The professional lives of expatriate academics

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide clarity around the notion of the expatriate academic (EA), a construct that is increasingly essential to theories of expatriate management and higher education management. A review of the literature on academic mobility showed that terms such as “international academic” and “foreign faculty” provide highly variable definitions and results, while those papers that self-consciously used the term “EA” were more likely to provide consistency across definition and findings. This allowed for analysis of the characteristics of this unique group. Design/methodology/approach – This study appropriates a meta-narrative approach to literature review, analysing 23 papers about EAs to develop a more comprehensive conceptualisation of this term and to identify key-related themes. Findings – By reviewing 23 papers identifying with the term, a carefully constructed definition of the EA is provided, distinguishing EAs from other types of internationally mobile academic and demonstrating characteristics that EAs display in their professional lives. Recommendations are made to researchers, universities and EAs themselves for how these findings may affect the EA employment cycle. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Originality/value – This is the first paper to aggregate the results of literature on EAs, putting forward a clear definition and description to aid future research and clarify the research stream.

Theorizing the meaning(s) of ‘expatriate’: establishing boundary conditions for business expatriates

“…There is also a much studied cohort of academic expatriates (e.g. Trembath, 2016) and a less studied group of employees of intergovernmental organizations that have moved abroad in order to take up their employment (Suutari & Brewster, 2000). All these SIEs possess the four jointly sufficient attributes necessary for membership in the broader business expatriate category.…”

Experiences of expatriate university teachers in a health science university in Saudi Arabia-A Qualitative study

“…14 Statements made by the study participants reflect perceptions of self-esteem, emotional steadiness and internal locus of control, which are predictive of job satisfaction and performance in academic expatriates. 3 The third theme was 'coping strategies' that allowed us to delve into the inconspicuous defensive measures strategically taken up by academic expatriates in attempts to self-sustain and thrive. The study participants often used mental and practical strategies of disengagement from workplace.…”

“…2 The reasons for expatriation in university teachers are directly related to their work outcomes and job satisfaction. 3 Those driven by 'explorer motivation' experience greater job satisfaction as they tend to value the cross cultural interactions and thus progress smoothly through work adjustments. 3,4 On the other hand, academic expatriates who are isolated from host culture usually operate as 'tightrope walkers', being avidly conscious of the risks of expatriation and precariousness of their job situation.…”

“…3 Those driven by 'explorer motivation' experience greater job satisfaction as they tend to value the cross cultural interactions and thus progress smoothly through work adjustments. 3,4 On the other hand, academic expatriates who are isolated from host culture usually operate as 'tightrope walkers', being avidly conscious of the risks of expatriation and precariousness of their job situation. 4 Lucrative benefits that improve an expatriate's lifestyle are the defining factors in individualized experiences of the academic expatriates.…”

Academic and teacher expatriates: Mobilities, positionalities, and subjectivities

“…Our search for the term "academic expatriate" in different order led us almost exclusively to contributions in human resource management and education. Academic expatriates seem to have first appeared in the human resource management literature in the early 2000s (Richardson & McKenna, 2002, 2003Trembath, 2016) and in education literature in the mid-2010s (Austin, Chapman, Farah, Wilson, & Ridge, 2014;Cai & Hall, 2016). On the other hand, the term "teacher expatriate" dates back to the early 1950s with one of the first works examining the development of higher education in the British colonial territories in West Africa and the Caribbean (Lewis, 1959).…”