Julia Richardson

Leaving and experiencing: why academics expatriate and how they experience expatriation

Globalisation has led to increasing international mobility amongst business and education professionals. Whilst expatriate management literature focuses on expatriate assignment of corporate executives, expatriate academics remain an under researched group. Higher education literature has focused on internationalisation of education systems, notably the growth in international strategic alliances between universities, and mobility amongst students. Therefore compared with what is known about the student body, very little is known about the experiences of internationally mobile academics. Drawing on a qualitative study of academics, this paper evaluates the use of metaphor for understanding the “motivation to go” overseas and the “experience” of expatriation. It evaluates four metaphors which have emerged from the study for expatriating and four others for the experience of expatriation. Finally it suggests that the voluntary, self‐selecting expatriate should be much more extensively researched.

Self‐directed expatriation: family matters

Purpose – To provide a theoretically grounded exploration of the familys role in the decision to expatriate independently.Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative study drawing on data collected in interviews with 30 British faculty working in universities in Singapore, New Zealand, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Data analysis was performed using computer assisted qualitative data analysis software (NVivo).Findings – Family played a strong role in the decision to expatriate independently, particularly spouse and children. Yet, extended family remaining in the home country were also implicated. Moreover, participants drew on previous family experiences and history to explain their decision. The concept of the “significant” other was useful in explaining these findings.Research limitations/implications – As an exploratory study the sample size was appropriate. However, a larger study might present further themes and/or allow generalization. Alternative family forms were not well represente...

The darker side of an international academic career

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the “darker side” of what it means to engage in an international academic career. Extending beyond well‐documented themes relating to the difficulties of cross‐cultural adjustment and unfulfilled expectations/opportunities for promotion, this paper seeks to introduce “transience and risk” as two important dimensions of this very specific career choice. The paper draws especially on the contemporary “new” careers literature, including conceptions of career exploration as a framework to understand the research findings.Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a qualitative methodology, drawing on semi‐structured interviews conducted in situ with 30 expatriate academics in four different countries.Findings – Transience and risk were identified as two important dimensions of the “darker side” of pursuing an international academic career. However, these two dimensions also had further positive aspects, thus signalling the complex and often contradictory nature of thi...

International experience and academic careers

This paper focuses on the relatively unexplored link between international experience and academic careers. Drawing on a study of 30 British academics in four countries, it reports how they accounted for their decision to take an overseas appointment and how they evaluated that appointment. The contemporary career literature is used as a framework for analysis connecting the findings with “traditional” and “new” career themes. The desire to travel was found to be a key driver in taking the overseas appointment. When it came to evaluating the overseas appointment, however, upward career mobility in the context of increasing internationalisation was a major concern. The paper offers a number of key concerns for managers in institutions of higher education, particularly those concerned with the management and recruitment of international faculty.

The increasing complexity of the internationally mobile professional

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a research agenda and raise practical issues relating to the increasing complexity of the internationally mobile professional.Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers the developing issues in the use of alternative forms of international assignment (short‐term, commuter, flexpatriate) and the existence of the independent internationally mobile professional and raises questions for research and practice.Findings – The paper suggests that alternative forms of international assignment and assignee are under‐ researched. Additionally, the large number of independently mobile professionals in the global economy need to be further researched, while organizations should recruit for international assignments from the external as well as internal labour markets when circumstances allow.Originality/value – The paper raises under‐researched questions in the study of international assignments and suggests more strategic approaches to the practice of managing ...

Self‐initiated expatriation and self‐initiated expatriates: Clarification of the research stream

Purpose – This paper aims to move towards clarification of the self‐initiated expatriate/expatriation construct with the aim of extending and deepening theory development in the field.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on Suddabys think piece on construct clarity, this paper applies his proposed four elements; definitional clarity, scope conditions, relationships between constructs and coherence, in order to clarify the SIE construct.Findings – The discussion examines the “problem of definition” and its impact on SIE scholarship. The spatial, temporal and value‐laden constraints that must be considered by SIE scholars are expounded, and the links between SIE research and career theory are developed. From this, potential research agendas are proposed.Research limitations/implications – This is a conceptual piece which, rather than giving precise research data, encourages further thinking in the field.Originality/value – Although the definitional difficulties of SIEs have been identified in previous lit...

Geographic Flexibility in Academia: A Cautionary Note

Having the flexibility to pursue an international career is increasingly common in many professions. Based on two qualitative studies of international academics, this paper focuses on academia. Commencing with a discussion about the different dimensions of flexibility in academia it focuses specifically on geographic flexibility, understood as the ability to pursue a career across international boundaries. Drawing on conceptions of an international community of scholars operating in a science context and specific national and institutional contexts the paper explores the experiences of international academics. It also considers the modes of engagement they use to navigate the demands of those contexts. The findings suggest that while academia as a profession may be characterized by geographic flexibility a certain tension exists between academia and the national and institutional contexts within which academics must operate. It is noted that it is internationally mobile academics who are currently paying the price of those tensions and offers a cautionary note to those who are contemplating such a career move. It also suggests that academics can adopt certain modes of engagement in order to maintain, transform or subvert those institutional challenges.

The Relationship between Organizational Leadership for Safety and Learning from Patient Safety Events

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between organizational leadership for patient safety and five types of learning from patient safety events (PSEs). STUDY SETTING Forty-nine general acute care hospitals in Ontario, Canada. STUDY DESIGN A nonexperimental design using cross-sectional surveys of hospital patient safety officers (PSOs) and patient care managers (PCMs). PSOs provided data on organization-level learning from (a) minor events, (b) moderate events, (c) major near misses, (d) major event analysis, and (e) major event dissemination/communication. PCMs provided data on organizational leadership (formal and informal) for patient safety. EXTRACTION METHODS Hospitals were the unit of analysis. Seemingly unrelated regression was used to examine the influence of formal and informal leadership for safety on the five types of learning from PSEs. The interaction between leadership and hospital size was also examined. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Formal organizational leadership for patient safety is an important predictor of learning from minor, moderate, and major near-miss events, and major event dissemination. This relationship is significantly stronger for small hospitals (<100 beds). CONCLUSIONS We find support for the relationship between patient safety leadership and patient safety behaviors such as learning from safety events. Formal leadership support for safety is of particular importance in small organizations where the economic burden of safety programs is disproportionately large and formal leadership is closer to the front lines.

Metaphorical “types” and human resource management: self‐selecting expatriates

Whilst globalisation has led to increasing international mobility, the contemporary expatriate management literature has focused on managers and corporate executives who are sent on an overseas appointment by their employers. By comparison, self‐selecting expatriates remain an under‐researched group. Specifically, at a time when internationalisation is a major trend in higher education very little is known about expatriate academics as an example of self‐selecting expatriates. Drawing on a qualitative study of British academics, this article suggests that metaphor may be a useful tool for developing our understanding of self‐selecting expatriates. It then discusses the four metaphors, which have emerged from the study. Finally it shows how those metaphors can be used to facilitate better management practices not only for the growing number of expatriate academics but also for self‐selecting expatriates more generally.

Business values, management and conflict handling: issues in contemporary Singapore

Outlines the conflict‐handling style of a representative sample of 303 Singaporeans. Using the Thomas‐Kilmann conflict mode instrument, investigates some interesting gender, age, role and occupational differences in conflict‐handling style. Suggests that, while Western thought and practice emphasize collaboration in resolving conflict in organizations, the cultural value systems of different Asian cultures emphasize unassertiveness. Suggests that the issue may be about the conflict between traditionalism and modernism, and that economic development brings with it an inevitable change in the psychological practice of capitalism.