How institutions and individuals in academia can support the movement of talented academics across borders to ensure a truly global higher education system

Staff mobility

Podcast: cross-cultural communication in the classroom

Whether it’s teaching creative writing and media in a multilingual course or providing future doctors with clinical communication skills, two experts share tips for connecting with students and bridging language and culture divides

THE podcast: cross-cultural communication in the international classroom

Some years ago, I undertook a project to document the journeys of senior women academics in Singapore at a time when there was but one university and its mission was largely teaching-oriented. The stories they told were representative of a time nearly half a century ago.It was a world similar to and yet different from academia today. It was similar in that they had faced issues familiar to women academics today – juggling work and family demands – but also different in that some of the expectations of today had not been there at all, or at least not to the same extent. At a time when universities were principally teaching institutions, the expectations of research and cross-border interactions were absent or not onerous.How academics can ‘stay put’ without ‘staying still’Three ways to support women’s career progression in higher educationGender equality is more than a box-ticking exercise – let’s champion itToday, academics live in a world of hypermobility and are expected to evidence that themselves. Comparing my own experience of academia over the past three decades with their experience some 20 years before me, one key point of differentiation was the contribution of geographical mobility to career advancement.&nbsp;Geographical mobility and career advancementRegardless of geographical location, academics face pressures to meet “international” standards of scholastic excellence. There is, of course, a geography, sociology and politics of knowledge that is at play here, with gatekeepers principally located in the Global North determining international standards. Without getting into a discussion about the decolonisation of knowledge here, the reality is that the expectations of international standards and the geographical mobility that supports such achievement affects academics in so many parts of the world, and unevenly so.Geographical mobility takes myriad forms. For aspiring academics in much of the Global South, a ticket to academia often entails securing a PhD from an esteemed university in the US or Europe or perhaps Australia. PhD in hand, an early-career academic needs to share their work at “international” conferences in order to gain visibility, the major association platforms often being held in the Global North.For more senior academics, a mark of recognition and standing is the invitation to speak in keynote or plenary sessions, again, in the major conferences often hosted in the Global North. For those whose research entails primary data collection in the field, or research in key archival holdings, travel is inevitable. Collaboration and co-authorship, positive in themselves for the cross-pollination of ideas, are also increasingly recognised as beneficial in utilitarian ways, in upping citation counts. Together, geographical mobility would seem to be a sine qua non for academic success.Gendered challenges of mobilityFor female academics, such mobilities are challenging. Our experiences are often shaped by a complex interplay of social and cultural factors, exacerbated by systemic barriers. In most, if not all situations, support structures such as childcare provisions are insufficient, and women might choose to defer or forgo such international opportunities. Elder care poses other challenges. For example, if childcare provisions could be made possible, it is not an option to bring frail elderly family members along to an international conference.In a 2019 study of qualitative insights gleaned from interviews with Chinese women academics, the participants’ geographical mobility decisions made during their doctoral education phases were significantly influenced by gender norms within their cultural context. Despite recognising the benefits of international doctoral studies for their career trajectories, some participants felt compelled to prioritise familial obligations over professional aspirations. They willingly forfeited international opportunities to remain in proximity to their partners.Relocation aspirations aside, female academics who are in situ must also contend with a host of challenges. Should they wish to travel more frequently or further for international conferences and collaborative projects, they might cause significant disruption to family life and schedules. Losing quality time with loved ones or missing out on developmental milestones for those with young children are very real sacrifices.Even within one’s own university settings, female academics can face logistical challenges. For instance, those working in universities with distributed campuses require travel time of several hours to attend face-to-face events such as meetings or professional development programmes. If scheduling is inflexible, this might conflict with carers’ responsibilities early or late in the day, or during school holidays. Such occasions require coordination and support mechanisms, including arrangements for carers and adjustment of family schedules, often with financial and emotional costs.Harnessing digital scholarshipArguably, today’s hyper-connected world has bridged some of these gender inequities. Digital scholarship, through virtual and collaborative platforms, is available to help transcend traditional modes of knowledge dissemination and audience engagement. Innovative practices such as open-access publishing, data visualisation and online collaboration enable researchers to enhance their work and participate more extensively in knowledge creation and dissemination. Scholars can leverage digital platforms to disseminate their research findings to global audiences and enhance their visibility and impact within and beyond the academic community. In turn, further opportunities for collaboration with researchers from diverse backgrounds are generated.However, as is so often also recognised, virtual platforms cannot fully replicate the networking opportunities, serendipitous encounters and collaborative dynamics inherent in face-to-face interactions. Female academics therefore face limitations in building successful careers if they are constrained in their ability to exercise similar degrees of geographical mobility as their male counterparts.Fostering inclusive institutional culturesFostering inclusive institutional cultures is paramount in addressing the persistent gender disparities prevalent in academia. As underscored by the European Commission (2019), despite the growing number of women achieving PhDs and completing postdoctoral studies in the past two decades, the representation of women in senior academic and decision-making roles within European Union countries remains disproportionately low. This is true in other parts of the world, too.Mitigating these disparities demands more than technological interventions. While virtual platforms and remote networking offer pragmatic solutions, they do not address underlying systemic inequalities.Instead, institutions must implement comprehensive support mechanisms that prioritise gender equity. Best practices range from implementing family-friendly policies such as flexible work arrangements and childcare support to cultivating mentorship networks that champion the advancement of women scholars.A vibrant, diverse and impactful scholarly landscape is one where every voice is heard and every talent is nurtured, irrespective of gender or geography. Academia is a long way off from that utopia.Lily Kong is president of Singapore Management University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Geographical mobility and the path to success in HE

