Academic Mobility and International Academics

Challenges and Opportunities

Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781801175135
• eBook ISBN: 9781801175128
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Counseling in Career Development

Despite growing numbers of international academics globally, there is a dearth of works exploring success stories, and the barriers and opportunities of being an international academic. Academic Mobility and International Academics offers personal experiences and guidance from a truly international suite of scholars exploring their academic journeys and addressing intersectional topics on academic mobility including perspectives from early career researchers, university leaders, mentors, LGBTIQ scholars, and more.    

Throughout this timely collection, chapter authors offer insight into overall academic employment experiences, including their motivations and challenges in steering their academic career. They offer guidance on how international academics can harness their career aspirations, across both leadership and non-leadership positions and how internationality in academic careers is evolving in these current times.

Essential reading for any scholar or postgraduate student looking to work outside of their home nation, this hopeful and insightful text will provide guidance, inspiration, and real-life examples of how to survive and thrive as an international scholar. 

Section 1

LEADERSHIP

1

Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Navigating towards Leadership Positions as a Woman International Academic

Ashleigh-Jane Thompson

Abstract

While emerging research suggests that women have made great gains within the higher education sector, significant challenges remain. Notably, women are still severely under-represented in leadership positions in the academe, and this is even more so for international academics. As an early-career academic, I am fortunate that my journey so far has allowed me to hold various leadership positions (both informal and formal). In this book chapter, I reflect on my own experiences. In so doing, I share insights into how to be an ‘opportunist’ in gaining leadership positions as a woman, breaking through the glass ceiling – that symbolic obstacle women hit – while being an international academic. The chapter starts with a brief overview of my background and my non-traditional pathway into the Sport Management discipline more broadly and the sub-discipline where I now feel at ‘home’. In what follows, I consider how some of the barriers and challenges I faced along the way have served to shape my future self. It is, perhaps, not without some degree of irony, that strategies I developed to mitigate or overcome these led to what I term self-created opportunities. The chapter then reflects on some of the successes I have achieved.

Keywords: Leadership; international early career academic; challenges; opportunities; strategies; successes

Where It All Started

To contextualise the reflections and experiences that I draw from in the following sections, it is important to provide an introduction and overview of who I am and what has shaped my resulting international academic identity. I was born in New Zealand (NZ) where I grew up and completed all my education. Like many fellow ‘Kiwis’, my ancestry provides strong ties to the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland, where dreams of undertaking an overseas experience (OE) abound. My maternal grandmother immigrated to New Zealand as a young adult but her continued passion and love for all things ‘British’, along with visits from extended relatives from Ireland and the United Kingdom, sparked my curiosity about the world beyond New Zealand's shores. Not surprisingly, I was a passionate student of social science at school, most notably drawn to history, sociology, cultural studies and languages (Japanese and French). All of these experiences planted and cultivated my desire to, at some point, discover life abroad.

However, I also developed other interests in technology and computing which led me to complete a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. I was fortunate enough to be awarded a postgraduate scholarship to continue for an Honours year. Till this point, I had been privileged. This was the first time I found myself in the position of being part of a minority group. During this period, women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) disciplines were few and far between as it was, and perhaps still is, a very male-dominated area. In my final year, I was often the sole woman in my classes, and soon, the notion of being different or the ‘odd one out’ became the norm. Throughout my studies, I became socialised into the norms of what it meant to exist, within this male-dominated space. While I was fortunate to have peers, lecturers and supervisors who treated me with respect and embraced my presence this was not always the case. I recall a conversation not long after I received my first job offer as a developer for a leading IT company that left me taken aback. The crux of it was that, in their view, I was fortunate – I ticked an inclusion box that would give me an automatic advantage over others. For them, the fact I was a woman far outweighed my skills and ability which they saw as secondary (I received a scholarship as one of the top 5% of undergraduates completing a degree across the entire College of Sciences – so I guess I did know something). Unfortunately, it is a sentiment that I have encountered several times since.

I declined that job offer and instead took time off to travel overseas. It was here, in the United Kingdom while watching a game of tennis, my career path changed. Swapping one male-dominated industry for another, I embarked on a journey into the Sport Management field. Fast forward several years, and after completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration and a PhD at Massey University (New Zealand) I entered the world of academia full-time in 2016. While worked as a casual tutor and lecturer throughout my studies, I received a fixed-term contract as a Lecturer at Massey University just before submitting my PhD. As anyone who has been in a contract position knows, the uncertainty of future employment is not always easy, and so I began looking for other opportunities. With a limited number of positions in my discipline in New Zealand, I saw gaining employment at an international institution as a beneficial career move. Fortunately, in 2017, I was offered a full-time, continuing Lecturer's position with the Department of Management, Sport and Tourism at La Trobe University, Australia.

