Resilience and internationalisation in higher education: overcoming barriers to global engagement in Scottish higher education

Universities worldwide are confronting intensifying uncertainty, from political upheaval and shifting geopolitical alliances to the friction between global aspirations and local identities. In this unsettled landscape, this chapter takes Scottish higher education (HE) as a key site for examining how organisational resilience and internationalisation intersect within a devolved policy system. It investigates how national identity, policy divergence, and educators’ perspectives shape strategic responses to volatility, and argues that resilience should be understood as the capacity to adapt, innovate, and flourish, rather than simply to endure disruption. Grounded in empirical insights from my doctoral research with educators across Scottish universities, the chapter locates internationalisation within a values-led framework informed by civic responsibility and cultural specificity. It contends that resilience in Scottish HE extends beyond structural robustness or risk management, arising instead from the sector's ability to align global engagement with national ethos and educational values. By foregrounding educators as central agents of resilience, the chapter advances the claim that inclusive, context-sensitive internationalisation is pivotal to institutional adaptability in the face of Brexit, wider geopolitical shifts, and intensifying global competition.