Hypermobility has brought opportunities for career advancement in academia, but it comes with expectations and gender-based barriers, writes Lily Kong, especially when international events are focused on the Global North

Advancing women in academia: geographical mobility and the path to success

Staff-mobility programmes greatly influenced the course of our careers and challenged us to grow personally and professionally. Shelini was first introduced to the opportunity of exploring new cultures and travelling through the staff-mobility programmes promoted at her university.&nbsp;Her passion for experiencing diverse cultures took her to China, Helsinki and the US during her PhD to attend workshops and have new teaching experiences.When she joined the University of Surrey in 2020, Shelini quickly signed up for the Erasmus+ staff-mobility scheme. Through this programme, she embarked on three transformative trips abroad: she participated in a mindfulness workshop in Romania, gaining global networking and work-life balance insights; in Sweden, she discovered student hackathons that offered students credits and prizes, inspiring her to establish a similar programme at her university; her immersion in the local culture of Trinidad and Tobago led to a collaborative online international learning (COIL) project involving students from Surrey and Trinidad. Her times abroad exemplify the personal enrichment and professional growth that staff mobility programmes can offer.Tips for mastering the Global Shared Learning ClassroomBringing international and intercultural dimensions into your programmesSocial mobility via social media: opportunities for career servicesMeanwhile, Paul used staff mobility to fortify research connections, engaging in exchanges across Brazil, Germany and the US, focusing on cancer health. The mobility experiences allowed him to build his professional network and exchange ideas in science. He was able to develop his confidence in laboratory techniques and build up his scientific portfolio.The benefits of staff-mobility programmesJust as mobility exchanges bring unique benefits to students’ learning experiences, staff mobility exchanges can open your mind to new ways of working. Including:New research collaborations: diverse collaborations spark fresh insights and growth in researchFostering cultural understanding: interactions with diverse cultures cultivate empathy, tolerance, cultural understanding and inclusivity among educatorsProfessional development: mobility programmes offer growth through seminars, workshops and courses, enhancing teaching skills and competenceSkill development: exposure to diverse teaching environments hones skills such as adaptability, intercultural communication and problem-solvingElevated teaching quality: new insights enable educators to share best practices and fresh perspectives with their departments upon return.&nbsp;How to set up a staff mobility exchange programmeWith the loss of Erasmus+ funding to the United Kingdom, it’s crucial for UK universities to explore cost-effective avenues for both in-person and online mobility exchanges. Consider starting with teacher exchanges with nearby universities or any institutions with which you have an existing partnership. Seek financial support for short academic exchanges.Before you create a teacher exchange programme, set goals and objectives. Do you aim for participants to partake in knowledge sharing? Cultural immersion? Curriculum development? Research collaboration? Or something else?Look for institutions that are aligned with your focus, academic approach and shared interests. Reach out to them and express your interest in establishing a staff mobility exchange programme, highlighting the mutual benefits of the partnership. Emphasise how it contributes to professional development, cultural understanding and educational enrichment for both parties.Hammer out the practical details, including the length of the exchange, specific activities that it will involve (such as teaching specific courses, conducting research or cultural immersion activities) or any responsibilities the staff will have (for example, attendance at department meetings, submission of progress reports or active engagement in the host institution’s academic community).Once you have agreed on the length of stay, objectives and finances of an exchange, draft terms and conditions for the partnership, with help from your international office, that include the post’s responsibilities, expectations and any financial arrangements.Ensure staff attend pre-departure orientation sessions and receive comprehensive guides. These should cover cultural sensitivity, administrative procedures, host institution requirements and practical aspects such as navigating daily life (grocery shopping), obtaining local communication (how to get a SIM card) and understanding customary gift-giving practices.If going abroad is too much of a stretch, online mobility initiatives can be incredibly impactful. Start small with a pilot study, focusing on a specific theme, and bring together educators from around the world for virtual career and professional development sessions. The Active Learning Network, for example, is currently piloting a virtual teacher exchange programme across 50 institutions globally. This initiative pairs educators from diverse backgrounds in a buddy system, fostering best practice exchange and mutual mentorship on a bi-monthly basis, without any costs.How to overcome resistance to staff mobility programmesThere are many obstacles to going abroad. Time constraints, administrative duties, workloads and childcare responsibilities can all get in the way of these enriching experiences. Some staff might be resistant, have funding concerns or face logistical hurdles.It’s crucial that programme leaders emphasise the long-term benefits of staff mobility and how it contributes to a more internationally focused teaching career. Clear communication and awareness-raising efforts within the institution are essential to address these concerns. Share past success stories and note that a mobility trip could be paired with student recruitment or research collaborations, ensuring financial justification and added value.Securing financial support for staff mobility programmesBegin by exploring institutional budget allocations within your college or school. Additionally, reach out to your international exchange office to enquire about existing funding opportunities. Seek external stakeholders who might be interested in supporting such initiatives – we recently went on a trip to India and one university we visited had institutional funds to bring in teaching staff for knowledge exchange.Craft a compelling case for your mobility, outlining the purpose of the trip, anticipated gains and how that knowledge and insight will be put into practice when you return. Share success stories and highlight the tangible benefits that staff mobility brings to the institution.The decision to go abroad is a powerful catalyst for personal and professional growth, providing a gateway to a world of knowledge, experiences and connections. By taking the leap, we can transform our teaching practices, broaden our horizons and contribute to a more globally engaged academic community. Universities can help staff to embrace these opportunities through clear planning, financial support and relevant pre-departure information.Shelini Surendran is the associate dean for the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, International at the University of Surrey.Paul Townsend is the executive dean for the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Why you should do a staff mobility programme

