Browsing by Author "Mathews, J."

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Open Access
Periphery theorising for a truly internationalised discipline: spinning IR theory out of Anatolia
(Cambridge University Press, 2008) Aydınlı, E.; Mathews, J.
Concerns over inequalities that have been located between the roles of the core and periphery within the development of the IR discipline have led to questions of whether it is possible to build up theoretical concepts in IR based on national differences. There have not yet been studies however providing an in-depth look at how IR theorising has been developing within a periphery country or region, and exploring both the local and core level factors inhibiting the development of original theoretical paradigms from within that context. By looking at the Turkish experience, the article postulates that homegrown theorising may be the only means for periphery IR to be respectfully acknowledged by the core IR discipline.
Open Access
Predicting international students' academic success... may not always be enough: assessing Turkey's Foreign Study Scholarship Program
(Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2007) Mathews, J.
In 1993, Turkey's Higher Education Council (YOK) launched a program to sponsor thousands of students for graduate study abroad, in the hopes of building up a base of highly qualified, foreign educated faculty for 24 newly established universities nationwide. With an incoming new YOK administration in 1995, dramatic changes were made in the program's selection procedures. One of the key elements of these changes was the inclusion of a high foreign language proficiency requirement, which served both to meet certain ideological goals of the new administration as well as presuming to reduce the high degree of student failure abroad. In addition to assessing the overall success of the scholarship program in light of the changes made, this study provides another look at the connection between language proficiency and academic success, with both qualitative and quantitative data collected from 23 'YOK scholars'. Although finding a positive relation between language proficiency and academic success, the study suggests that rather than having solved the scholarship program's problems by imposing high language proficiency requirements, the new YOK administration actually reduced even further the program's ability to successfully supply faculty to the new universities. Recommendations are made for the Turkish and similar foreign study programs.
Open Access
Searching for larger status in global politics: internationalization of higher education in Turkey
(SAGE Publications, 2021) Aydınlı, Ersel; Mathews, J.
This work explores how a country’s political status may impact its soft power policies, such as internationalization of higher education, through an examination of the Turkish case. Based on a survey of and subsequent interviews with actual implementers of policy, university international office heads and staff, the study draws on the theory of “status inconsistency” to contrast the country’s willingness to internationalize, its attributed status as a global magnet for internationalization, and its actual capacity to meet its internationalization goals. It finds that the politicized, top-down policies designed by a status-seeking nation may lead to disconnects in practice that in turn can cause various problems, including misguided “vertical” loyalties; failure to design creative, needs-based institutional visions; and a lack of genuine feedback and evaluation mechanisms, all of which may inadvertently put at risk the very status that was seeking to be improved. Recommendations are made for greater sharing of ideas among the implementers and for more diversity in interpretations of how to achieve internationalization at the institutional level.