As the following sections will show, I consider myself to be an international academic across two dimensions. Firstly, in the more literal sense, I was born, educated and started my academic career overseas. Secondly, in the teaching, research and service domains, I have worked to develop extensive networks with colleagues and peers overseas that has created an element of ‘internationality’ to my work. I think it is also important, at this point, to acknowledge that leadership can, and often does, take many different forms. As Donald McGannon, an American broadcasting industry executive and devoted advocate for social responsibility in the media, once said ‘leadership is an action, not a position’. Indeed, leadership is not simply about the role or title one holds within an organisation or the academy more broadly. Rather, it is the action we choose to take, the choices and the behaviours. It is with this lens, and these considerations, that I share insights on the barriers, opportunities, strategies and successes that I have experienced to date. While some are specific to my journey, I hope that others may see value in these, as they seek to break through the glass ceiling.

The Leadership Labyrinth: Barriers along the Way

Research is replete with literature documenting certain barriers and obstacles that women and international academics face in ascending to leadership positions in higher education (see Helms, Schendel, Godwin, & Blanco, 2021). So here, I will instead focus on my own personal lived experiences. While I have not had to contend with significant cultural differences or language barriers in my international academic journey, one of the biggest challenges has been navigating the subtle nuances of new work cultures and different institutional expectations while still striving to deliver the best possible learning experience for students. That said, I do feel like there is a sense that certain cultural values do shape this experience. For example, in Australia I have found that it is not feminine to aspire to, or identify as, a leader, while in New Zealand there exists a certain tall-poppy syndrome, where you do not overtly promote yourself as a leader. Coming to a new international institution there was also this sense of trying to work out and identify the who's who of the institutional network. Who are the people that need to know who you are if you aspire to be in a formal position of leadership? The ability to build your profile and network becomes extremely important, something I expand on in the following section.

Being based on a regional (outskirts of Melbourne) campus presented challenges in the acculturation process as I tried to understand the subtle and nuanced differences between New Zealand and Australian higher education systems. I was also the sole staff member in my discipline which created a literal geographic and figurative barrier to creating meaningful connections with colleagues within my discipline and the department, often sparked by those informal ‘water-cooler’ conversations. In some respects, I was, by default, the lone wolf who adapted to the environment by taking ownership of a small piece of something I could meaningfully contribute to becoming the Course Advisor for our regional degrees. This proved to be the stepping stone to my next formal leadership position when a year after joining the University, I took on a formal leadership position as the Program Director for the Sport Management suite of courses.

While I did not set out initially with a clear short- or long-term career plan that included any formal leadership positions, I had the lofty ambition of one day being considered a leader, whether it be in research or teaching. As research shows, I knew this would be a challenging process. When I considered the experiences of colleagues who I looked up to and aspired to be like, I saw that leadership opportunities for women and international academics were hard enough to attain at the culmination of a long career, let alone for an early career academic starting their journey. It felt like to be successful there was a game to be played, a system to be unlocked or a secret code to be cracked, and this was something that never resonated with me.

Another barrier that I am still trying to overcome is the persistent struggle with feelings of self-doubt that has materialised more within the context of formal leadership positions I hold or have held. As I noted earlier, there have been times throughout my career when I felt others had assumed, albeit wrongly, that I got a position solely because I ticked a box – I was a woman, I was based at a certain location, I was young. That said, there have also been situations where my youth has been perceived as a disadvantage when age has been used as a proxy for experience. This has often made me feel insecure and caused me to question and doubt my abilities. This is not a point that I have shared openly with many others before, and I know I am not alone in this. This notion of the imposter syndrome is something that is also a sentiment shared by others.

Finally, although I have never publicly voiced this before, one of the things I struggled with as an early-career researcher (ECR), and to some extent still do, was trying to work out just where I fit. I looked to leaders who excelled in teaching, who had stellar research reputations and others who contributed heavily in academic citizenship. I tried to find the magic formula that would allow me to do it all, be involved in all aspects of an academic's role, but one was not apparent. If I focused on research, I had less time for service-related activities. If I took on more service activities I had less time to devote to innovative teaching. I have been fortunate to encounter an amazing mentor who keeps telling me, there's not a ‘right way’ to do things, just ‘your way’, if being a well-rounded academic is what fulfils you keep at it.