Whether you participate in an exchange or a traineeship, mobility programmes offer teachers unparalleled growth, but there are obstacles universities should help staff overcome

Why you should do a staff mobility programme and how to set one up

Human resources departments play a vital role in any organisation, ensuring staffing practices are legally compliant and supporting the day-to-day relationships of employees and managers, alongside carrying out operational processes.But how do staff get the most out of working with HR? How can staff ensure all the touch points they have with HR within their employee lifecycle are efficient, transparent and the best experience they can be?Pathways to prosperity in casual academiaKey knowledge to be a good manager in higher educationSenior fellowship: three tips that will help your applicationFact or fiction? HR love creating long-winded complex processes around anything they canThe cliché is that HR like to make processes more complicated. This really isn’t true – although, to a customer of HR, administration can seem long-winded at times. Given that it can feel as if volumes of data are needed for HR to process seemingly simple transactional changes, you might want to ask: “What does HR do with all that information?” The data we require will always be for at least one of the following reasons:statutory reporting and requirements outside the university (to comply with financial, statutory or Home Office requirements, for example)performance and equality monitoring (EDI, staff satisfaction, staff performance)contractual/pay data (so we can pay staff correctly)university policy or governance.For staff, having an understanding (or at least an awareness) of all these things, particularly university policies, will make for a smoother HR interaction. If in doubt, reach out to HR and we can provide support and explanation.Help HR with the right information to support your queryWhen an HR officer might have to deal with anything from a query about leave entitlement to how to raise a grievance, extend a fixed-term contract or request data, they need a vast breadth of knowledge to support staff.So providing HR with as much information as possible to support your query can allow us to resolve issues as quickly as possible and therefore save you time. Information such as employee numbers, post IDs, job reference numbers, dates, user IDs or even names are all helpful details that can often be omitted from the simplest of queries. These lead to delays to what could be quick resolutions.Using HR systemsStaff who engage with and use online and self-service tools can benefit from the most transparent and efficient HR experience.Yes, complex HR processes require sophisticated systems to support them, and this can initially seem daunting or time-consuming. From the start of the employee journey, online systems – which include job requisitioning, online applications, interview scheduling, offers, onboarding, talent pools and redeployment – can guide managers and staff through these processes.Self-service tools can allow transactional HR work to be carried out quickly and efficiently. HR systems can give staff online tools to initiate tasks such as employee changes, accessing and managing their data and using automated workflows and approvals. If everyone understands and plays their part using these systems in a timely way, staff, managers and HR can benefit massively.Getting comfortable with these systems can often be a challenge. First, always try to make use of online user guides or learning materials; failing that, contact your HR or IT support teams. HR staff can talk you through using their systems and help you use them fully.Feedback from staff can help HR improve their systemsHR appreciate that employees and managers are not living and breathing the same HR processes day in and day out; they have their day jobs to get on with, too. However, an HR process should be able to be followed and understood with relative ease. Where this is not the case, HR need to know. It may be that better support materials can be provided, websites updated or systems improved, and staff can be trained. Whatever the possible outcome, unless HR know there is an issue, we can’t make things better.Offer feedback via your HR business partner, through raising a ticket with HR or through correspondence with your recruitment or employee relations contact. They can make sure the information is passed on to the right people, who can then take action.Example of successful working: an online promotions processMany universities recognise academic promotions as an example of a process that can be manually intense for all those involved. It often involves manual passing of applications between panels and collecting feedback from various sources and can lack transparency for participants (never mind the applicants themselves).At the University of Southampton, the Reward and Recognition team and HR Systems, working with academic and support staff across the university, have designed and implemented an online solution to dramatically improve this notoriously tricky process. Deliverables include:a system that enables academic staff to make promotion and pathway movement applications onlineworkflow applications to line managers that allow them to provide feedback on applicationsworkflow applications to the relevant school panels for reviewfacility to collect head-of-school feedback on all applicationsfacility that enables applicants to respond to feedbackworkflow applications and feedback to the relevant faculty review panels, by grade applied forability to seek and capture online referencesfacility to easily create university executive board panel packs for outcome ratificationa way to provide applicants with access to a consolidated copy of their application, including all the feedback, at the end of the process.Last year, we received 304 online applications from staff. Bringing the process online meant that all panel members could review applications and respond online. The process involved no paper or emailing around applications; it offered automated workflow, improved data security, automated data archiving, and easy access for each person to play their part in the process when they need to.Lisa Smith is senior manager in HR Systems at the University of Southampton.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

