New Actors, Administrative Measures and Conflicting Agendas: The Impact of the Pandemic on Internationalisation of Higher Education in Poland and Russia

Abstract

The Polish and Russian higher education (HE) systems evolved from similar semi-peripheral positions and centralist administration into networks of actors whose collective but uncoordinated efforts steered the internationalisation of HE. However, it all was interrupted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that opened doors to new policy actors largely unrelated to HE with their own agenda who do not recognise the exceptional status of HE, downplaying the institutional autonomy of universities and ignoring the fact that internationalisation lies at the core of the academy. This chapter examines changes in the topography of HE policy in both countries and discusses the short- and long-term impact of the pandemic on the internationalisation of HE.