The Culture We Choose: Preserving What Matters in International Education

International education has always been shaped by change. Over the past year, our field has engaged in important conversations about ownership models, scale, and growth. These discussions reflect the real pressures our sector faces: demographic shifts, geopolitical instability, changing student expectations, and increasingly complex financial realities. While the urgency may feel new, change itself is not.

During my nearly 11 years as President and CEO of ISEP Study Abroad, and over the course of my career, I have seen the international education field reinvent itself many times. Institutions adapt, while some organizations grow, merge, and sometimes disappear. Markets shift, funding models evolve, and leadership changes.

But there is one thing that should endure through all of it: culture. That’s why I believe the key question isn’t just who owns what, but it’s what kind of sector we want to create.

For those of us who have spent our professional lives in international education, our work has never been merely transactional. At its core, it is academic. It is rooted in the belief that global learning expands intellectual horizons, deepens understanding, and prepares students to engage responsibly in an interconnected world. That mission is not incidental to our work. It is the reason the work exists.

Yet in times of disruption, it becomes easy to lose sight of that center. When conversations are dominated by growth, efficiency, valuation, and scale, we must be careful not to confuse operational success with delivering on our mission. Strong organizations and sustainable business models matter; however, they are means, not ends.

Stewardship may sound old-fashioned, but it is more relevant now than ever. Stewardship means thinking beyond immediate gains and asking what we are preserving for the future. It reminds us that leadership is about both performance and responsibility.

And that responsibility begins with students. Students and families place extraordinary trust in international educators. Partner institutions entrust us with their reputations, their academic partnerships, and some of the most formative experiences of their students’ lives. That trust is hard-earned but can be easily lost.

In moments of organizational change – whether ownership transitions, restructuring, or strategic pivots – stakeholders deserve clarity about what decisions are being made and why. Transparency builds trust because it reinforces accountability. It signals respect for the communities we serve, and for the colleagues with whom we work.

The same is true of governance. Good governance is often invisible when it works well, but its importance cannot be overstated. It creates structures that protect mission integrity, establish accountability, and ensure organizations remain anchored to their values during times of change.

In higher education and international education alike, governance matters because mission matters. Boards must ask difficult questions, leaders must welcome scrutiny, and institutions must uphold rigorous standards of accountability. In my experience, the strongest organizations are not always the largest or fastest moving. They are the ones that operate with clarity, discipline, and principle.

This is why culture matters.

Culture shapes how we lead, how we make decisions, and how we treat one another. It determines whether we see ourselves only as competitors or as co-stewards of a broader educational mission. It influences whether we communicate openly in times of uncertainty, whether we prioritize students over institutional ego, and whether we preserve the academic values that make this work worthy of public trust.

As our sector continues to evolve – and it will – we have an obligation to ask not only what structures will carry us forward, but also what values and responsibilities must endure. That is the conversation I hope we will continue to have as a community of educators. Alongside discussions of business models, market dynamics, and strategy, we should be asking equally important questions about stewardship, transparency, good governance, and the academic purpose that brought many of us to this work in the first place. The future of international education will be determined not only by how successfully we adapt to change, but by the culture we choose to strengthen as we do.

About the Author

Dr. John S. Lucas is President and CEO of ISEP Study Abroad. He draws upon over 25 years of international education experience leading one of the world’s largest non-profit organizations dedicated to multilateral exchange and study abroad. He is a current Management Board member of the Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation (CHEI) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, the past Board chair of the Forum on Education Abroad and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Prior to joining ISEP, he held senior leadership positions at the School for International Training, IES Abroad, and CIEE.