How can faculty ensure that all the touch points they have with human resources within their employee lifecycle are efficient, transparent and the best experience they can be?

Advice for university staff on working successfully with HR

In 2019, the UK Department for Education released its strategy for recruiting and retaining teachers in the state-funded school sector. Priority areas that were identified included creating the right climate for leaders to establish supportive cultures, with an increased emphasis on accountability and system simplification. The second target area was to transform support for early career professionals through the promotion of a research-informed framework and incentivised (monetary) initiatives. The third priority area involved enabling educators to build attractive, sustainable careers and lives with specialist qualifications and clear non-leadership pathways available. The final focal area was making teaching more accessible and straightforward to enter.Looking for a tenured teaching job? I’ve got one piece of advice: get luckyLearning designer may be the best job you’ve never heard ofKey knowledge to be a good manager in higher educationAll these approaches resonate with higher education recruitment and retention, too, because all practitioners would ideally like to enter a supportive system as painlessly as possible and then be able to grow and improve within it. The challenge within the university sector as far as recruitment and retention is concerned is that there are numerous, multifaceted layers that are all influential and intertwined. Global mobility, national regulatory compliances, shifts in demographics, divergent operating models and institutional nuances are just some of these influential factors. In addition, the breadth of qualifications, experience and skills sought are also more demanding, as universities now operate in a more customer-focused environment. Overcoming challenges such as these necessitates a variety of considerations to be addressed.Enhancing recruitment by addressing employment motivationArea 1: Employment concernsThe first area that needs to be considered relates to the terms of employment and associated package. Employees should reasonably expect clearly defined roles and remits, as well as competitive employment packages. Remuneration will extend beyond pay and be related to the overall package, and may include aspects such as medical insurance, accommodation cover, travel allowance, educational provision and social insurance. Employees will probably also consider the employer’s reputation by searching for testimonials from past and present staff. A competitive package from a reputable, people-centred provider is important.Area 2: Personal considerationsThe second consideration features life beyond work. Family, friendships, social and support groups, alongside existing commitments in the form of mortgage considerations, schooling and healthcare might well be influential. In this respect, if the intention is to attract the best-quality staff, institutions will need plenty of attractive pull factors.Pull factors might include improved compensation and benefits, more professional growth opportunities, a better fit with working interests or goals, a desirable institutional working culture, the ability to better meet family responsibilities or simply to manage a better work-life balance and/or a more desirable location.Area 3: ConvenienceAnother broad area of consideration when weighing up whether to apply for a new post, or make the move, is the ease with which it can be done. Application processes can be protracted affairs, because even after a candidate is successful lots of additional paperwork might need to be completed. Moving overseas is also time and energy intensive. It might also be relatively expensive prior to potential reimbursement when onboarding.Simplifying things as much as possible increases the probability of new staff arriving. To achieve this, employers ought to provide a list of all necessary documentation as early as possible, ensure that enough time is available in which to gather this, provide alternative options if, where and when needed, and provide supportive, knowledgeable and patient contact points. If costs are going to be high, then early access to reimbursement is also advantageous.Enhancing retention through increasing job satisfactionFactor 1: The employment packageAs a potential predictor of job retention, satisfaction with the employment package is essential. Some of the most influential features in this area are the salary and pension – and, for those working overseas, healthcare provision, accommodation, schooling and flight allowances. The capacity for continued progression in some of these areas will also be important if future needs and expectations are to be met.Factor 2: Work remitHaving a clearly defined position and role is also essential. Often, working roles can evolve over time and, when they do, it is important that staff who are expected to take on new positions actually want to if they extend beyond contractual stipulations. In these instances in which staff take on new roles it should be clearly outlined what is expected and how success is measured. Clear reporting relationships are also required to be effective, because some positions might include multiple reporting channels.Factor 3: Personal interactionsThis ties into the importance of being part of a supportive workplace. Even in contexts in which pressure is the norm, the importance of collegiality cannot be overestimated. By equal measure, environments that are known to value creativity, promote kindness and enable employees to enjoy and express themselves tap into some of the most important lessons for modern employers. To achieve this, employers need to remember that staff are not machines – they like effort to be acknowledged, need support and respond to autonomy, guidance, trust and empathy.Factor 4: Career pathwaysIt is also important to focus on recognition and progression. Most people appreciate feeling valued and acknowledged and wish to see institutional loyalty rewarded. Ways in which career pathways can be enhanced include allowing staff to have professional goals that support institutional needs and initiatives, as well as being able to follow up on personal aspirations that might extend more prescriptive routes in unexpectedly beneficial ways.Goals can also be Smart in orientation. Having mentors on hand who can guide staff is crucial and could be tied to professional development qualification (PDQ) initiatives while also helping employees learn more about career opportunities. Building experience and networks has additional benefits and, if the institution has clear upward trajectories for staff to follow, an internal sense of fulfilment should align with external measures of achievement and growth.Factor 5: Home lifeThe final area, which is essential to consider but extremely difficult to mediate for as an employer, is the non-work-related environment. Home life inevitably influences and affects working life. Being mindful of this, considering the importance of balance and well-being and supporting staff when required can go a long way in supporting institutional retention initiatives, because most people appreciate being cared about. Ways in which employers can be supportive in this area include ensuring that there is a clear delineation between the professional and personal, encouraging staff to put work aside and relax, acknowledging that small add-on tasks all contribute to the grand scheme of things and accepting that circumstances vary and so will the level of support employees need at various points in time.Gareth Morris is a senior tutor in English for academic purposes, Centre for English Language Education, at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China.Junhua Mo is associate professor in the School of Foreign Languages at Soochow University, China.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the&nbsp;THE Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Gareth Morris and Junhua Mo outline ways to address the twin critical factors of motivation for new employment and boosting job satisfaction

