International Academics Research Articles

Partnering with students to support international students in an Australian university setting

This case study reflects on a 2019 project involving a staff-student partnership that focussed on improving the international student experience at an Australian university. The project responded to the need for international students to feel a sense of belonging and connectedness to an Australian university as a buffer against the challenges they face that are part of the acculturation process undergone upon arrival. The project’s main output was the creation of short videos destined for three target audiences: international students, domestic students, and academics who teach international students. The project’s objectives were to build relationships between international and domestic students and between academics and students, as well as to minimise misunderstandings held by international students about studying at this university and misconceptions held by domestic students and academics about international students. This case study provides an innovative and practical model for staff-student collaborations in higher education.

Performance measurement of lean supply chain management: a balanced scorecard proposal

The purpose of this paper is to propose a performance measurement framework to evaluate Lean Supply Chain Management (LSCM) performance. A literature review was performed to identify the main goals and performance indicators in LSCM. A questionnaire was designed that included the identified goals and measures. Next, based on data collected from international academics and practitioners with expertise in LSCM, a two-stage Delphi study using Fuzzy Delphi and Fuzzy DEMATEL methods was carried out to refine the most relevant goals and metrics and their interrelationships and establish benchmark values that are useful for managers to evaluate the performance achieved through the deployment of lean principles, practices, and techniques throughout the supply chain. Finally, an integrated performance measurement framework based on the balanced scorecard approach is proposed with a discussion of the academic and practical implications of the proposed framework.

Engagement With China From Inside and Out: Kindness and Academic Dialogue

This special collection draws upon themes discussed at the annual China and Higher Education conference series started at the University of Manchester. One recurring theme concerns the experiences of academics in Chinese institutions, particularly international and returnee academics in China and the related recruitment and management policies. The articles in this issue all relate to this theme, as well as wider processes of cooperation between China and ‘external’ partners or ‘outsiders’. In this light we also propose more attention to the notion of ‘kindness’ to describe both the theory and practice of these engagements.

Beyond the doctorate: Exploring Indigenous Early Career Research trajectories

Growing research into the experiences of non-Indigenous early career researchers (ECRs) has identified a multitude of challenges that can impede early research career development. Expectations to publish, secure research grants and to deliver large teaching loads contribute to high levels of frustration and stress. While additional challenges - often associated with cultural work - have emerged in the literature with Australian and international Indigenous academics, research focused specifically on Indigenous Australian early career researchers is severely lacking. This paper begins with an examination of the Australian Indigenous pipeline to early career positions through undergraduate and postgraduate study. It reviews the trajectories of non-Indigenous early career researchers and then draws on emerging research with Indigenous academics in Australia and abroad to advocate specific investigation of the career trajectories of Indigenous Australian early career researchers. In accordance with a commitment from Australian universities to increase the number of Indigenous students and scholars, it is critical that experiences and needs of Indigenous early career researchers are investigated and understood. With a deeper level of understanding more effective strategies and systems can be implemented to better support and facilitate career trajectories of Indigenous Australian early career researchers and thus build a richer academy.

EFSA International Workshop on RA of Combined Exposure to Multiple Chemicals

Human Risk Assessment (RA) of combined exposure to multiple chemicals follows the steps of RA namely problem formulation, exposure assessment, hazard assessment and risk characterisation. Over the last decade, scientific advisory bodies have published a range of harmonised guidance documents to provide practical approaches for risk assessors. These include the WHO, the US-EPA, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, the OECD and the recent EFSA MIXTOX guidance document dealing with harmonised methodologies for the human health, animal health and ecological RA areas. On May 21st 2021, the Scientific Committee of EFSA published a draft guidance document on scientific criteria to group chemicals in assessment groups using hazard-driven criteria and prioritisation methods using exposure-driven and risk-based approaches. The latter guidance and future challenges were the topic of this international workshop which was held online in the afternoons of the 18th, 19th and 20st October 2021. First, a plenary session provided overviews of European and international activities in the field including WHO, OECD, US-EPA, JRC and EFSA. With a total of 118 participants including national and international scientific advisory bodies, academics and researchers, NGOs, industry, risk assessors, risk managers, four discussions groups were created for three break-out group sessions: 1) Hazard-driven criteria for grouping multiple chemicals into assessment groups; 2) Exposure-driven and risk-based criteria for the prioritisation of multiple chemicals 3) Data gaps and future challenges for human health and environmental RA of combined exposure to multiple chemicals to identify priority topics of international relevance and a way forward to address these topics. A final discussion and wrap-up session concluded the meeting. This event report provides a summary of the discussions together with conclusions and recommendations.

