Globalisation and Higher Education Policy: Convergence, Diversity and Strategic Management Challenges
Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University, Georgia · Caucasus University, Georgia
Abstract
This paper examines the impact of globalisation on higher education policy through
a comparative analysis of Germany, France and Georgia. The central research
question asks how global pressures produce convergence in higher education
systems while preserving nationally specific governance models and institutional
practices. Methodologically, the study applies a qualitative comparative approach
based on documentary analysis of official policy frameworks, Bologna Process
materials, European quality assurance standards and national higher education
governance sources. The paper argues that globalisation has encouraged
convergence in three main areas: internationalisation, quality assurance and
strategic governance. However, convergence does not result in uniformity. Germany
integrates global and European pressures through a federal and decentralised
model supported by strong institutional capacity and coordination mechanisms.
France demonstrates a hybrid trajectory in which a historically centralised state
tradition increasingly coexists with university autonomy and international
competitiveness strategies. Georgia illustrates a reform-oriented transitional system,
where Europeanisation and Bologna Process commitments have produced
substantial formal alignment, but implementation remains conditioned by
institutional capacity, administrative culture and resource limitations. The paper
contributes to the study of higher education governance by showing that
globalisation operates not as a simple force of homogenization, but as a process
of institutional translation. It concludes that strategic management is essential for
transforming global and European standards from formal policy commitments into
context-sensitive and sustainable institutional practice.
Keywords
How to Cite
Maka Benashvili, Tamar Tsertsvadze. (2026). Globalisation and Higher Education Policy: Convergence, Diversity and Strategic Management Challenges. The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development, 16(2), 212–228.
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