How to enhance recruitment and retention at your university

As scholars we all belong to that global tribe known as the “international academic community”, and once in a while there may arrive a rare opportunity to accept a visiting position at an institution overseas. As someone who has worked in several countries in Europe, South-east Asia and East Asia, my advice is simple: if and when such an opportunity appears, take it. Having a string of stints abroad adds to your CV and profile in myriad ways and, on top of that, gives you ample opportunity to network with like-minded scholars and institutions, potentially finding academic companions for life.Having said that, I would also make it clear that accepting a visiting position overseas is not as easy as it sounds. This is particularly true for those of us who happen to live and work in the developing Global South, for the sad reality is that we live in an unequal world and not all passports are created equal. To make things easier if and when the time does come, though, here are some things to look out for:First, you should always begin by doing serious research into the institution that is inviting you, as well as&nbsp;into the host country. While some universities have embraced internationalisation with relish, their respective countries may not. You will need to carry this research out yourself – even if it is only for a short stint of a semester or half a year.I moved to Sweden as an early career researcher – here’s what I learnedSeven tips on finding and establishing international partnershipsAdvice for academics interested in working in the NetherlandsOne factor to consider is whether the institution inviting you has a dedicated department or unit that deals with overseas academics and students. Here at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, where I am based, the university’s welcome centre played a pivotal role in my decision to accept the offer of a visiting professorship. The centre was set up specifically to help academics and students from abroad find their way to Germany, helping them fulfil all the requirements of German immigration. For those whose command of the German language is weak (and mine is truly basic), this was a great help indeed. Not all universities have these centres and, in such cases, the visiting academic would have to figure everything out for herself/himself, which can be a nightmare for many. So, step one would be to check if the host university has people there who can help as you prepare for the trip. Never be shy when it comes to asking for help in this regard.The second thing to ask yourself is whether you’re willing and able to go alone or if you would need to bring your family with you. In my case I made it clear to the host institution that I would not be willing to come without my wife, and my advice is to be frank with your host institution from the beginning. Travelling with my wife meant that a second set of documents had to be prepared so she could join me on a spousal visa. Again, this requires prior research, as different countries have different rules and regulations when it comes to the issuing of spousal visas or family visas for children. For those with kids in tow, a host of other considerations arise: are there going to be local schools that cater to foreign children? Can your kids simply enrol into the local schools, or would they need an international school to cater to their needs? All this will add to the overall cost of your stint abroad.Which brings me to the practical question of salaries and costs. Some visiting positions may offer a return ticket as part of the contract, while some do not. At present, the cost of long-distance travel in the post-Covid era is prohibitively expensive for many, and for those with families coming along, it might be so high as to render the venture futile. Always check with your friends and colleagues who work at the inviting institution about daily living costs – never rely on those generic charts and tables you find on the internet.It would also be wise to get an understanding of the work culture at your host institution. Again, one should always be honest from the outset. The host institution may be an old one, where a certain work culture has developed over decades, and the visiting academic needs to understand the basic protocols of daily work: are you expected to attend every single meeting or departmental dinner? Are you allowed to rely on the secretaries or student assistants to help you with things such as photocopying or scanning documents? These may seem like mundane matters, but different places may have different rules regarding office work, and it would be wise to know them lest one end up stepping on the toes of others by accident.In the final analysis, we need to ask ourselves why we would accept a visiting position abroad in the first place? For younger academics whose careers are just beginning, a stint abroad may add a tinge of prestige to their budding academic profiles, showing they are well regarded&nbsp; by international institutions. But always remember that you are going overseas for work; this is not meant to be a holiday. Teaching and research await, but also the opportunities for collaboration, project designing and the possibility of collaborative work on a bigger scale later. As an academic who has always believed in, and pushed for, international cooperation, I can only state again: if the opportunity arises, do take it. But please do so with your eyes wide open.Farish A. Noor is presently visiting professor at the standards of decision-making across cultures (SDAC) programme at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Having worked in numerous countries across different continents, Farish A. Noor gives advice on what to look out for when potentially moving overseas

Lots to unpack: tips for those considering visiting positions abroad

