Intercultural adjustment of internationally mobile academics working in Thailand [Scholarly Article - Higher Education, April 2022]

Title:

Intercultural adjustment of internationally mobile academics working in Thailand

 

Authors:

Alina Schartner, Tony Johnstone Young & Navaporn Snodin  

All from the Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

 

Published:

Higher Education, 8 April 2022

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-022-00846-4

 

Abstract:

Non-nationals constitute up to a quarter of the academic staff workforce of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) worldwide. Their motivations to ‘work abroad’, and their experiences of doing so, are, however, under-researched, especially where migration is to or within the global South. We report a study conducted among internationally mobile academics from a variety of countries working in Thailand. At policy level, Thailand aspires to increase the numbers of international staff and students in its HEIs, but with mixed success in terms of recruitment levels and the reported quality of the experience among these migrants. Conceptually, our study drew on a framework of intercultural adjustment defined as a multidimensional construct comprising psychological, sociocultural and professional/work aspects of the experience. Semi-structured focus groups were conducted to explore experiences of working in Thailand. Thematic analysis of findings showed that reported experiences mainly fell under the category of professional/work aspects of intercultural adjustment, although sociocultural issues were also important. The reported quality of experiences was mixed and generally more negative than positive in the key areas of professional and work adjustment. Specific challenges highlighted by participants related to issues with the work environment, most especially lingual-cultural problems and, crucially, a lack of secure status. We detail and discuss these findings and present recommendations for policy makers and HEIs, aspirant academic migrants, and for future research into global academic migration, particular as it relates to Thailand and other destinations for academic migration.

Conflict and contentment: Case study of the social mobility of working‐class students in Canada [Scholarly Article - European Journal of Education, 20 December 2020]

Title:

Conflict and contentment: Case study of the social mobility of working‐class students in Canada

 

Author:

Wolfgang Lehmann

 

Published:

European Journal of Education, 20 December 2020

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ejed.12431

 

Abstract:

This article offers a tentative exploration of how working‐class students' mobility is affected by the push to enter middle‐class careers and lifestyles, and the pull of their working‐class origins. Based on a nine‐year qualitative longitudinal study of working‐class students at a Canadian university, I will show that few study participants experienced mobility as an uncontested or linear trajectory. Two key storylines can be identified: (a) a story of adjustment, modification and contentment; and (b) a story of conflict, loss, and struggle. For most, educational mobility was tempered by revisions of occupational ambitions, by returns to their home communities and by lifestyle choices that do not fit simple narratives of status mobility. And yet, all expressed a growing sense of self‐confidence, appreciated their education as an experience of personal growth, and achieved on their own terms, in post‐graduate education and newly discovered careers.