Gender and internationalization: The impact of international mobility as experienced by Spanish University Teachers

Author(s):

Tamar Groves(presenting / submitting)Estrella Montes López

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 06 A, Internationalisation: Case Study Papers (Part 2)

Paper Session contiuned from 22 SES 05 A, to be continued in 22 SES 07 A

Time:

2016-08-24

15:30-17:00

Room:

NM-Theatre R

Chair:

Monne Wihlborg

Contribution

Internationalization in Higher Education is currently a strategic objective of the EU and is perceived by European leaders as contributing to the quality of teaching and learning and the competitiveness of higher education institutions (European Parliament, 2015). While there are efforts to foment the internationalization of the curriculum in order to construct a less elitist model, international mobility is still seen as key in contemporary efforts to reinforce cooperation and collaboration among higher education institutions. Due to policies such as the Bologna treaty the Erasmus program and the 'Mobility Strategy 2020 for the European Higher Education Area' Europe is considered a model for good practices (Teichler, 2009). While there is a growing body of information regarding student internationalisation (Murphy-Lejeune,2003; Brooks and Waters 2011) there is not much data about staff mobility on the European level. Part of the reason is conceptual as there is a confusion regarding what is meant by 'staff mobility in higher education’. What is considered mobility? participation in international conferences, study visits, or research stays? (European Commission, 2013). Lately, we have seen efforts to evaluate national policies of staff mobility and financing (Marimon, Lietaert, & Grigolo 2009). However, we still lack qualitative research on the impact of staff mobility.

In this paper we look at Spanish University teachers who went abroad as part of their professional development (pre- and post- doctorate levels) to spend time in important research centres. Our object is to evaluate the impact of these stays on their professional work once they came back. Their perceptions of the process are highly relevant for understanding the impacts of mobility schemes. While the EU and national governments are striving to foment mobility they should gather more information on factors that enhance and hinder their impact. Our research explores these factors paying special attention to the question of gender.

Literature on gender differences in higher education focuses on three critical moments: choice of studies, the early stage of the scientific career and career advancement. In all three, gender plays an important role (Bain and Cummings, 2000; Etzkowitz, Kemelgor, Uzzi, 2000; Husu 2000; Morley, 2000; Vázquez-Cupeiro and Elston, 2006; Benschop, 2009; Van den Brink and Benschop, 2012a; 2012b; Risman and Davis, 2013; O´Connor et al. 2015). Our aim is to see how gender mediates the impacts of international mobility on the personal and the institutional levels.

Method

According to the objectives of this study, we employ qualitative methods which permit to evaluate the subjective elements of social lives in order to understand the interaction between agency and structure (Taylor and Bogdan, 1994). In this case we use personal interviews with 25 university teachers, men and women, from both humanities and sciences, from several Spanish universities, who have been abroad. We divided our interviews between young and more veteran teachers as we believe the experience of travelling abroad and coming back has changed significantly over the years, as Spain became more integrated in the Western world. All the interviews were transcribed and later analyzed using the computer software program Atlas.ti to systemize, code, compare and explore the data. Words, sentences and paragraphs were used as the analysis units.

Expected Outcomes

The first analysis of the interviews suggests that: All the university teachers found their stay abroad enriching and believe it has substantially influenced their professional work. The return is usually perceived as complicated as new professional perceptions, practices and expectations acquired abroad clash with local university culture and routine. The evidence indicates it is more difficult for women than for men to implement what they have learnt abroad as they encounter more institutional and personal obstacles. The experience of returning to Spain is perceived as more traumatic by veteran than younger teachers as they seem to have encountered more difficulties in implementing changes in their home universities. These results lead us to conclude that the experiences of return from international stays should draw more attention by both researchers and policy makers. Sending teachers abroad is not enough, there is a need to closely follow the factors which help and hinder their re-integration. Gender emerges once more as a factor that mediate professional academic careers.

References

Bain O. and Cummings W. (2000) Academic Glass Ceiling: Societal, professional/organizational and Institutional Barriers to the career Advancement of Academic Women, Comparative Education Review, 44: 4, pp. 493-514 Benschop, Yvonne. 2009. "The micro‐politics of gendering in networking." Gender, Work & Organization 16(2): 217-237. Brooks, R., & Waters, J. (2011). Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan. Directorate-General for Internal Policies,(2015) Internationalisation of Higher Education. European Parliament. Brussels. Etzkowitz, H., Kemelgor, C., & Uzzi, B. (2000). Athena unbound: The advancement of women in science and technology. Cambridge University Press. European Commission, (2013) Staff Mobility in Higher Education. Brussels Husu, Liisa. 2000. "Gender discrimination in the promised land of gender equality." Higher Education in Europe 25(2): 221-228. Marimon, R., Lietaert, M., & Grigolo, M. (2009). Towards the ‘fifth freedom’: Increasing the mobility of researchers in the European Union. Higher Education in Europe, 34(1), 25-37. Morley, Louise. 2000. "The micropolitics of gender in the learning society." Higher Education in Europe 25(2): 229-235. Murphy-Lejeune, E. (2003). Student mobility and narrative in Europe: The new strangers. Routledge. O’Connor, Pat, Teresa Carvalho, Agnete Vabø y Sónia Cardoso. 2015. "Gender in Higher Education: A Critical Review." Pp. 569-585 en The Palgrave International Handbook of Higher Education, Policy and Governance, compilado por J. Huisman, H. de Boer y D. Dill, David, Souto-Otero, Manuel. England: Palgrave MacMillan. Marimon, R., Lietaert, M., & Grigolo, M. (2009). Towards the ‘fifth freedom’: Increasing the mobility of researchers in the European Union. Higher Education in Europe, 34(1), 25-37. Risman, Barbara J. y Georgiann Davis. 2013. "From sex roles to gender structure." Current Sociology Review 61 (5-6): 733-755. Taylor, Steven J. y Robert Bogdan. 1994. Introducción a los métodos cualitativos de investigación: la búsqueda de significados. Barcelona: Paidós. Van den Brink, Marieke y Yvonne Benschop. 2012a. "Gender practices in the construction of academic excellence: Sheep with five legs." Organization 19(4): 507-524. ------. 2012b. "Slaying the Seven-Headed Dragon: The Quest for Gender Change in Academia." Gender, Work & Organization 19(1): 71-92. Vázquez-Cupeiro, Susana y Mary A. Elston. 2006. "Gender and academic career trajectories in Spain: From gendered passion to consecration in a sistema endogámico?" Employee Relations 28(6): 588-603.

Author Information

Tamar Groves (presenting / submitting)

Extremadura University, Spain

Estrella Montes López

University of Salamanca

Department of Sociology

Salamanca

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