will be aided by the development and use of this concept in the context of such unique conditions. In addition, it is of equal significance to guarantee the high quality of such international educational practices concurrently with the process of globalization of education. Following this part, quality control in the internationalization process of higher education is then further explained in the next section, along with a review of relevant literature.

Quality control in the internationalization process of higher education

With the commitment to enhance the world ranking of domestic higher education, transnational higher education is favoured by the Chinese government. This denotes all types of higher education study where the learners are located in a country different from the one where the awarding institution is based [32]. The term is recently interchangeably used with "cross-border education", "offshore education" and "borderless education" in related research [33]. Transnational higher education may be conducted in different forms, such as franchise, twinning, double/joint degree, articulation, validation or virtual/distance. However, borderless education that neglects the existing borders in the delivery of transnational programs, are not included in this study.

The employment of quality control in higher education has been a global practice under the background of globalisation and internationalization [34, 35]. The integration of global markets puts modern countries under huge pressure to maintain or promote national competitiveness facing overwhelming challenges. As the knowledge base for developing potential talents, higher education has been confronting the same situation. Initiated by the state, multiple measures are taken to elevate the world ranking of domestic universities, including the quality control system, to finally enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of higher education performance [36]. Generated from the manufacturing sector, the concept of quality refers historically to consumer satisfaction, and synthesis of conformance, adaptability, innovation and continuous improvement [37]. On this basis, higher education quality is usually examined via exquisite standards, consistency with standards, adequacy of purpose, effectiveness in achieving institutional goals, and meeting stakeholders’ explicit or implicit needs [38]. Since the 1980s, a series of internal reforms have reshaped the development of higher education in China, introducing privatization and marketization to accelerate the massification of education programs, which grants universities more autonomy and flexibility in university-level governance.

Quality control has become a critical issue for the orderly, healthy, and sustainable growth of China-foreign cooperative education as a result of the different disorderly circumstances and quality concerns that have developed since its emergence [39]. The majority of research have concentrated on the macro-level of government regulation and specialized quality control methods, although attention has also been made to quality control specific challenges [40, 41]. Because transnational higher education transcends national boundaries and surpasses the realm of regulation in a single country, the problem of quality control is much more difficult than quality control in a single country. This research examines the quality control of Chinese-foreign cooperative education from institutional and cultural perspectives in order to identify the underlying reasons of quality control issues.

As a consequence, in the endeavour to ensure education quality, underneath the macro efforts undertaken at the national or cross-national level, the establishment of a well-established quality control regime at the micro level of school partners demands much more academic attention and investigative effort. As the governing body in close touch with professors and students, whether a school has a solid governance structure in place directly influences the students’ community. The Chinese Ministry of Education’s revisions of the quality control system in higher education are primarily concerned with numbers pertaining to an educational institution’s physical foundation. A well-designed campus, on the other hand, provides more than just effective and efficient educational results. Quality control can be effectively achieved only when all stakeholders’ interests are considered and all stakeholders can actively participate in the governance system, and when the framework of institutional governmentality is well established and can function in promoting quality control in higher education.

Using these notions, this research seeks to use GTUC as an example by performing a case study of the quality control system from the viewpoints of institutional governmentality creation and cultural appreciation in transnational higher education. Finally, this study emphasizes the significance of high-quality international exchange and cooperation in growing China’s worldwide impact and recognition of foreign education partnership with China.

Cultural appreciation in the transnational educational collaboration process of internationalization of curriculum

This section analyses the hospitality mindsets from the perspective of cultural appreciation. The internationalization of the curriculum sits at the intersection of university policy and practice and is a source of fascination and achievement for students, academic staff and university administrators. Stakeholders in the process of internationalization must be equipped with strong cultural appreciation, accepting cultural diversity, equity and inclusion [65]. Under the guidance of GTUC’s internationalized education planning, with the combination of the needs of China’s education and GTUC’s features, GTUC-GL integrates its mission, vision and distils them down to "GLers" as its core values, which consist of Graceful Generalist, Life-Long Learner, Responsible Rudder and Sincere Socialist. To integrate these core values into school life, GTUC-GL starts from the following aspects to develop students into qualified high-end hospitality talents in the future.

