Search results

The purpose of this paper is to uncover the basic motivations of the administrators (referred to also as “managers”) to hire foreign-born employees in the academic system, which is relatively ethnically homogenous and where the proficiency in Polish is still a strong asset. By doing this, the authors make an attempt to theorise the value of internationalisation of higher education in the academic peripheries.

This study reports the finding of 20 qualitative interviews with the deans and other senior academic officials serving managerial functions at Polish public and private universities.

The four basic motivations expressed directly by the mangers were (1) the crave for cultural diversity, (2) willingness to “Westernize” the academe, (3) a need for academic achievement and (4) staff shortages. In the discussion, the authors show, however, that the discursive order of these institutional motivations to hire international faculty is incompatible with motivations of international faculty to seek employment in Poland and statistical data regarding their concentration in different academic centres.

The paper tackles crucial issues regarding staffing (including recruitment and retention) and diversity hiring in a country with an “emigration culture”, similar to other East European states, namely a place from which highly skilled workers emigrate. A relocation to Poland is a rather unusual reverse migration, or “stepping down”, to a periphery to use it as a possible stepping stone for career progression.

The overarching question of this paper is, “What are the advantages of being an upwardly mobile academic?” The extant academic research on working-class academics has usually emphasized various kinds of “deficits” of working-class academics. In this paper, the author demonstrates that although class positions can constitute a formidable burden, they can translate into specific advantages in academia.

This study is based on the narrative, phenomenological approach, which has been applied in working-class studies and higher-education research. The empirical material comprises the collection of 25 narrative interviews conducted and analyzed according to the biographical narrative interpretive method (BNIM).

This paper looks at the experience of working-class academics from a holistic perspective, including both the downsides and upsides of being an “outsider within,” or “insider without.” It uncovers four assets of a working-class background – referred to as “navigational capital,” “revolutionary potential,” “wisdom” and a distinct “working-class pedagogy.”

The working-class pedagogy can be turned into support programs for working-class individuals. Their navigational capital can foster evolutionary changes and small improvements for the benefit of the entire academic community. Their revolutionary dispositions can trigger major reforms, and their unique experiences can be utilized as case studies in teaching.

This paper engages with the literature on the cultural mismatch and cleft habitus in the academic context. It analyzes the positive but rarely discussed aspects of being an upwardly mobile academic with a working-class background. By recognizing these unique assets, it engages with the literature on inclusive universities and can help make higher education more inclusive and sustainable.