Seven years ago, I left my home country. First, I went to a major research centre in Berlin. Then, in Kazakhstan, I helped develop the curriculum and policies of a recently established university. My new position in the USA affords me different possibilities. Moving internationally gave me opportunities I might not have gotten at home in the UK.&nbsp;You could say I left for these opportunities, but I also left because of the academic job market. Simply put, I had little choice if I wanted to stay in academia. I have been on the job market almost continuously for the past 11 years. I am constantly having to choose between keeping my career or going home. I may never be able to do both. For now, at least, I have chosen my career. But that comes with its own stressors.How do you fly around a war zone with a cat?A single international move can easily cost thousands of dollars, and most universities are not going to cover all of that – if they cover any of it at all. To get from Central Asia to Middle America – almost halfway around the world – I had to pay for flights and a shipping company, book short-term and then long-term accommodation, and find furniture. And this before being paid a single dollar.Why we should be humans first and academics secondWhat is tenure – and how to get itThe cruel optimism of research careers: how to support contract workersThen there is the mental cost. Any move like this comes with a huge amount of decision fatigue, along with the regular fatigue. How do you fly from Kazakhstan to Indiana during a pandemic around a war zone with a cat? What health paperwork do I need? What does my cat need? Which shipping company is best or cheapest? Which of my possessions am I sufficiently invested in to take with me, and which should I purchase again once I arrive? Which bank should I use, which supermarket and where should I live? How in the hell does anyone navigate the US visa process? It’s a constant deluge of choices to make: from things that could derail the entire process to simply how to find a sandwich.Many people do all this without a support network. When I moved to Kazakhstan, I had never been to the country before and knew one person, who left six months after I arrived. I know precisely no one in the entire state of Indiana. My nearest friends live 1,100 kilometres from here. And knowing that invokes something like claustrophobia or vertigo, a sudden breathless feeling of isolation as you are reminded that there is no one, no one at all, who you know.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;You meet people locally, but it’s never the same. You can’t laugh with them about that former flatmate you both had and their weird opinions on sofas. You introduce yourself to new colleagues, over and again. At best, it’s academic-friend speed-dating; at worst, a months-long addendum to the interview – a feeling of pressure to be bright and shiny for your bosses when you may feel anything but.Colleagues might be sympathetic, but universities as institutions are often as uninterested in the stress and expense of moving as they usually are about faculty well-being. If we are teaching our classes, we must be fine. Institutions, we’ve been warned before, will never love us back.Constant dislocation and Zoom overloadI am so tired. More than anything, I am tired of the constant dislocation of it all. I want to be able to text an old friend and meet them in the pub that same evening. I want to have a real conversation – not just a “Hi, how are you?” – with someone I don’t work with. I am sick of cross-time-zone WhatsApp conversations that are like telegrams, sent out in one person’s daylight and replied in another’s. I am jaded by the close yet impersonal nature of social media. And I am absolutely fucking sick of Zoom.I remember meeting an older colleague who had just retired from the university that hired them straight out of grad school. They never worked anywhere else in their whole career. Technically, that can still happen. There are unicorns in the world. But for most of us who decide to stay in academia, we’ll go through multiple institutions before being offered a job that could perhaps be permanent.&nbsp;For the rest of us, we are a generation of academics shuttled from contract to contract, institution to institution, country to country, never quite able to build up a local support network, put down roots and make a real home. And when we retire (if any of us will be able to afford to retire), where will we go? Back to a place we haven’t lived in decades, to find a town where, once again, we won’t know a soul?How scholars can cope with an international moveSo, here are my thoughts on coping, from long experience:Social media and phones are good, actually. Mental health experts love to tell us to put away our phones and log off Twitter, but if you know no one for miles around, that’s not practical and it’s not helpful. Text your friends. Connect with communities on message boards. Put cute pictures on Instagram. Use our substantial technologies of communication to communicate.Find local community. And, no, not just with work people. Hopefully, you will have cool and lovely colleagues, but you need other people to interact with. Seek out websites, Instagram accounts, Facebook pages maintained by running groups, knitting circles, religious institutions, rock-climbing groups. Use the online to find the offline.Love where you are. Everywhere in the world has something good, maybe even something great, about it. Maybe you’re near a beautiful forest. Perhaps there are excellent restaurants in town or cool street art. Find the local thing that brings you joy and enjoy it whenever you can.Make a home, whatever that means for you. Love cooking? Buy one great pan and invite people for dinner. Book lover? Decorate your place with your favourite books, lined up in full view of the sofa. Colours make you happy? Get neon gel pens or removable wallpaper or a beautiful plant. Make the place you’re in feel good to be in right now, even if it’s not where you want to be forever.Clare Griffin is a mental health advocate, fiction writer, historian and assistant professor for Russian history at Indiana University Bloomington.&nbsp;Her latest book is&nbsp;Mixing Medicines: The Global Drug Trade and Early Modern Russia (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022).This article was originally published in July 2022 on Voices of Academia as “The eternal dislocation of academic living”.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

