With tenure-track jobs hard to come by in the United States, some academics are turning to foreign universities for employment opportunities. Other scholars simply want to broaden their horizons by taking a sabbatical overseas. But whether you’re in search of a job or a little life experience, there are some things you should know before taking the plunge.
Don’t take things at face value.
Embarking on an academic career abroad is the beginning of a great adventure, but unless you make the time and effort to investigate the institution that wants to hire you, your adventure could become a nightmare.
David Lawrence can attest to that. He took a job as an assistant professor of journalism and public relations at Eastern Mediterranean University in Cyprus, which promised him top-notch computer facilities, students who spoke English, and no more than 20 students to a class.
ALSO SEE:
A guide to Web resources on finding work abroad.
When he arrived on the campus in September 1999, he found that the computer facilities were inadequate, he had four times as many students as promised, and only one or two of them spoke English. After a frustrating month, Mr. Lawrence broke his contract, left Cyprus, and went back on the international academic job market.
His experience is not uncommon, says John B. Bear, a long-time consultant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other organizations on diploma mills and fake degrees. “People just don’t expect fraud in this area,” says Mr. Bear. “We’re suspicious when we go to a used-car dealer or when someone tries to sell us a Rolex watch on the street. But universities misrepresenting themselves? I think that’s a mindset that people don’t have.”
If you get an offer from a well-known institution such as the University of Cambridge in England, then you probably don’t have much to worry about. But if an institution you’ve never heard of makes you an offer, it pays to be cautious, says Mr. Bear.
One way to avoid becoming a victim, he says, is to check whether the institution is listed in the International Handbook of Universities, a useful reference book with information on thousands of institutions worldwide, compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. “If it’s listed there, then at least you know it’s real,” Mr. Bear says. However, he’s quick to add that a listing in the handbook is not a seal of approval or a guarantee of quality or financial solvency. And some new but legitimate institutions may not be listed.
Another way to avoid winding up with a teaching job at a diploma mill is to find out if the university is accredited, says Philip G. Altbach, director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College. Unfortunately, there is no international accrediting agency, but some foreign universities may be accredited in their own countries or they may be accredited in the United States if they follow the American educational model or are affiliated with a U.S. institution.
But even a university that’s accredited isn’t necessarily legitimate. There are phony accrediting agencies, so be sure the agency is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Conversely, many countries don’t have accrediting systems, so a university that’s not accredited isn’t necessarily phony.
Networking is crucial. Talk to current and former employees and students of the institution -- people who know the country’s higher-education system (for example, members of the country’s ministry or department of education), and friends or colleagues who have visited or lived there.
Better yet, go there yourself. There’s no substitute for a campus visit. Don’t believe everything you see on a Web site or in a catalog, says Mr. Bear. “I’ve seen beautiful catalogs from disreputable places. And Warnborough University has a lovely Web site and an .edu address, which is supposed to be reassuring, but I went there two years ago and found that it was a one-room office in London with no degree-granting authority.” (Julian Ng, vice president for administration at Warnborough, took issue with Mr. Bear’s characterization. Mr. Ng said that the university had other facilities in London and that its degree-granting authority came from its charter, which was issued in Ireland. However, the United Kingdom’s education department does not recognize the university.)
Study the language and culture of the country where you plan to work.
Although an increasing number of institutions abroad use English as the primary language of instruction (see an article from the September 8 issue of The Chronicle), many institutions still require the use of their country’s native language in instruction. How proficient are you in that language? Do you know enough to get by in everyday life?
“Living overseas is an especially big deal for Americans because the United States is, comparatively speaking, an easy country to live in,” says Mr. Altbach.
Don’t assume that Western academic traditions apply everywhere. Academic freedom and equal opportunity are American concepts that are often ignored in other countries. At some universities in Japan, age discrimination is a common practice. In Egypt, the government often decides which textbooks are appropriate for classroom use; books containing sexually explicit content are not allowed.
Thomas W. Smith, an assistant professor of political science at the University of South Florida, recently returned to the United States from a three-year teaching stint at Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey. He says he was forbidden by the university, upon penalty of dismissal, from making critical remarks about the Turkish state while attending conferences abroad.
Learn as much as you can about the legal system and social customs before you travel abroad, so you know what to expect. Are there any laws or social taboos you might accidentally violate?
Kevin L. Keenan, an American who works as an associate professor of journalism and mass communication at the American University in Cairo, knows a thing or two about social taboos. He learned firsthand that some things that are taken for granted in the United States can cause offense in Egypt. Last year Mr. Keenan was reprimanded by the university’s administration after he uttered a profanity (the F-word) in the classroom during a moment of anger.
Consider the cost of living and other family matters.
While there are a few countries where you can earn more than you would in the United States -- Hong Kong, for example, is reputed to have the highest academic salaries in the world -- most countries, even in Europe, don’t pay nearly as well as American institutions, says Mr. Altbach.
“If you’re going to be paid on the local economy, you should find out what that means,” he says. “What’s the cost of living and what will your salary buy you?”
Salary doesn’t always tell the whole story. For instance, some institutions offer tax breaks, free housing, and other benefits to expatriate personnel. That’s especially true in countries where there are local shortages of qualified professors -- for example, in the United Arab Emirates -- but it’s also the case at some institutions that offer an American-style education and thus need American faculty members.
Daniel J. Vitkus, a former assistant professor of English and comparative literature at the American University in Cairo from 1991 to 1997, says that even though he earned less than the average assistant professor in the United States ($45,528, according to the latest salary survey by the American Association of University Professors), he was able to have a far higher standard of living in Cairo than he would have had in any major U.S. city. Because the university paid for his housing, and his salary was exempt from American and Egyptian income taxes, Mr. Vitkus and his wife were able to afford a nanny for their two children -- something they never could have managed in the United States.
If you’re planning to take your family with you overseas, you’ll need to consider additional factors about their welfare. Will the country be safe for your family members, or will they have to cope with the threat of violence? Does any member of your family require special medical care? Will your employer subsidize your children’s education or pay for your children to attend a private school? Will the government permit your spouse to work? And, if so, are there jobs available for your spouse in his or her chosen field?
Don’t fall off the map.
Before you accept any overseas position, consider the “out-of-the-loop factor.” Will you have access to the resources you need to do your research? Will your employer pay for you to attend important conferences? Will your employer pay for annual flights home so you can use a research library in the United States?
“If you’re a specialist on the politics of India and you go to India, well, of course, that’s great,” says Mr. Altbach. “But, if you’re a physicist, it’s entirely different.”
Most scientific laboratories and academic libraries in the rest of the world, even those in Europe, aren’t as good as they are on average in the United States, says Mr. Altbach. If you choose to work overseas, you may not have access to adequate laboratory facilities, research materials, or the Internet.
Can you come home again?
Think about the future and your long-term career goals before you commit to any job abroad.
“It can be hard to relocate back to the U.S. once you’re overseas,” says Mr. Altbach. “Institutions in the U.S. don’t tend to look at people overseas, so there’s a danger that you won’t be able to find a job” once you return.
Mr. Vitkus, who’s now an assistant professor at Florida State University, says he probably should have put more thought into how he would re-enter the academic job market in the United States before he took the job in Cairo. He took the job because the idea of working at a small college in the Midwest didn’t thrill him. “I mean,” he says, “wouldn’t you rather go to Cairo?” However, when he decided to return to the United States, he was unable to secure a job here while he was overseas because no American university would fly him from Cairo to the United States for an interview. It was only after he came back that he was able to find work.
Despite the challenges of working as a Renaissance-literature specialist in Egypt and staying up-to-date in his field, Mr. Vitkus says he doesn’t regret his time abroad. He became interested in his current research topic -- the representations of Islamic culture during the Renaissance -- while he was in Egypt, and that never would have happened if he hadn’t accepted a job there.
“It put a kink in my plans for a while, but in the long run it worked out okay.”