Internationalization and Indigenization in Canadian Post-Secondary Education: A Case Study on Cohesive Strategic Planning Across Institutional Initiatives
Date
2025-01-23
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0009-0002-9312-6800
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Doctoral
Abstract
Background: Within the post-secondary landscape in Canada, there has been a trend toward increased internationalization and Indigenization efforts and strategies to align with federal and provincial initiatives with respect to international education and truth and reconciliation. Despite the concurrent implementation of these strategic initiatives in post-secondary institutions in Canada, there is a lack of aligned and integrated planning to maximize the potential synergistic benefits and address potential conflicting priorities across internationalization and Indigenization strategies. The research presented seeks to explore the link between internationalization and Indigenization strategies at the University of Saskatchewan to uncover areas where these strategies might align or where mitigative approaches might be implemented to address points of contradiction.
Problem of Practice: The problem of practice being explored is the gap in Canadian post-secondary education whereby there is a lack of integrated, cohesive and intentional strategic planning across Indigenization and internationalization initiatives.
Purpose: The inquiry questions that guided this study were: (1) How and in what context has strategic planning occurred at USask for internationalization and Indigenization separately and in relation to one another? (2) Where and how do Indigenization and internationalization intersect and contradict one another at USask? (3) How can the intersections and contradictions of internationalization and Indigenization be addressed through maximizing the synergistic potential across the strategic initiatives or through mitigation strategies?
Methods: This study was conducted using an instrumental case study guided by pragmatic principles focusing on one institution, The University of Saskatchewan. The study included 6 participants who took part in a 60 – 90 minute interview. Data analysis was done through inductive coding and through the framework of an Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP); using this framework, three recommendations were developed for The University of Saskatchewan.
Findings: The findings of this research highlight how various contextual elements of internationalization and Indigenization at the University of Saskatchewan relate back to the overall literature on Indigenization and internationalization. Specifically, the siloed strategic planning process, implementation focuses of both strategies, conflicting priorities, areas of convergence, and initiatives in the shared space of internationalization and Indigenization are elaborated on. Recommendations include suggestions for implementing a combined strategic planning approach to internationalization and Indigenization through collaborative governance and boundary spanning policy regimes as well as recommendations for student/staff/faculty programming and mitigative strategies to address conflicting priorities.
Conclusion: The University of Saskatchewan’s siloed strategic planning approach to internationalization and Indigenization is not maximizing the potential for cohesive and synergistic approaches across the strategies despite participants’ interest in doing so. The context of the University of Saskatchewan is similar to the trend across Canada whereby there is a lack of cohesive planning across initiatives overall.
Practice Implications of Inquiry: Further research in this area could examine the contexts of other Canadian post-secondary institutions with respect to their internationalization and Indigenization strategies and implementation processes. A framework for integrative strategic planning with various examples of approaches to programs, curriculum, research and extra-curricular activities could be developed to support post-secondary institutions in this endeavour.
Description
Keywords
Internationalization and Indigenization, strategic planning, Canadian post-secondary education, educational administration, educational leadership
Citation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
Educational Administration
Program
Educational Administration