Transnational Diaspora Engagements in HIgher Education:

Abstract

The literature on diaspora engagement in higher education focuses on broadenvironmental, policy, and institutional issues as critical determinants ofthe scope and efficiency of engagement. Using data from interviews with 16Ethiopian diaspora academics in the United States, this article undertakesa micro-examination of factors in their personal spaces and immediateenvironment that influence such engagement. Using a phenomenologicalapproach, it examines how professional, personal, familial and otherindividual attributes shape the trajectories of diaspora engagement. Itdemonstrates how nuances in personal and micro-environmental factorsshape motivation for, and sustenance of, engagement, while they maintaina complex and interdependent relationship. The article concludes byhighlighting the importance of a holistic approach to the study of diasporaengagement in higher education that pays attention to personal and microenvironmentalfactors as well as institutional, legal, and political issues.
 Key words: Ethiopia, Ethiopian diaspora, diaspora engagement, highereducation, transnational engagement