Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

1-2026

Abstract

There is an extensive literature on student mobility that seeks to understand the nature of, rationales for and consequences of internationalisation in higher education. This scholarship primarily focusses on students studying in the ‘west’. This paper shows how ‘atypical’ student destinations also illuminate the contradictions of internationalisation, revealing the challenges faced by higher education settings beyond academic centres in the west. Drawing on the case of the Philippines, I discuss how private universities actively recruited international students to maximise profits from student tuition. Yet, these efforts led to a backlash among Filipino educators and students, prompting administrators to institute policies that isolated foreign students on campus. This paper discusses how racial tensions and inequalities can be both a reaction to and a result of internationalisation programmes beyond the west. Understanding this process entails recognising how actors and institutions within the Global South can have their own agency in shaping international education.

Keywords

International students, Internationalisation, Migration, Philippines, Race

Discipline

Asian Studies | Place and Environment | Race and Ethnicity | Sociology

Research Areas

Sociology

Publication

Comparative Education

Volume

62

Issue

1

First Page

148

Last Page

165

ISSN

0305-0068

Identifier

10.1080/03050068.2025.2520720

Publisher

Taylor and Francis Group

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2025.2520720

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