생태계서비스 부지 선정을 위한 의사결정 고려요인

Purpose: This study identified factors to be considered in the decision-making process for site selection to provide ecosystem services from cases collected from around the world. Method: Through the social network analysis (SNA), examples related to site selection for the provision of ecosystem services were analyzed, which were extracted from 88 papers published in international academia from January 2008 to December 2021. Result: The knowledge in various academic fields focused on ecosystem management through biodiversity conservation should support the decision-making for the site selection, and the development of frameworks and indicators for evaluating the target sites are also important factors. Around 2020, studies on the site selection to provide ecosystem services in cities were concentrated, and the issue of decision-making for the realization of a carbon-neutral city to respond to climate change has also emerged as a topic for the site selection. follow-up studies for DSS development from big data based on social network services should continue to converge the needs of the public who benefit from ecosystem.

Is there a Clash of Civilizations? Cultures and Institutions across Civilizations

Purpose: We analyze how countries are similar and different in terms of cultures and institutions and the extent to which they can be grouped into civilizations. This is based on Huntington’s (1993,1996) framework that states there are major cultural and institutional differences between civilizations.
 Design/methodology/approach: Cultural and institutional data were collected on all available countries. For culture, Hofstede index was used. For institutions, scores were used for the Index of Democracy, the Index of Economic Freedom, Freedom in the World Index, the Global Gender Gap Index, the Press Freedom Index, and the Corruption Perceptions Index. The countries were grouped along the lines of Huntington’s civilizations and their scores analyzed.
 Findings: The results reveal that differences across civilizations are significant and extend across cultures and institutions. Across the nine civilizations, there were significant differences in five of the six cultural dimensions as well as in all the institutions.
 Research limitations/implications: Cultural differences across civilizations could point to pervasive differences on issues such as values, motivation, and management norms. Institutional differences across civilizations could represent differences in values that societies attach to different aspects of their institutional environment. Future studies using longitudinal data could help build on our findings.
 Originality/value: The use of both cultural and institutional measures to cluster countries into civilizations is a major contribution of this study. The clash of civilizations framework is analyzed relative to other studies on country clusters contributing to the discussion on supranational cultural clusters. The study would be valuable to cross-cultural researchers, international business academics and practitioners.

Practicing Reflexivity in International Law: Running a Never-Ending Race to Catch Up with the Western International Lawyers

AbstractFor a long time, discussions on the diversity of international legal academia and practice have not been properly addressed. Protagonists from the Global South were not even considered as relevant issue-setters of international law. However, the situation is gradually changing. More and more academics, practitioners, and students both from the Global South and Global North raise their voices to address pressing issues of discrimination, sexism, and racism that we currently observe in the international legal sphere. This article offers a glimpse into some of these challenges drawing from the author’s personal experiences. It points to existing problems of the diversity in international legal institutions, representation in international legal academia, and publishing practices. This article finally offers suggestions for how international lawyers can help each other to overcome existing inequalities and create a better environment for future generations of international legal scholars and practitioners.

International academics in mainland China: what do we know and what do we need to know?

ABSTRACT This article examines the trend of academic migration to mainland China. Notably, the most recent literature identified a new cohort of international academics in China, who are non-Chinese academics with long-term and full-time positions. Despite growing research interests, there is a lack of critical and synthesised reviews about the extant studies regarding this group of international academics, in terms of theoretical frameworks, methodologies and empirical findings. This article addresses this research gap by drawing on a critical review of existing scholarship, in combination with three empirical research projects conducted by the authors of this article. The article unpacks conceptual and methodological ambiguities in the existing research and reveals major findings with regards to the profiles, motivations, challenges and work roles related to international academics in China. It also proposes a new typology to define international academics in mainland China and future research agendas in this area.

