Functional Patterns in International Organizations for University Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean

This study analyzes the coverage, organizational patterns, problems and trends of international organizations for university cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean. More than 30 international organizations for cooperation currently operating in Latin America and the Caribbean were identified. Two groups of institutions with more than 60% similitude were established by the Bray-Curtis index, according to the countries of origin of member universities. Multivariate discriminant analysis revealed that variables measuring levels of affiliation are more effective in accounting for integration into a given group than those variables associated with coverage or past experience. These organizations show highly redundant and territorial concentration. The most recurrent management problems, evaluated by analyzing the content of documents and interviews, are related to: budgets, information and university culture. In spite of favorable conditions for internationalization, performance observed in international organizations for university cooperation reveal limited impact on higher education and academic development in Latin America and the Caribbean.