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Internationally Mobile Faculty, Comparative Perspectives

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The International Encyclopedia of Higher Education Systems and Institutions

Synonyms

Brain circulation; Cross-border academic (staff) mobility; Cross-border faculty mobility; International academic (staff) mobility; International faculty mobility

Definition

International faculty mobility (sometimes referred to as the mobility of “academic talent”) refers to a phenomenon whereby individuals who serve in the capacity of academics – i.e., teaching, conducting research, and otherwise attending to the main academic needs and functions of higher education institutions – cross borders and take up similar kinds of roles in new and different national contexts, either for short-term or long-term appointments.

Mobility of the professoriate is a centuries-old phenomenon. Indeed, some scholars have argued that higher education has always been intrinsically “international” by virtue of the contact that has often been sustained between academics who share a similar purpose and passion for their field. Even before the modern nation-states were in existence, scholars were seen...

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References

  • Altbach, Philip G., and Maria Yudkevich. 2016. International faculty in 21st century universities: Themes and variations. In International faculty in higher education, ed. Maria Yudkevich, Philip G. Altbach, and Laura E. Rumbley, 1–14. New York: Routledge.

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  • De Wit, Hans. in this issue. Internationalization of higher education, its historical dimensions. in this publication.

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  • Mihut, Georgiana, Ariane de Gayardon, and Yulia Rudt. 2016. The long-term mobility of international faculty: A literature review. In International faculty in higher education, ed. Maria Yudkevich, Philip G. Altbach, and Laura E. Rumbley, 15–31. New York: Routledge.

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  • Rumbley, Laura E., and Hans de Wit. 2016. International faculty in higher education: Common motivations, disparate realities, and many unknowns. In International faculty in higher education, ed. Maria Yudkevich, Philip G. Altbach, and Laura E. Rumbley, 267–287. New York: Routledge.

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Correspondence to Hans de Wit .

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Rumbley, L.E., de Wit, H. (2020). Internationally Mobile Faculty, Comparative Perspectives. In: Teixeira, P.N., Shin, J.C. (eds) The International Encyclopedia of Higher Education Systems and Institutions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8905-9_232

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