Spotlighting Opportunities and Strategies

Without trying to be overly simplistic, for me, some of the key strategies that have contributed to various informal and formal leadership positions or roles I have been involved with are (1) taking advantage of opportune moments, (2) leveraging my internationalism, (3) building a profile and developing networks and (4) finding good mentors.

I have learnt that it is important for those in formal leadership positions to have institutional credibility and knowledge. Additionally, depending on the leadership role, knowledge and understanding of the broad higher education sector and national and international trends is advantageous. I am fortunate that I took advantage of serendipitous opportunities that enabled me to develop these insights earlier on. For example, during my postgraduate studies, I undertook casual work as an administrator in our Campus Registrar's Office. Here, I was exposed to participation in the Campus Life committee, Sports Forum and Academic Leadership Forum. I also worked on various initiatives and strategies designed to support and enhance student progression and distance student education. At the time, the drawcard was a monetary benefit. However, in hindsight, that experience has been invaluable in allowing me to develop the big picture understanding and global view that has enhanced my strategic thinking.

Additionally, one of the foremost barriers that many women face in the academy more broadly is the realities of careering and familial responsibilities that often disproportionally fall to them. In my case, it was not the presence of these obligations that presented a challenge, but rather the lack of them. When I started my academic career, I was one of only a few staff members in my school who were deemed to be free of such obligations. This led to requests to attend functions, events, or other activities because I was ‘free’. In hindsight, my innate inability to say no to things, something I continue to struggle with, meant that I participated in activities that allowed me to build networks and a profile within contexts that I would not have been exposed to otherwise. Now, here I am not advocating that others follow my path and, in a do as I say not as I do moment, saying no is an important skill to develop. However, the lesson in this is being open to opportunities that present themselves. Particularly if it provides you with the ability to expand your network and put you in front of people who you consider to be influential in your field, discipline, or institution. Just be selective with those that you say yes to!

One thing that I have come to realise over time is that there is a distinction to be made between being ‘an’ international academic and being ‘the’ international academic. In this sense, I mean considering your internationalism as a benefit that can be leveraged by way of the insights, experiences and knowledge of ‘other’ contexts that you can contribute to teaching, research and academic citizenship as not only a leader but an academic citizen more broadly. For example, I recognised that there was, to some extent, an over-abundance of research and researchers in my specific research area from the Global North, particularly in North America and Canada. I saw this as an opportunity for me to position myself as an emerging leader within the field that could offer a unique understanding of the context within the Global South. I acknowledge upfront the privileged position that afforded me with the following opportunities to achieve this and recognise that for others this may not be possible. Initially, international conference attendance was one of the key mechanisms through which I sought to leverage my international-ness. While COVID-19 has created challenges with international travel, the benefit has been the enhanced global accessibility of conferences and events with opportunities for virtual attendance.

As someone who would not self-identify as being overly extroverted, the idea of putting myself out there to build a profile and develop networks was a challenging proposition. While I had colleagues who could self-promote like rock stars, this was something I initially felt uncomfortable at the thought of doing. However, I quickly learnt that I needed to move from being out of sight to being visible with other leaders. So, I focused on doing so in a way that showcased the impact or contribution that I felt I was making. Another tactic that I have used to build my profile and allow me to demonstrate leadership within both formal and non-formal dimensions is the translation of my work within the local community. Something I considered important as someone new here. While based in Bendigo this has been achieved through my active role as a Board member on three sports organisations' boards: Proud2Play, Bendigo Tennis Association (BTA) and the Bendigo Academy of Sport. More recently, as I have gained confidence, I have also sought to engage with the media (i.e. print, radio and television) as an outlet to translate my research, encourage public dialogue and debate and raise my profile.

In terms of networking, I leveraged opportunities and situations that would allow the ability to connect with others in a safe and supportive environment. These can be either internal or external to your institution. For example, I used social media to make connections with scholars and educ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Editor
• Endorsements
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• About the Contributors
• Preface
• Introduction
• Section 1 Leadership
• Section 2 Experiences of Esteemed and Young Scholars
• Section 3 Personal and Family Experiences in Long- and Short-Term Mobilities
• Index