Session Information
01 SES 08 B, Perspectives on Higher Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Mobility is one of the characteristics of globalisation, which has grown rapidly over the last two decades. The term mobility is widely seen in relation to International Student Mobility as someone who crosses national borders for the purpose of studying and work experience (Knight 2012), which can be equally applied to students and professionals.
A significant number of the studies on professionals mobility (PM) programmes focus on short- and long-term activities for professionals such as academics, researchers, and teachers (Engel 2010; Kuzhabekova, Hendel, and Chapman 2015; Lawson and Shibayama 2015; Leung 2013; Ospina and Medina 2020a; Teichler 2017). Fewer researches focus on community leaders (Pate et al. 2020), leaders from different types of development organisations (Pless et al., 2011), and political leaders (Scott-Smith 2008). The activities usually include professional programs (Kuzhabekova et al., 2022), international visits (Lawson and Shibayama, 2015), exchange programs and early-career training (Bridgwood et al. 2017), and participation in the international academic experience, including teaching and research (Ospina, 2020).
The bulk of the existing research studies examine the benefits the PM programmes bring to the participants’ experience abroad and professional development, e.g. the accumulation of research/teaching skills, cross-cultural competencies, knowledge sharing, networking and collaboration (Cañibano, Otamendi, and Solís 2011; Ospina and Medina 2020b; Teichler 2017). However, a few studies discuss the contribution the participants might bring back to their home countries. In his book, Network of Empire: The U.S. State Department’s Foreign Leader Program in the Netherlands, France, and Britain, Scott-Smith (2008) investigates the history of the leadership exchange program, the role of the program in transatlantic relationships between the1950-70s, and how it impacted political leaders’ careers. He argued that the programme contributed to the participants’ experience and played an essential role in public diplomacy, creating connections between political and military leaders at that time.
Looking at the impact of exchange programs like the Ford Foundation International Fellowship Program and Humphrey Fellowship Program (DCG 2021), the relevantly recent papers discuss how the PM programmes contribute to the professional development (skills and knowledge) of the participants. Additionally, the programmes could potentially generate community- and societal change at the institutional and possibly national levels (Kallick and Murga 2018; Martel 2019; Murga and Martel 2017). Similarly, the study on the Humphrey Fellowship exchange program focused on its long-term impact highlighting the fellows’ contributions at the institutional, national and international levels. It included the introduction of new best practices and innovative methods within different organisations as well as national policies, public policies and national programs (U.S. Department of State 2018).
In this context, this paper systematically reviews the existing literature, including scope and scale, on international mobility programmes for professionals to trace the individual and broader societal impact of such programmes. The systematic review addresses the following research questions:
Research Question 1: What is professional mobility?
Research Question 2: What is the impact of international mobility programmes for professionals on the participants of such programmes?
Research Question 3: What contribution do the participants of these programmes make after they return home at organisational, community and national levels?
Method
Guided by the research questions, the scope of the systematic literature review was the following. Firstly, our process included only academic articles and reviews (referred to as ‘articles’ in this study) published in peer-reviewed journals from 1960 to 2022. The research was conducted by title, abstract and keywords at the most comprehensive database – Scopus. With identified strings including some of the following words and phrases: “international”, “transnational”, “global”, “overseas”, “foreign” “abroad“, “cross-border”, “cross-national”, “transnational”, “intra”, “academic”, “visit”, “artist”, “leader”, “official”, “sport”, ”business”, “journalist”, “civil society”, “politic”, “exchange program*”, “professional development program”, “internship program”, “workshop program”, “work placement program”, “impact”, “change”, “transform”, “effect”, “develop”, “outcome”, “improv”, “influence”, “grow”, the research ran three circles of research. The total 5581 articles were moved to the Covidence, 2284 duplicates were removed automatically, 3297 articles were screened, and after removing irrelevant publications, 100 were ready for the full-text study assessment. Secondly, the following criteria have been used to ascertain the eligible articles: relevance, appropriateness, validity/credibility, reliability and objectivity. Relevance helped identify if the articles were related to the main research question, which focused on the contribution of professional mobility programmes at the professional, organisational, community and national levels after the participants return home. Research design and analysis were related to appropriateness. The research rigour was assessed through the essential criteria of validity, reliability and objectivity. Finally, to reflect the rigour of the publication, the table with all the article information, including a description of each article, context, the definition of professional mobility, methodology, etc., was created. The thematic literature analysis is used to address the research question.