Characteristics of International Medical Graduates in Academic Plastic Surgery.

International medical graduates play a significant role in meeting U.S. health care needs, and contribute to a more diverse provider workforce. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, characteristics, and academic productivity of plastic surgery international medical graduate faculty. A cross-sectional study was conducted to compare characteristics of international medical graduates against domestic medical graduates including demographics, trainings, academic ranks, leadership positions, number of publications and citations, and Hirsch index. International medical graduates represent 10.3 percent of all 918 academic plastic surgeons in the United States, with the majority having graduated from India (16.8 percent), Brazil (8.4 percent), and the United Kingdom (8.4 percent). International medical graduates were more likely to have graduated from independent programs (OR, 5.7; p < 0.0001) and to have completed research fellowship (OR, 2.1; p = 0.0001) and burn fellowship (OR, 6.5; p < 0.0001). Programs led by international medical graduate chairs employed more international medical graduate faculty (21 percent versus 9 percent; p < 0.0001). International medical graduates had comparable Hirsch indices, number of publications, and citations, but received less National Institutes of Health funding ($32,020 versus $223,365). International medical graduates also had comparable rates of attaining leadership positions such as fellowship director and chair but required fewer years of experience to become residency director (8.3 years versus 17.3 years). The contribution of international medical graduates in academic plastic surgery was evident based on research productivity, academic ranks, and leadership positions. International medical graduates are more likely to be employed in programs led by international medical graduate chairs. This study may help guide aspiring international medical graduate academics and aid in hiring decisions at academic institutions.

Sector coupling and business models towards sustainability: The case of the hydrogen vehicle industry

The concept of sector coupling has been gaining increased momentum in political discourses during the past few years but it has only recently received the attention of international academics. The private sector is particularly relevant to foster sector coupling through entrepreneurial action – specifically, innovative business models for more sustainable technologies are needed to promote a transition towards more sustainability. So far, however, the literature on business models from a sector coupling perspective is scarce yet strongly emerging. To address the identified research gaps and enhance the current knowledge on the emerging hydrogen vehicle industry and sector coupling, this study adopts a qualitative and exploratory research approach and builds on information gained in 103 semi-structured interviews to discuss emerging business models in Germany. In particular, 33 business cases have been analyzed. Anchoring business model theory to the concept of sector coupling, this study identifies 12 business model archetypes in the emerging hydrogen vehicle industry and its value chain. It can be shown that, while the market is still emerging and the market players are not defined and are evolving, companies are currently engaged in finding their position along the value chain, fostering vertical integration, and promoting cooperation between the different sectors. While this study is relevant for both the academia and the industry, it is particularly interesting for policy makers shaping the future of sustainable development, specifically considering integrated energy systems.

“Is it because I’m international?”: Unpacking experiences of “international instructors” via critical communication pedagogy as aligned with cultural wealth

ABSTRACT Given the relatively invisible yet growing presence of international academics on U.S. campuses, this study investigates the lived negotiations of “international instructors” across disciplines via critical communication pedagogy (CCP) as aligned with a pedagogy of cultural wealth. We place “international instructors” within quotation marks to challenge a territorial linear logic of the world, and also to facilitate a new space for rethinking academic labors and capitals. Aligned with a pedagogy of cultural wealth, CCP with key commitments to identity, power, culture, and language in the context of pedagogy is an appropriate lens to examine the lived experiences of “international instructors” as outsiders within U.S. academia. We analyzed interviews with 10 self-identified “international instructors” during the 2017-2018 academic year. Our analysis, guided by salient clusters of CCP commitments aligned with unpacking otherness as cultural wealth, identifies three overlapping themes: (a) salient status and wealth of “international instructors” as cocultural members; (b) mundane and repeated communication behaviors reflecting/resisting Eurocentric structures; and (c) distinctive cultural capitals and “international instructors.” Working together as an interracial and multinational team, we conclude by discussing pedagogical and practical implications for theorizing otherness as cultural wealth and renewing commitments to internationalization at home in solidarity with “international instructors.”

