Best Dissertation

Best Dissertation Winners

2024

winner:

Paula Anne Sanderson, University of Bath
Transnational Education: Risking ‘Recolonisation’. (view here)


2023

winner:

John P. Haupt, University of Arizona
Global Hierarchies in Science: An Examination of USAid’s Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research Program. (view here)


2022

Winner:

Santiago Castiello-Gutiérrez
Conscientious Academic Capitalism: Mexican Counternarratives to Anglo-American University Internationalization Practices. (view here)

Honorable Mention:

Nian Ruan
Conceptualization and Development of Intellectual Leadership: Perspectives of Women Scholars in Hong Kong (view here)


2021

Co-Winner:

Bernardo Sfredo Miorando, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Universities Going Global? Comparative Perspectives on the Internationalization of Postgraduate Education in Brazil and Finland

Co-Winner:

Joy Renee Hannibal, Michigan State University
Finding, Creating, and Following Footprints: The Integration of Indigenous Knowledge in Palau

Honorable Mention:

Yovanna Soobrayen Veerasamy, University of Toledo
U.S. National Higher Education Internationalization Policy: An Historical Analysis of Policy Development between 2000 and 2019


2020

Winner:

Aliandra Raquel Lazzari Bartlete, University of Cambridge
A Cultural Political Economy Account of Higher Education in Mercosur

Honorable Mention:

Abdul Kayum Ahmed, Columbia University
The Rise of Fallism: #RhodesMustFall and the Movement to Decolonize the University

Lauren Collins, University of Denver
Letting the Village be the Teacher: A Critical Ethnographic Case Study of Community-Based Learning in Northern Thailand


Winner:

Meseret Hailu, University of Denver
Understanding Why Women Stay: Examining Persistence Factors of Women Majoring in Science and Technology Programs in Public Ethiopian Universities Using a Mixed Methods Design

Honorable Mention:

Sharon Stein, University of British Columbia
Contested imaginaries of global justice in the internalization of higher education

2019


2018

Winners:

Yeukai Angela Mlambo, Michigan State University
Why Not Academia? - The Streamlined Career Choice Process of Black African Women Engineers: A Grounded Theory Study

Jonathan Z. Friedman, New York University
Global Distinction: Social Status, Organizational Change and the Internationalization of American and British Universities

honorable mention:

Lisette Montoto, University of Georgia
The Public Good, the Market, and Academic Capitalism: U.S. Cross-Border Higher Education in Panama


2017

WINNERS:

Michelle Ellen Szabo Suderman, University of British Columbia
Engagement for All? A Study of International Undergraduates at the University of British Columbia

Otgonjjargal Okhidoi, University of Pittsburgh                                 
Equity in Higher Education: Socioeconomic Status and its Effect on Access to Higher Education in Post-Socialist Mongolia

HONORABLE MENTION:

Lucia Brajkovic, University of Georgia                                             
Higher Education in Post-Transition Countries of Central and Eastern Europe: Rent-Seeking States and Academic Marginalism.


2016

WINNER:

Cynthia Toms, Azusa Pacific University                                             
Global Development Through International Volunteerism and Service Learning: Who’s Saving Whom?


2015

WINNERS:

1st Place Recipient: Jack Lee, University of Toronto                               
Education Hubs in the Making: Policy Rationales and International Relations

2nd Place Recipient: Rebecca Schendel, University College London       
A Critical Missing Element: Critical Thinking at Rwanda’s Public Universities and the Implications for Higher Education Reform

HONORABLE MENTION:

Stephanie K. Kim, University of California, Los Angeles                         
An International College in South Korea as a Third Space between Korean and US Models of Higher Education


2014

winner:

Lukas Graf, Freie Universität Berlin and Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung                                                                                     
The Hybridization of Vocational Training and Higher Education in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland

honorable mentions:

Gerardo Blanco Ramírez, University of Massachusettes at Amherst
Quality by Association Across North-South Divides: United States Accreditation of Mexican Institutions of Higher Education

Eun Kyung Lee, University of Pittsburgh
Higher Education Expansion and Economic Growth in Japan and South Korea

Julian Weinrib, University of Toronto
South-South-North Research Partnerships: A Transformative Development Modality?


2013

winner:

Maia Chankseliani, Oxford University
Mixed-Method Study of Higher Education Access in Georgia: Does Location Matter?

honorable mentions:

Yuhao Cen, Indiana University
Growth as Product and as Process: Student Learning Outcomes Attained through College Experiences in China

Mark Meehan, University of South Carolina
Islam, Modernity, and the Liminal Space Between: A Vertical Case Study of The Institute for Traditional Islamic Art and Architecture, Amman, Jordan


2012

Winners:

Enkhjargal Adiya, University of Pittsburgh
Gender Equity in Access to Higher Education in Mongolia

Jian Liu, University of Toronto
Expansion and Equality of Opportunity in Access to Chinese Higher Education: A Cultural Perspective


2011

winners:

Cynthia K. Epperson, University of Missouri - St. Louis
An Analysis of the Community College Concept in the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

Jae-Eun Jon, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
The New Landscape of Korean Higher Education: Institutional and Personal Factors Influencing Intercultural Competence

Ran Zhang, Indiana University
Confrontation or Cooperation: Spaces of Action for Student Grievance in Chinese Universities


2010

winners:

Christopher Collins, University of California, Los Angeles
Higher Education and Knowledge for Nation-State Development: The Role of the World Bank and U.S. Universities in Poverty Reduction in the Developing World

Sheila Hsu-Ling Huang, University of Washington
Professional Socialization of International Doctoral Students in Differing Disciplinary Contexts in the U.S.: A Mixed-Methods Study

Anne Katling Wong, University of Toronto
Anesthesia in Thailand and Canada: A Comparative Case Study of Two Residency Training Programs