Doctoral Dissertation Research: International Early-Career Faculty in American Higher Education: The Case of the Discipline of Geography

博士论文研究：美国高等教育中的国际早期职业教师：以地理学学科为例

• 批准号: 0526312
• 负责人: Kenneth Foote
• 金额: $ 1万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-08-15 至 2008-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0526312&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; International; Early

The number and proportion of international (foreign-born) faculty on American campuses have increased over the last thirty years, with little research available on their experiences within the campuses where they work. The social and geographical dynamics of international participation in American higher education are of particular interest given recent changes in United States immigration policy following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This doctoral dissertation research project examines the experiences of what are termed "international faculty" and the factors that improve or impair their opportunities at institutions of higher education in the United States. The study population will consist of foreign scholars and scientists who pursue careers in geography in American colleges and universities. The doctoral candidate will compare and contrast the experiences of international faculty with their domestic counterparts within the discipline of geography. Recent research seems to indicate that international scholars often have different professional needs and concerns regarding teaching, research, and service than do their native-born counterparts. While using the discipline of geography as a case study, the research findings will have applicability to other disciplines that hire foreign-born scientists as much or more than geography. The project applies the tools of geographic and survey analysis to understanding the professional experiences of international faculty, the cultural problems they confront in the United States, and the policy and institutional changes that might be made to support them. The study will use a mixed-method research design combining focus-group interviews, web-based surveys, and follow-up interviews to examine the experiences, abilities, attitudes, and concerns that foreign-born faculty face during the critical early-career period (the time between the doctorate and tenure), when many professional and personal decisions are made about continuing in academic life. These data will be compared to similar information collected about domestic early-career faculty. The student also will interview administrators (deans and department chairs) to address the perspectives of the hiring and employing institution. The study will be informed by current commentaries on higher education, both nationally and internationally; research on faculty development; and the growing body of literature-still often informal-written about the experiences of international faculty and their American students.The study makes a contribution to development of institutional strategies that support international faculty, particularly those early in their careers. Such strategies are important from the perspective of both maintaining a highly qualified scientific workforce and diversifying the United States professoriate. It will also offer findings relevant to debates about the impact of changing immigration policies on American higher education and contribute to discussions regarding the global concerns about academic mobility. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.

在过去的30年里，美国校园中国际（外国出生的）教师的数量和比例都有所增加，但很少有关于他们在校园内工作经历的研究。 鉴于2001年9月11日恐怖袭击后美国移民政策的变化，国际参与美国高等教育的社会和地理动态特别令人感兴趣。 本博士论文研究项目探讨了所谓的“国际教师”的经验，以及改善或损害他们在美国高等教育机构的机会的因素。 研究人口将包括在美国学院和大学从事地理学职业的外国学者和科学家。 博士生将比较和对比国际教师的经验与地理学科内的国内同行。 最近的研究似乎表明，国际学者往往有不同的专业需求和关注的教学，研究和服务比本土出生的同行。 在使用地理学科作为案例研究时，研究结果将适用于雇用外国出生的科学家与地理学一样多或更多的其他学科。 该项目应用地理和调查分析的工具来了解国际教师的专业经验，他们在美国面临的文化问题，以及可能为支持他们而做出的政策和制度变革。 该研究将采用混合方法的研究设计相结合的焦点小组访谈，基于网络的调查，和后续访谈，以检查的经验，能力，态度和关注，外国出生的教师在关键的早期职业生涯期间（博士学位和终身教职之间的时间），当许多专业和个人的决定是关于继续在学术生活中所面临的。 这些数据将与国内早期职业教师的类似信息进行比较。 学生还将采访管理人员（院长和系主任），以解决招聘和雇用机构的观点。 这项研究将通过当前国内外对高等教育的评论、对教师发展的研究以及越来越多的关于国际教师及其美国学生的经验的文献（通常仍是非正式的）来提供信息。这项研究有助于制定支持国际教师，特别是那些职业生涯初期的教师的机构战略。 从保持一支高素质的科学工作队伍和使美国教授队伍多样化的角度来看，这种战略是重要的。 它还将提供有关移民政策变化对美国高等教育影响的辩论的调查结果，并有助于讨论全球对学术流动性的担忧。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立的研究生涯。