Transnational Mobility of Academics: Some Academic Impacts

Abstract

This paper deals with the short- and long-term transnational mobility of academics and some of its impacts, an issue not well addressed in the literature. Through a qualitative literature review, the paper aims to answer the question: What are some of the academic impacts of the transnational mobility of academics? Transnational academic mobility is academic travel across borders of states and is one aspect of the new internationalisation of higher education. It is presented in terms of the roles of academics in teaching-learning experiences as well as knowledge production and transfer. The discussion extends to unpacking the impacts of the transnational mobility of academics in relation to institutional affiliation and academic status and profile. These issues are emphasised because they are major academic issues of transnational academics. From these perspectives, mobile academics have gained benefits but sometimes also faced challenges.

Keywords

• transnational mobility
• academics
• impacts
• knowledge production and transfer
• academic status and profile
• transnational identity capital