Academic Mobility by Nina Maadad

Author:Nina Maadad
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Published: 2013-04-20T04:00:00+00:00

OVERALL REFLECTIONS

The academics expressed mixed views on their overall evaluation of their experience of academic mobility. Academic A expressed some very positive views:

I am very content with the pathway that I chose, and where it has brought me. I find that I am very happy in my current work, and find the recognition that I receive for my efforts extremely heartening. My cross-institutional and cross-cultural experience has enabled me to build international links. I maintain close links with my home institution through research collaborations and research student supervision. I do frequently consider the question of returning to my home institution, but there are compelling professional and personal reasons to remain in Australia for the foreseeable future. Maybe at a later stage I will be able to come to an arrangement by which I work across international institutions and use my experience for the benefit of both institutions. (Academic A)

Academic B is slightly more cautious in his views, but is generally positive:

Looking back on nearly seven years after completion of the PhD, I think it was a worthwhile investment. I earn a reasonably good income and I feel the value of my labour has been greatly enhanced. In terms of family the investment has paid-off, albeit with a caveat: I have secured Australian citizenship for the family and the kids are happily getting a relatively good quality education. However, their schooling has complicated my plans for returning home; I had originally intended to return after a couple of years of work experience but now it appears I am the only one in the family with the desire to return home.

I have mixed feelings about the development of my career as an academic. I feel things have progressed quite slowly, partly because of the relatively short fixed-term contracts; it comes with a lot of uncertainties that make even medium-term planning a useless exercise. Another issue relates to my inability to focus on a particular line of research – I feel I have become more of a ‘generalist’ in the broad field of Public Health because I don’t have my own research grant and so don’t have control over the type of research I do. However, I have learnt a lot from the different projects and I feel the different experiences have made me a lot more versatile and, to some extent, improved the market value of my labour.

Looking into the future, I believe the skills I have acquired as an academic in Australia are highly relevant for the health sector development of my home country. I have therefore begun building bridges back home through collaborative research with the view of playing a more active role in that country’s health sector development. (Academic B)

Academic C reflects on the overall benefits and challenges:

When I reflect on my Australian academic life … the personal connections I had established prior to starting my academic career in Australia helped me make a relatively smooth and stress free transition to my current academic life, a life that I now enjoy and find fulfilling though I continue to miss my family and friends back home.

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