In the Eye of the Beholder?

Globalization steers modern society and contributes significantly to the internationalization of higher education. New means of transport and communication expand educational and research opportunities worldwide and higher education is becoming a blossoming global industry. It is also seen as a vital part of national policy and the national economy because in today's fiercely competitive world knowledge adds real value. In this environment, countries face a tough competition to be a magnet for world-class academics and the brightest students. In other words, they must make themselves academically attractive. Therefore this article tries to answer the question of what constitutes a country's "academic attraction." We will conceptualize the phenomenon of academic attraction and identify different measures of capturing it. Finally, the paper will identify the best available indicators to assess academic attraction and apply them to selected European Union countries (the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands).