The internationalization of higher education has increasingly become a strategic priority for universities worldwide, influencing institutional competitiveness, academic quality, research visibility, and societal impact. Within this context, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are progressively expected to adopt comprehensive internationalization strategies, establish dedicated governance structures, and develop monitoring systems to assess and report their international engagement.

This thesis aims to design and implement a systematic mapping of internationalization strategies adopted by Italian universities. The research will investigate both the strategic and operational dimensions of internationalization, examining how universities define, formalize, govern, and evaluate their international activities.

A central component of the project will consist of constructing an original dataset integrating quantitative indicators—such as the number of active international agreements, joint and double-degree programmes, student and staff mobility flows, and participation in international research funding—with qualitative information on governance arrangements, strategic planning, and organizational structures supporting internationalization.

The collected data will be analyzed in order to identify patterns in how Italian universities approach international engagement, highlighting different strategic profiles, governance models, and levels of internationalization performance.

By providing a structured overview of current practices, the thesis aims to contribute to the literature on higher education governance and internationalization management, while also offering insights that may inform institutional strategies and evidence-based policymaking in the higher education sector.