The role of motivation and adjustment in selection of expatriate academics in China: an intensive study of a Chinese university with one of the largest foreign faculty staffs

Abstract

Throughout the world, numerous universities seek foreign faculty to meet their annual staffing needs for both English-speaking academic lecturers and oral English teachers. Recruiting and selecting quality foreign teachers are a great challenge for many learning institutions, including universities. Although there is ample research on adjustment and selection practices in international business operations, there is a lack of research for academic expatriates (Selmer and Lauring, 2011). This paper concentrates on a 25,000 student university located in central China. Although its location is less developed, pay is minimal, and pollution is significant, this university manages to boast a significantly large population of foreign faculty. This study shows a relationship between the expatriate faculty's motivations for coming to SIAS and their adjustment to living abroad and expands on this relationship's implications on selection of the best candidates.