Building a Credential Exchange Infrastructure for Digital Identity: A Sociohistorical Perspective and Policy Guidelines

Credential Exchange Infrastructures based on open standards are emerging with work ongoing across many different jurisdictions, in several global standards bodies and industry associations, as well as at a national level. This article addresses the technology advances on this topic, particularly around identification mechanisms, through the Self-sovereign identity model. It also tackles necessary institutional processes and policy concerns relating to their implementation. Rooted in a sociohistorical culture and practice of inquiry, the goal of the article is to bring emerging digital identity systems within the grasp of a wider public as well as to contribute to mutual understanding across stakeholder groups (technical community, governments, international cooperation entities, civil society and academia) about what is at stake. This is expected to enhance their capacity to better navigate across the pitfalls of this transition period from paper to digital systems and the full adoption of the latter, with each of these stakeholders playing a part in enabling trust around digital identity infrastructure and transactions, both within related ecosystems and in the broader society. This article makes contributions around three axes. First axis is conceptual and analytical. The article outlines three conceptualized phases in the evolution of identity practices in history with the hypothesis that the availability of new record-creation methods invites changes in, and expansion of, the existing identification processes. This helps make a stronger case for why the Internet needs an identity capability. In addition, the article defines or elaborates on key concepts including identity, credential and trust. The second axis of the article is a case study on self-sovereign identity as instantiated by the Sovrin network. The case study presents the technology and its design with a view to enabling a non-technical public to understand what it is and how it works, while highlighting the fact that the technology still needs institutional processes to make it work as intended. The final axis of this article provides guidelines to policy actors potentially facing the need to enable large scale implementations of these emerging technologies, as they mature. Policy-makers approaching this material may want to read this section first and then return to the rest of the paper.

Outsourcing, national diversity and transience: the reality of social identity in an ELT context in Omani higher education

The developing structure of Omani higher education sector depends upon a culturally diverse group of international academics who outnumber their Omani colleagues. This creates a unique group composition that is inconsistent with the largely Omanising workplace context. Drawing on data gathered from a case study, this paper explores the reasons and the effects of group instability resulting from faculty’s national diversity on establishing a group’s social identity, the latter being an antecedent for establishing an intellectual capital. The findings of the study suggest that national diversity is associated with a number of factors that impede longevity within work groups thus affecting identification with a common group prototype. These include human resources management practices, such as outsourcing recruitment, inconsistent recruitment standards, low faculty agility and a number of personal factors that emphasise individual identity. The paper concludes by arguing that the absence of social identity in higher education hinders establishing an intellectual capital that represents a cornerstone for establishing a knowledge-based economy that fuels the realisation of Oman 2040. The findings have implications to the GCC 1 contexts that are characterised by depending on largely nationally diverse workforce.

1 - Enhancing the Digital Transformation of African Universities: Covid-19 as Accelerator

The COVID-19 pandemic has had negative effects on virtually every sector of the global economy and educational institutions have not been spared. This has inevitably led to the need for African think tanks to consider ways through which the continent’s unprecedented youth bulge could be the cog around which growth and competitiveness of the African economy could be achieved. The first section introduces the paper and highlights how Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have a key role to play towards ensuring the youth are adequately equipped with skills that are relevant to the twenty-first century’s digital transformation. The second section discusses the theories behind the mega trends of the twenty-first century by international agencies, consultancy firms, governments, academics, and pundits while the third section examines the digitalization of HEIs and cites various publications on higher education and its evolution in the digital era. The fourth section builds on the authors’ findings from previous sections to detail a twelve- point Digital Transformation Agenda for Africa. The fifth section highlights the technological infrastructure that is required to support Africa’s Digital Transformation Agenda and twenty-first century research and innovation before the authors draw conclusions.