To date, the GL teaching facility is well-formed in its lobby, guest room, banquet hall, and many other areas, and has produced a fully functioning hospitality teaching environment, complete with hotel service chain settings. The lobby is surrounded by a green planting space, a small sports field, and a sofa lounge area, providing the faculty teaching community with an open view and a pleasant ambiance in their spare time. Integrated cultures from both Switzerland and China have infiltrated the staff and students’ imaginations. Such impressions were instilled in teachers and students during their initial visits to the EHLS campus, and therefore from the time they were recruited to the institution. These accomplishments did not come easily or quickly. Interviewees who were present at the initial establishment of the combined higher education partnership revealed their opinions regarding the challenges of creating an extremely international-style teaching and learning environment. The same views have been instilled in bachelor students. The academic staff and students were to embrace the hospitality traditions of both Switzerland and China. GTUC-GL’s philosophy is represented in the software and hardware infrastructure, as well as the services given to its teachers and students. A genuine hotel was built to house a cooperative education program, giving a physical foundation for establishing the EHLS teaching paradigm and delivering a learning experience via practical training in actual hotel roles, particularly from the time freshmen enter this teaching structure. This authentic hotel was built to host this co-operative education program. It gives students the ability to gather learning experiences via practical training in genuine hotel positions and serves as the physical foundation for establishing the EHL teaching paradigm. This option is particularly open to students who are just entering this educational system. This sentiment was echoed over the course of the interviews, with interviewees expressing the perspective outlined below.

I believe the most crucial aspect is the ladder concept of professional training programme. The curriculum is organized in a spiral progression of "practice → theory → practice → theory". We offer students with a totally realistic operational environment in which they may study the essential professional courses, allowing them to swiftly grasp the relevant information and abilities and fully realize the synchronization between professional education and industry demands. (G1, Professor, Head of School, one of the main directors of the School, interview in December 2021).

Adopting an EHLS educational horizon [66], GTUC has built an independent hotel as an academic building, providing an infrastructure basis for students’ immersive learning. GTUC-GL has a total surface area of 21,858 square meters, which is made up of 11 multi-media classrooms and 13 practical training classrooms that enable students to engage directly in the operations of a real hotel, flawlessly blending professional experience with theoretical school learning. Students begin their first semester in the faculty by cycling through 14 mock-up roles in a genuine hotel environment. Further, to keep the core culture value [67] deeply rooted in every staff and student, for instance, GTUC-GL designs its school badge, makes signage of its mission, vision and core values. The faculty incorporate these cultural symbols in the faculty teaching building. GTUC-GL absorbs EHLS’s talent for developing a routine of "Practice–Theory—Practice Again—Theory Again", to strengthen features of applied hospitality talents development, which are also termed as an experiential learning model [68]. The GTUC-GL, which is based on hotel facilities, draws on EHLS’s successful experience in conducting practical training to divide must-have hospitality service skills into 14 positions and design related practical training courses, achieving a high fusion of teaching and operation, theory and practice. The GTUC-GL produces an official document to incorporate hospitality professional standards into university life. The GTUC-GL professors and students adhere to a formal dress code of hospitality professionals that corresponds to their curriculum, demonstrating the GLers’ positive professionalism. The School also displays dress code and international business procedure signs, tacitly inspiring its pupils to be industry talents. Fig 2 depicts cultural appreciation as a dynamic interaction process between EHLS and GTUC at the institutional level. Such mutual structural appreciation suggests that active and favourable interconnectivity between different university cultures, as Wu and Pullman [66] note, enhance the credibility and are beneficial to the organization of joint international higher education collaboration.

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Fig 2. Culture appreciation as a multi-facet interactive communicating mechanism.

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The special features for this unique school are these followings: the school’s financial and policy support, the calibre of the international institutions with which the school has partnered, the employment of foreign specialists, and the educational experiences of the school’s management and faculty members gained during their time spent studying abroad. This function is contingent on the applied talent development model that the GTUC uses as well as the launch of the operations integration program that EHLS has implemented. This characteristic is in line with the objective of teaching practical skills, and it may be used to highlight the school’s training of applied talent features. (In December 2021, an interview was conducted with G5, Professor, who was one of the supervisors at the school who was responsible for the formulation of the curriculum)

To have a more in-depth discussion of the internationalization of higher education, researchers must include the internationalization of the curriculum, which includes international-style teaching and outcome-oriented student learning [69]. Yet, the internationalization of the curriculum is little known as a concept and is evolving in practice [70]. Planning to reach the goal of internationalised learning, it must be done in the context of integrated cultures and knowledge spheres, diversified behaviour change and practices of full engagement within a transdisciplinary approach [71]. However, if academic staff do not have sufficient experience, skills or knowledge required to internationalise the curriculum, they are, thus, incapable of sufficiently engaging with fully adopting the internationalization of the curriculum. This is serving as competitive implications for universities’ international strategies and student learning [72]. The intersections between disciplines, curricula, internationalization and student learning in higher education form a connected space and a glocalized curriculum that offers rich culture experiencing opportunities for students and faculty members [73]. Participants in the interview offered the following examples to illustrate how the curriculum may be made more international:

This course of study has the intestinal fortitude to break away from the normal educational paradigm and makes an effort to integrate Eastern and Western methods of instruction. Working with EHLS, an institution that is recognized as a leader in the hotel management industry, provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity to learn from one another. For this reason, we are enthusiastic about the progress that is being made with the program. Second, the educational technique of the program is a good match with what I’ve learned from my own experience studying in other countries. I have high expectations for the project and look forward to acquiring the most cutting-edge knowledge from both the Western and Chinese educational systems as well as improving my general competence. I want to be able to lead the program in such a way that it produces students who have a more global perspective and a more holistic approach, in addition to individuals who have professional skill and moral integrity. (Interview conducted in June 2021 with G4, Professor, who is largely responsible for teaching courses at the school)

Cultural factors also need to be taken into examination in the quality control system. Mutual cultural appreciation in social sciences usually refers to "the dependence of a phenomenon … in institutional, social, cognitive or cultural terms" [74]. The faculty members of hospitality management cultivate students’ comprehensive competencies through all kinds of cultural- and hospitality-related activities [75]. Besides organizing competitions of professional skills such as the "GL Cup" Sommelier Services Competition and Competition of Creative Table Napkin Folding, GTUC-GL selects outstanding students to participate in professional competitions at the national and provincial level and Young Hoteliers Summit, to transfer students from inexperienced youngsters to potential professionals with strong cooperation social responsibility mindsets [76]. Here, cultural appreciation is innovatively adopted, to refer to the integration of different cultures reflected in transnational higher education programs [77]. The school culture where all stakeholders are surrounded is shaped through the combination of features of two national cultures and that of institution partners. The vision, mission and strategy are further adopted and applied to find the origin of the cultural appreciation. By absorbing the exceptional characteristics of each side, the entity operating transnational cooperation programs can share with the whole community the ideal framework of education outcomes, which will lead to the enhancement of education quality. For faculty members, they are both hotel operators and learning facilitators, passing on the spirit of dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm to students through their proper behaviours. These student contests are some of the methodologies for students to to acquire cultural perspectives. In hotel management education, the GTUC-GL faculty provides accessible services for workers’ job and life, as well as a focus on students’ physical practices and mental growth.

Research finding 2: An institutional governmentality reflected in the faculty

Institutional governmentality is a conceptual approach to public service administration study. In a similar vein, the next part employs the concept of institutional governmentality to further examine the faculty’s administrative organization. Using this method, this section explores the complexities of the GTUC-GL faculty’s internal institutional structure, similar to what Baxstrom [78] notes, to exemplify the structural planning and operational multiplicity. To this extent, GTUC has set up a fully functional institution to implement the original aims and scopes of the school (See Fig 3 below).

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Fig 3. Hierarchical structure for administrative management chart of GTUC-GL.

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GTUC has formed a Worldwide Advisory Committee comprised of distinguished international hospitality education and industry specialists from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of Surrey (UK), the University of Houston (USA), Sun Yatsen University (PRC), and the Banyan Tree Group. Each year, committee members convene to exchange ideas and provide constructive proposals in response to GTUC’s difficulties and current issues, in order to assist GTUC review its growth path and goals. The GTUC-GL management team, as a GTUC school, actively integrates these yearly proposals into the innovation of its talent training and operating direction. Respondents showed a high level of satisfaction and awareness when one respondent made comments about the concept of institutional governance.

When I was teaching in such an environment, I was able to feel the support of the institution, the support of the government, the good participation from the foreign side, the nice atmosphere of several languages being used, and so on. This endeavour has garnered a great deal of support from a number of departments throughout the institution. For instance, the department that is in charge of international cooperation has assigned a member of their staff to oversee the abroad component of the project. In terms of the English language, the institution places a strong emphasis on providing students with extensive active pre-entry English language preparation, as well as expanded language classes and other related activities. The standard living and learning environment of the students contributes positively to the students’ use of the English language. These initiatives have made a substantial contribution, collectively, to the internationalization of the institution. (E5, teacher and teaching assistant, responsible for teaching courses in second languages at the school who have experience studying abroad, interview took place in June 2021)

