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School of Arts and Social Science Internal Research Grant
I Lin Sin
Principal Investigator (PI)
2018 - 2019
State-led knowledge economy policies and the expansion of universities as well as international schools into overseas markets have led to growing numbers of academic expatriates (e.g. foreign higher education staff and international school teachers) in Asia. The existing but limited literature – shaped in part by state and marketing discourses – predominantly suggests that a successful international career is readily available to these expatriates. However, despite their assumed privilege, academic expatriates often face challenges and disadvantages in and across international settings. This impacts on their ability to acquire and utilise capital (e.g. knowledge, income, networks, status) to facilitate their mobility (e.g. migration, career and income advancement, professional and self-development).
This scoping project explores the complexities of mobility among academic expatriates in/through Asia. Focusing on the case of academic expatriates in Malaysia, this project examines their motivations (of migrating to Malaysia), their representations (in government policies, Malaysian media and real estate marketing collaterals), and their subjectivities (in making sense of their migrating lives).