International academics in the peripheries. A qualitative meta-analysis across fifteen countries

ABSTRACTThis paper is a meta-analysis of qualitative studies on international scholars migrating to academic peripheries. In contrast to studies focused on relocating to the US and other global centers, or those focused on ‘star faculty,’ these studies reveal a different face of international migration. By examining 19 studies from all over the world, we identified eleven common themes centered around: institutional motivations to hire international faculty, individual motivations to seek employment in the peripheries, the specificity of migration and recruitment processes as well as various integration problems associated with choosing a career in less popular destinations. This analysis offers an overview of in-depth national cases, which is interesting for cross-cultural researchers and students of particular peripheral systems. We demonstrate that foreign-born scholars in the peripheries are very often motivated by factors that would be negligible in the analysis of academic migration to centers and face different challenges.

Leadership challenges and opportunities experienced by international women academics: A case study in Australia

Scholarly articles on international academics have been weighted towards understanding their broad personal and professional challenges related to teaching. Limited research is conducted with international women academics in Australia in, especially, exploring their leadership-related challenges and opportunities. Using an intersectionality lens, this paper addresses this gap by exploring key related challenges and opportunities for international women academics in gaining leadership positions at Australian universities. It draws on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with seven international women academics. The findings contribute to the body of knowledge in exploring two major challenges faced by international women academics in Australia: 1) administrative-related interruption impacting their research performance; and 2) lack of understanding of university policies and processes. International women academics also cited the opportunities provided to them or gained by them for their overall professional growth at Australian universities. The practical implications of these findings for international women academics and higher education institutions are also considered.

Exploration on Images Translating of Chinese Classical Literature

Recently, as Chinese culture draws growing attention from international academia, the translation of cultural images of Chinese to English has become a hot spot-on translators and scholars. The translation of cultural images plays an important role in promoting Chinese culture at home and abroad. The academic interest in cultural image have risen from the Cultural Turn in translation studies and risen from the fact that image is believed to be a carrier of cultural connotations, so to study strategies of translating cultural images is meaningful for literary translation as well as for inheriting and promoting Chinese cultural heritage. However, due to the obviously national and regional differences of cultural images and their different forms of classifications and manifestation, there are still many difficulties for translating practitioners, and the existing translation strategies and methods are still at issue, as they could not fully meet the requirement for translating Chinese cultural images. Based on traditional cultural image translation theories, this thesis starts from the study of culture turn and then it introduces the definitions of images and cultural images. Since cultural image is of great significance, some examples of Chinese cultural images that appeared in Chinese classical works and their translations are illustrated.

Provincializing Transnational Landscape

Provincializing transnational landscape is attracting increasing attention from international academia with the rise of transnational landscape practice and the shift of the academic research paradigm. It calls for us to move beyond the national political, economic, social, and cultural boundaries to examine the provincialization mechanisms, processes, and influence of transnational landscape activities. It is particularly important for China to explore the provincializing transnational landscape. It will contribute to examining China’s historical local-global interactions over the landscape, and providing a lens of „the Other” to study the regional landscape characteristics in China. Significantly, it will not only deepen the understanding of the development of the research on landscape, cultural, and communication histories in China and beyond, but also promote China’s transnational economic cooperation frameworks, such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, to better tell China’s story and let the world better understand China.

Decolonizing the Corpus: A Queer Decolonial Re-examination of Gender in International Law's Origins

This article builds upon queer feminist and decolonial/TWAIL interventions into the history of international law, questioning the dominant discourses about gender and sexual victimhood in the laws of armed conflict. In Part One, I examine how early European international law writers (re)produced binary and hierarchical ideas about gender in influential legal texts, discursively creating a world in which wartime violence only featured men and women in strictly defined roles (a construction which continues to influence the practice of law today). In Part Two, I decenter these dominant discourses by looking outside Europe, questioning what a truly “international” law would look like if non-Western ideas about gender diversity and hierarchy had instead been allowed to contribute to its development. I demonstrate how gender diversity was the norm, not the exception, for multiple Indigenous and non-Western communities prior to colonization, drawing new connections between gendered oppression, colonial violence, and the continued practice of international law. This analysis provides an important bridge between queer and TWAIL critiques of international law, challenging lawyers and academics to think beyond mainstream ideas about binary gender when considering gender-based violence.