Furthermore, GTUC and EHLS have formed a China-foreign Cooperation Program Management Committee comprised of nine members from both sides, led by GTUC’s president. The Committee meets on a regular basis to summarize and report on the school’s operations, as well as to consider the school’s future direction and action plan. Student responses complimented the work of the Committee and the School’s teaching management team, with one student remarking,

For student management, we have midterm and final exams, as well as feedback on instructors’ teaching every weekend. Regarding instructor management, the school employs stringent instructional monitoring, biannual academic assessments, and periodic Swiss visits. This curriculum deviates from standard higher education in that it combines theory and practice in its instructional technique. In accordance with this arrangement, we complete two industrial internships over the course of two semesters in our second and fourth years, and we have cycled through over a dozen break-related responsibilities in our first year to provide culinary and lodging services for students, teachers and real visitors. Through this extensive practical industry training, we gained a comprehensive understanding of our suitability for the business, as opposed to entering our senior year knowing our professional goals.(Interview with T5 senior in this program as of December 2021)

To guarantee teaching quality, the GTUC-GL has formed a teaching management team comprised of the vice president in charge of teaching, the director of each faculty team, and the teaching secretary. The school has a Party branch with a secretary, a deputy secretary, and an organizer to carry out student management in accordance with GTUC regulations, assist students in resolving study and life challenges, and collect and provide feedback on students’ views.

GTUC-GL analyzes teaching and learning at the conclusion of each semester to ensure that the measures are fully implemented. The school monitors instruction via reciprocal assessment between instructors and students, as well as random review by professionals. The teaching secretary compiles the assessment data and communicates them to school authorities, detailing the faults that were identified. Next a meeting of all faculty members, the school adopts and implements appropriate actions to alter the curriculum for the following academic year.

Research finding 3: Improvement and progress in teaching quality control

This research recognized current signals of development as a quality control system, immersive learning environment, customized curriculum design, and hands-on learning chances as hotel intern managers. The Teaching Quality Monitoring and Assessment Centre at GTUC is in charge of monitoring teaching activities, analysing monitoring data, and offering comments. The key revision procedures for the curriculum and instructional materials at GTUC-GL are shown in the figure below (see Fig 4 below).

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Fig 4. Closed-loop diagram for monitoring teaching quality in GTUC-GL (summarized by authors).

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The GTUC-GL offers students an immersive learning environment in the form of a real-life mock-up hotel. An independent hotel is built to provide a genuine operating environment in order to achieve integration of education and operation. To meet the learning goals throughout the teaching process, a four-in-one model has been developed: (1) the integration of Chinese and Swiss education in one faculty; (2) the educational school teaching and a training business in one location; (3) being instructors or students as well as workers in one location; and (4) employees and consumers in one school (for faculty members and students are consuming in the teaching building). 13 distinct experimental training courses are built up to integrate professional competences with the curriculum, establishing a high degree of integration of theory and practice, as well as teaching and operation in daily routine, based on the must-have hospitality services and operation capabilities. This characteristic is clear from the respondents’ comments from one of the students interviewed.

This curriculum provides an advanced international teaching approach with a high degree of practice and theory integration, with one year of practice and three years of theory in four years, as well as two genuine industrial internships alongside the theoretical courses, according to my personal experience. At the same time, we are obliged to enter the building in operational condition. In other words, a formal professional appearance is required. We have four years of experience and a very professional mindset with this operation before we graduate. As students of the program, we think we are extremely competitive in the business and possess the diverse knowledge and professional skills necessary for success in the hospitality sector. (T7, a sophomore in the program who was still in her first industrial internship at the time of the interview in June 2021, was interviewed)

Second, for training and hospitality professionals, a spiralling pattern for nurturing talent known as the Practice & Theory Progression model of curriculum design has been established. The curriculum is then well-structured based on a two-time spiral of Practice-Theory-Practice-Theory rotation. This innovative teaching method received a medal for the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s educational excellence. As one of the primary student activities, the GTUC-GL creates a multidimensional and comprehensive training platform comprised of Innovative Business Start-ups. Innovative business activities and start-up contests have evolved into training opportunities for students to improve their overall competencies. To some degree, these kids establish a cross-border, multidisciplinary, and cross-grade multiple collaborative innovation and entrepreneurship. Business project training techniques, shown as teacher-student co-working styles, are designed to develop students’ potential for invention and entrepreneurship. Educators encourage and support students’ inventiveness and entrepreneurial potential when they participate in contests involving business ventures. Similar sentiments were expressed by students during interviews:

