Introduction: Development of Universities in Southeast Asia and the Impacts of Study Abroad

This chapter provides an overview of the Empirical Research Project on Impacts of Study Abroad in Developing Countries conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development. The research aim was to investigate the impacts of university faculty members’ study abroad experiences on their academic activities and the development of their universities. The mixed-method project used an extensive quantitative questionnaire and semi-structured qualitative interviews with ten leading Southeast Asian universities in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The flagship comprehensive and STEM universities were selected based on their internationalization efforts and recent exponential qualitative and quantitative growth. The chapters in the volume present the findings through case studies and cross-country comparisons authored by the international research team based in Southeast Asia and Japan. This chapter presents a theoretical framework based on an extensive literature review of higher education and national development in relation to Southeast Asian universities, the academic profession, internationalization, and study abroad. The original framework provides readers a nuanced understandings of the volume’s chapters and how higher education systems in developing countries have the potential to promote national development through cultivating future citizens, increasing quality of higher education and research, and contributing to international cooperation through knowledge creation and sharing.