For many scholars, a sustainable career means moving countries to follow jobs and opportunities. Here, Clare Griffin talks about the financial, mental and social costs of relocation and offers practical tips for coping 

Zoom fatigue and other exhaustions of international academic life

Employing and retaining talented, knowledgeable lecturers, researchers and professional service staff is a growing challenge for universities. The rise in global mobility and shifts in demographic profiles have contributed to the situation. This is on top of the fact that universities are already well known to be human resource anomalies, which incorporate divergent operating models, so each institution demands a specific approach to its staffing requirements.The other challenge with recruitment in higher education is the breadth of skills, qualifications and experience needed; these are balanced against demands on academic management to generate a surplus from devolved budgets. And don’t forget a confused line-management structure,&nbsp;heavily unionised environment, academic power in respective fields, regulatory compliance and ensuring that students are happy as paying customers.In their efforts to get recruitment right, universities are trying a more substantive model with more diverse interview panels, campus tours and presentations to a large cohort who report into the panel. Essentially, the interview process has become more thorough, intensive and, frankly, cumbersome.Landing your first lectureship: top five academic career planning tipsThe cruel optimism of research careers: how to support contract workersLinkedIn is quickly becoming academia’s key tool for career progressionAs well as these self-inflicted institutional challenges, key elements influencing job choice, such as pay, also impact the higher education sector. In the UK, academic pay is low relative to other highly qualified jobs (which affects entry into the HE sector as well as retention). Other factors that make staff more likely to leave the HE sector include:dissatisfaction with non-pecuniary elements (such as the work itself, relations with manager, being able to use one’s own initiative, hours, relations with colleagues and physical work conditions)having had a break in one’s academic careerbeing on a non-permanent contractbeing closer to the end of a fixed-term contracthours workedhours spent on administrative tasksthe fewer hours spent on researchperception of excessive workloadbelief that decisions on individual pay, recruitment to senior posts or promotion at their university are not at all fairdissatisfaction with pay and the level of pay.What are the specific recruitment and retention problems in HE?The implementation of tuition fees has created a more customer-focused environment, where candidates from the private sector are viewed as having the commercial skills required to handle contemporary students. The introduction of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework&nbsp;(TEF) in 2017, as well as the Office for Students thereafter, resulted in a different demand for university staff skills with more roles in student services to meet new legislation demands.The main issue, however, lies in the general employment marketplace, which highly favours the candidate. Office for National Statistics’ 2022 figures&nbsp;show that job vacancies reached a record high of 1.1&nbsp;million at the end of 2021, which is an increase of 318,000 on its pre-pandemic, March 2020 level.This is not just an HE or even a UK-wide problem, but a global issue dubbed the “Great Resignation”. The term was proposed by Anthony Klotz, from Texas A&amp;M University, which witnessed employees re-evaluating their careers and a record number leaving their jobs in the wake of the Covid crisis.Although the pandemic certainly exacerbated the change in job movement, a report in the Harvard Business Review identified five factors that together have yielded these changes:retirement&nbsp;relocation&nbsp;reconsideration&nbsp;reshuffling&nbsp;reluctance.