Beyond the “National Container”

This essay argues that there is a need for higher education researchers to become aware of methodological nationalism (MN) and take steps to reframe their scholarship in new ways. It illuminates two characteristics of MN prevalent in higher education research and suggests that although a few researchers have attempted to move beyond MN in the higher education globalization literature, most remain encapsulated in a view of nation-state equates society. The authors address this gap by arguing for the expansion of analytic approach to some of the common phenomena studied within U.S. higher education (such as college student experience, diversity, and governance) and highlight how these typical objects of study would transform once we overcome MN.