Expected Outcomes
The systematic literature review offers a comprehensive view of international professional mobility programmes, providing the key themes, scale and scope of the studies included in this research. The study discusses the conceptualisation of short- and long- term international mobility for professionals and how it influences the participants’ professional development. A wide range of benefits are discussed within the development of the professional features, including teaching and research skills, development of the useful networks, cultural awareness, flexibility, tolerance and respect. Additionally, the study sheds light on the links between the international professional mobility and the impact which goes beyond individual benefits. For example, contributions the participants bring to the organisations, communities and the broader society.
References
Bridgwood, B., H.Willoughby, M.Attridge, and E.Tang. 2017. ‘The Value of European Exchange Programs for Early Career Family Doctors’. Education for Primary Care 28(4):232–36. doi: 10.1080/14739879.2017.1315618. Cañibano, Carolina, F. Javier Otamendi, and Francisco Solís. 2011. ‘International Temporary Mobility of Researchers: A Cross-Discipline Study’. Scientometrics 89(2):653. doi: 10.1007/s11192-011-0462-2. DCG. 2021. System-Level Impact of Cultural and Educational Exchange Programs: Literature Review and In-Depth Interviews. Version 2. Engel, Constanze. 2010. ‘The Impact of Erasmus Mobility on the Professional Career: Empirical Results of International Studies on Temporary Student and Teaching Staff Mobility’. Belgeo. Revue Belge de Géographie (4):351–63. Kallick, Judith, and Andrea Brown Murga. 2018. Transformational Leaders and Social Change: IFP Impacts in Africa and the Middle East. 4. New York, NY: Institute of International Education. Knight, J. 2012. ‘Student Mobility and Internationalisation: Trends and Tribulations’. Https://Www.ReseResearch in Comparative and International Education 7(4):20–33. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2012.7.1.20. Kuzhabekova, Aliya, Darwin D. Hendel, and David W. Chapman. 2015. ‘Mapping Global Research on International Higher Education’. Research in Higher Education 56(8):861–82. Lawson, C., and S. Shibayama. 2015. ‘International Research Visits and Careers: An Analysis of Bioscience Academics in Japan’. Science and Public Policy 42(5):690–710. doi: 10.1093/scipol/scu084. Leung, M. W. H. 2013. ‘Unraveling the Skilled Mobility for Sustainable Development Mantra: An Analysis of China-EU Academic Mobility’. Sustainability (Switzerland) 5(6):2644–63. doi: 10.3390/su5062644. Martel, Mirka. 2019. Leveraging Higher Education to Promote Social Justice: Evidence from the IFP Alumni Tracking Study. 5. New York, NY: Institute of International Education. Murga, Andrea Brown, and Mirka Martel. 2017. Leaders, Contexts, and Complexities: IFP Impacts in Latin America. 3. New York, NY: Institute of International Education. Ospina, Nelly Sierra, and Sergio Lopera Medina. 2020. ‘Living and Teaching Internationally: Teachers Talk about Personal Experiences, Benefits, and Challenges’. Journal of Research in International Education 19(1):38–53. doi: 10.1177/1475240920915013. Pate, Joshua, Travis Scheadler, Carolyn Spellings, Alicia Malnati, and Sarah Hillyer. 2020. ‘Sport as a Tool for Community Leaders of People with Disabilities: Exploring an Innovative, Immersive Exchange Training Program’. Managing Sport and Leisure 25(3):146–60. Pless, Nicola M., Thomas Maak, and Guenter K. Stahl. 2011. ‘Developing Responsible Global Leaders Through International Service-Learning Programs: The Ulysses Experience’. Academy of Management Learning & Education 10(2):237–60. doi: 10.5465/AMLE.2011.62798932. Scott-Smith, Giles. 2008. Networks of Empire: The US State Department’s Foreign Leader Program in the Netherlands, France, and Britain 1950-70. Brussels: Belgium: P.I.E. Peter Lang. U.S. Department of State. 2018. Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program Evaluation Report. Evaluation Report. Rockville, MD: General Dynamics Information Technology.
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