Motivations, expectations, and experiences of expatriate academic staff on an international branch campus in China

This article explores the experiences of non-Chinese academic staff working on an international branch campus in China. The article presents findings from an interview study that explored the expectations of expatriate staff and what motivated them to want to work abroad. The second part of the article reports on whether and how these expectations and motivations were fulfilled. The findings suggest that, although staff found many benefits from working on the international branch campus, they were insufficiently prepared for the structural and cultural differences inherent in working as an academic in China. The authors argue that more of the academics’ initial expectations and motivations could have been realized if better staff induction and ongoing collective professional development had been in place. In particular, university-level discourse communicated through policy and marketing texts, which promoted the vision of one inclusive and diverse international university community, militated against attention being paid to the structural, political, and cultural differences inherent in working as an academic in China. The authors argue that professional development that acknowledges the differences, difficulties, and disjunctions that staff are likely to encounter in their work is important in building successful international branch campuses both at the level of the organization and of the individual

Creating the Profile of Participants in Mobility Activities in the Context of Erasmus+: Motivations, Perceptions, and Linguistic Needs

With millions of participants, Erasmus+ is a unique opportunity to study, train, gain work experience or volunteer abroad. However, the lack of language competences is still one of the main barriers to participation in European education, training, and youth programs. This work aims to identify, analyze and present the language needs of the participants involved in mobility activities supported under Erasmus+ Key Action 1. Data were collected by means of an online questionnaire to identify all the necessary information regarding the language needs of the Erasmus+ KA1 Mobility participants as well as their motivations to participate in the mobility. Also, in order to collect additional information in creating a profile and identifying the linguistic needs of all the Erasmus+ participants, a series of semi-structured interviews with Erasmus+ key stakeholders and with Erasmus+ National Agency Officers was conducted. Findings from the online questionnaire and interviews revealed important considerations regarding the language needs of the participants, their motivations and expectations, as well as their challenges/difficulties during the mobility. The contribution of this manuscript is to provide a piece of new knowledge regarding the Erasmus+ KA1 participants profiles emphasizing the need for new strategies to facilitate further mobility in the context of Erasmus+ and enhance the idea of multilingualism across Europe