&nbsp;Workers are&nbsp;retiring&nbsp;in greater numbers but are not&nbsp;relocating&nbsp;in large numbers; they’re&nbsp;reconsidering&nbsp;their work-life balance and care roles; they are making localised switches among industries or&nbsp;reshuffling rather than exiting the labour market entirely; and, because of pandemic-related fears, they are demonstrating a&nbsp;reluctance&nbsp;to return to in-person jobs.As has been popular in the private sector, universities have implemented perpetual voluntary redundancy schemes, which have created a vacuum of “institutional memory”. Universities have used interim support to fill these gaps, but this is not sustainable and can impact the student experience.How can HE address these issues?Many universities are taking fairly radical action&nbsp;to address the sector’s issues with recruitment and retention, although internal politics and long-term appointments protecting their positions are preventing some from driving required reform.A large amount of debt is being carried by a number of institutions, and those that are not recruiting to ensure that their operations do not lose money will ultimately have to make tough decisions around proper recruitment and retention practices.Cross-departmental working will become even more vital for universities as they move to operate as single, joined-up units instead of using traditional departmental silos.Recruiting the best in class into HEMany factors affect a university’s ability to attract the best candidates. Important among them is the onus on the recruiting institution to make the applicant feel that the role is a key part of their core business. This would give candidates the confidence that the&nbsp;recruiting institution understood the role and the candidate’s skills and was taking the recruitment process seriously.Every vacancy is a bespoke role, and while trends are visible across the sector, the variables for each role are unique, and an individual who works well for one institution will not necessarily succeed in another. Therefore, before starting the recruitment process, the institution must be clear about its strengths, weaknesses and plans for the future.The recruitment of senior professional services staff in HE remains a challenge, with the sourcing and incentivising of those from outside the HE sector being particularly difficult. So&nbsp;clear career development plans and continued personal development programmes, as well as a flexible working environment and staff benefits that universities can offer, are key to attracting and retaining professionals from beyond academia.Communication among staff is essential for employee satisfaction and reducing turnover, while engendering open communication between manager and employee allows both parties to develop a more trusting relationship and a positive working environment.Finally, the HE sector can be a siloed community, and the faculties themselves should realise and plan for when certain academic expertise is required and know who the main players are in that field. Staff networks can be used to identify and attract top talent to the institution.Employees are more likely to remain with the institution if they believe that it has authentic interest in and concern for them and they know what is expected of them. If they are aligned to a role that fits their capabilities, they receive regular recognition and positive feedback, and they are well informed on relevant issues concerning the organisation, then they will likely remain longer in jobs.Jonathan Lord is a senior lecturer in human resource management at Salford Business School at the University of Salford.If you found this interesting and want advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the THE&nbsp;Campus newsletter.

Attracting and keeping the best people is a perennial issue for higher education institutions. Here, Jonathan Lord looks at how the pandemic impacted staffing and strategies for improving processes

Staff mobility

THE podcast: cross-cultural communication in the international classroom

Advancing women in academia: geographical mobility and the path to success

Why you should do a staff mobility programme and how to set one up

Advice for university staff on working successfully with HR

How to enhance recruitment and retention at your university

Lots to unpack: tips for those considering visiting positions abroad

Zoom fatigue and other exhaustions of international academic life

Why is recruitment and retention in the university sector more difficult than in other sectors?

Discover

More from THE

Sign up

Collaborate with THE

About

Legal stuff

Staff mobility

.css-7qmtvr{overflow:hidden;max-height:108px;text-indent:0px;}THE podcast: cross-cultural communication in the international classroom

Advancing women in academia: geographical mobility and the path to success

Why you should do a staff mobility programme and how to set one up

Advice for university staff on working successfully with HR

How to enhance recruitment and retention at your university

Lots to unpack: tips for those considering visiting positions abroad

Zoom fatigue and other exhaustions of international academic life

Why is recruitment and retention in the university sector more difficult than in other sectors?

THE podcast: cross-cultural communication in the international classroom