We host several cultural activities to encourage cultural integration, such as an annual food service etiquette competition and a wine label design competition. In addition, we provide a variety of student events, such as the school’s unique Friday Night and our student-designed ’520 Special Food Service’ event, which entails preparing special coffee and cocktails. These activities are an excellent means of fostering cultural integration, motivation, and an atmosphere for learning. (T6, current university student in the China-foreign collaboration program, third year, interviewed at the beginning of the school year in September 2021)

Finally, the GL institution selects students each year to participate in the "Internet+" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition and establishes various awards to encourage students to actively participate in such activities and improve their innovation and entrepreneurial skills, organizational and coordination skills, and so on. Students might apply for roles such as Intern Manager to work as a manager at a real hotel. Students are participants in hotel operations as well as learning actors, embracing the spirit of hospitality and enhancing their overall skill as hoteliers via immersive education. GTUC-GL has professional employees to provide all-around high-quality education and services. GTUC-GL presents EHLS’s education model, incorporates GTUC’s applied undergraduate program features, and offers a curriculum that blends theory and practice to prepare students to become professional hoteliers. The School also establishes scholarships and bursaries to recognize excellent students, assist needy students in overcoming financial difficulties, and give all-around services to enhance students’ campus life.

Quality control in transnational higher education collaboration benchmarked by institutional constructions

Quality control must be one of the most important parts of the internationalization process to the cooperative international higher education partnership [80, 81]. Due to the unique characteristics of international cooperation, we should not simply apply the traditional mode of quality assessment of domestic higher education, but should actively learn from the common practice of international quality control of transnational higher education, actively investigate the effective mechanism of appropriate separation of management, administration, and evaluation, and strengthen cooperation with quality control institutions and organizations of transnational higher education [82–85]. To improve and enhance the quality of China-foreign cooperative education, the government should strengthen cooperation with quality control agencies and organizations of transnational higher education exporters, as well as build an external quality assessment system with Chinese characteristics and in accordance with international standards [86]. Accreditation is often recognized as the most prevalent instrument for managing access to and quality control in the transnational higher education market. The variety of Chinese and international relationships should be reflected in accreditation. Because programs and institutions are different and unique, it is not possible to adopt a single methodology to accredit and evaluate them all. It is critical to present the various types of Chinese-foreign cooperative education, as well as the various needs and standards of Chinese-foreign cooperative education, so that the interests of Chinese-foreign cooperative education providers, students, and teachers can be better reflected through industry cooperation.

Quality control in transnational higher education collaboration benchmarked by an effective management system

To fairly satisfy the criteria of the original purposes of its initial foundation, an efficient management system should be established for developing a co-operative education institution [87–90]. Effective quality control and risk management methods may be properly built to govern their educational practices by effective communication and trust between the cooperating two parties, as well as honouring their separate worldwide reputations. Promoting institutional internationalization would therefore be accomplished by protecting their individual credentials and co-competed course planning quality [86], as well as attaining mental agreement based on structural disparities. In terms of quality control management models, the shift from management to governance should be accomplished gradually. It is critical to specify the responsibilities of the government, school operators, and social intermediate organizations throughout the quality control process. Each stakeholder in a China-foreign cooperation project should clarify the respective function by forming a synergy of corporate social responsibility and coordination by constructing a scientific, rational, and effective quality control system [91, 92]. The national governmental oversight authority should concentrate on the aims, motives, and goals of Chinese-foreign cooperative education. The government’s quality control obligations at the local level are mostly tied to the execution of national policies and regulations. The institution is the primary topic of quality control since it is the primary supplier of education, and its quality risk control is based on the degree of satisfaction of students with the educational materials they get and the educational delivery method. From a cultural standpoint, the necessary core components for a good transnational higher education partnership are the acknowledgment of heterogeneous knowledge and reciprocal acceptance of cultural appreciation. In accordance with this cultural viewpoint, the pursuit of complementary capabilities and interests should be emphasized in the provision of cultural integration to both local and foreign cultures, as expressed in policy decisions and the quality control process. In terms of academic quality, it is critical to stress the comparison of transnational education programs with national programs. In the course of the growth of China-foreign cooperative education, several quality criteria have been devised., such as the Guidelines for the Evaluation of China-foreign Cooperative Education (for trial implementation) and the Guidelines for the Selection of Exemplary China-foreign Cooperative Education Projects (for trial implementation) [93]. Despite the fact that these standards are still in the prototype level, they have a significant impact on the cultural attitude of the faculties and students as a whole. To further enrich and strengthen quality control standards, a successful international exchange and cooperation project would be able to expand and secure the healthy growth of China-foreign cooperative education.