Abstract

The purpose of this report is to examine Joint and Double Degree programmes (JDD) in Latin America. The collection of relevant data was made through a survey undertaken within a selected group of HEIs in the region which are actively engaged in the internationalisation process. A research study on the current status of higher education in the region, including a diagnostic of the internationalisation process in these countries, provides the basis for analysis and interpretation of the collected data.

The survey’s main findings suggest that JDD have been developed in Latin America as according to two different types of needs. On the one hand, they have been a way to differentiate provision and in doing so, gain prestige for private HEIs – who predominantly aim to attract fee-paying students. For public HEIs, JDD have conversely been a strategic device for developing postgraduate studies within an international framework.

Latin American HEIs are some of the least internationalised in the world, inadvertently placing them – and Latin American graduates – at a disadvantage in the global labour market. From this perspective, JDD could facilitate regional institutional ability so as to help HEIs to overcome their deficiencies in terms of internationalisation – in particular regarding internationalisation of the curriculum.