The Cosmopolitan Guru: An Analysis of Indian Faculty Mobility and Career Trajectory

Abstract

Through a qualitative investigation, this study explored what motivated Indian faculty to seek academic positions at universities in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. instead of returning to India after completing their doctorates in one of these countries. Twenty-four in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted over a two-year period with STEM Indian faculty who received their undergraduate degrees in India but their doctorates abroad and who were currently teaching at universities in one of the three aforementioned countries. While there have been several studies investigating trends in international student mobility, few studies have investigated mobility trends amongst faculty, especially those faculty who leave developing nations, such as India, for jobs in first world countries. Theories on globalization, internationalization and brain drain/migration studies guided this study and several theoretical lenses, such as Self Determination Theory, Transnationalism and Social Network Theory, were used to analyze the data. While push-pull literature argues that individuals might be pushed from their home countries because of poor salaries, lacking infrastructure, and lack of access to resources, this study revealed that it was poor communication on behalf of the Indian universities, departmental politics and rigid academic systems that demotivated these participants from returning. This study provides a framework for future research on the complicated process involved in faculty decision-making with regards to career trajectory and possibly how to approach future studies on the complicated job process for international faculty seeking employment outside their native countries.