| Internationalization is the intrinsic characteristic of world-class universities and the strategic choice of the most China's top research universities to become one of the best in the world.For these universities,how to formulate and implement effective strategies for internationalization is not only the necessary reaction to their development in the mode of globalization,but also an important way and means for their pursuit of excellence and fulfillment of the mission of the times.Successful internationalization of university efforts is highly dependent upon the participation of committed faculty,especially those junior faculty members who serve as the core strength of the university faculty in China.As internationalization has become an important policy issue within higher education field,numerous high-level universities in our country are sparing no effort to add various internationally-featured contents to faculty members' career life.However,very few studies have been mentioned that,whether goals behind these initiatives are truly aligned with the real needs of junior faculty members in terms of their career development,which is where the focus of this study lies.The purpose of this study is to explore behavioral characteristics of,and factors that influence junior faculty members' participation in internationalization,as well as the effectiveness of university strategies in promoting faculty engagement at a well-known research university(referred to as S University)in the eastern coastal area of P.R.China.To build the theoretical framework,some important viewpoints from Giddens' Theory of Structuration are absorbed.Within the case study,a mixed-methods sequential explanatory research design is conducted,including a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews.250 responses to the survey from 708 samples,who have been employed since the year 2007 and under the age of 40,are collected and examined in terms of how faculty members perceive the internationalization climate within campus,and in which way do they participate in internationalization.Individual interviews of 25 participants are also conducted,to elaborate and align from survey responses while revealing information concerning facilitators and impediments to faculty engagement in internationalization,as well as the evaluation of,and demands for current university internationalization strategies.Results from survey indicate following findings:(1)Junior faculty members are mainly involved in two core activities respectively in the field of IaH teaching(the internationalization of curriculum and providing students with cross-cultural/global perspectives),and in the filed of IaH research(the individual-led exploratory research and the project-based research exchanges & cooperation).Individual-led exploratory research is junior faculty members' most important form of international participation;but not all of them have the will and the opportunity to participate in the international teaching related activities.(2)The most notable forms of physical mobility that junior faculty members participate are long-term overseas visits of more than 6 months,and short-term cross-border flows within 2 weeks.Overall,their physical mobility is more susceptible to the external policy environments.Those who graduated from national universities,have longer working years,and have higher academic titles(as opposed to lecturers & teaching assistants)are more likely to be involved in medium-& long-term overseas visitis.(3)There are significant differences in participaton in “IaH research” and “physical mobility”,as well as in "student guidance" and "international publication” among junior faculty members belonging to different professional departments,which was build mainly based on distinct disciplines of field.Results from interviews reveal strong motivations of junior faculty members by promoting scientific research,obtaining academic resources,as well as establishing academic reputation.Based on 10 specific motivations for internationalization,it is found that,certain institutional power,specifications and platform support from university,as well as individuals' consciousness,abilities and resources,are important external and internal factors,to various degrees promoting junior faculty members' participation in internationalization.Among them:(1)The participation of junior faculty members in IaH teaching is mainly driven by external factors;(2)Their participation in IaH research is mainly stimulated by internal factors;(3)The cross-border mobility is the result of the interaction of both internal and external factors.Only a small portion of junior faculty with more academic capitals is well able to integrate their personal academic agenda with the university's strategic planning & resource allocation.Newly entries are more likely to be involved in international teaching.Their participation is more of a passive pattern,pushed mainly by external factors.In addition,the vast majority of junior faculty members are mostly driven by internal factors,and they do not highly rely on institutional resources nor totally follow the university's planning.This study also summarizes 10 specific reasons explaining junior faculty members' subjective reluctance or objective non-participation in internationalization,reflected in three key terms: cost & benefits,institutional barriers,and personal loss.Behind these reasons,we found that,problems in certain resource supply,appraisal system,service support and college settings of the university,as well as the resource shortage and reverse tension produced by the personal life,are main external and internal barriers,to various degrees hindering junior faculty members' participation in internationalization.Among them:(1)The participation of junior faculty in IaH teaching & research is mainly hindered by external factors,though the specific obstacles are slightly different;(2)Factors hindering physical mobility mainly come from junior faculty themselves.The proportion of junior faculty members,who are mainly affected by external barriers,is slightly higher than those mainly hindered by internal barriers,indicating that,both external and internal barriers would have crucial influence on this cohort.In addition,individuals' reflexive self-regulation and initiatives are crucial in faculty participation.For people mainly affected by internal barriers,although some of them also perceived some negative influence from certain external barriers,they can still well and partially overcome these obstacles,and direct their own academic activities.In general,the international policy & planning-based organizational strategies in S University has a significantly higher influence on junior faculty members' perception than other institutional incentives & supportive measures;the influence of overseas exchange fundings and on-campus platform supports is generally higher than other programme strategies.Junior faculty members generally agree that,the university's organizational strategies in the field of governance are actively promoting their participation in internationalization,meanwhile still having some controversies regarding the actual impacts of its partial internationalization strategies in human resource,operations and services fields,on their international activities.This study concludes three key reasons that lead to the so-called “internationalization strategy drifts” in S University:(1)The preference of overseas high-level academic talents in the university strategic planning,and its influence on policy-making,squeeze the living space of many on-job junior faculty members,hindering their access to various kinds of academic capitals that contribute to international participation;(2)The ever-changing and “one-size-fits-all” policies exacerbated the academic class differentiation within the university,putting the majority of junior faculty members,who are still in the primary stage of accumulating academic capitals,under the top-down pressures.They have to undertake most basic academic work and therefore,subjectively and objectively feel themselves having little time or resource to support their international participation;(3)The problems in the implementation of specific strategies and their lagging influence also make many junior faculty members have an impression that,our university's internationalization policies are less supportive,which also to a certain extent,test their enthusiasm and determination to devote themselves to international practice.Overall,this study reflects the status of the junior faculty of high-level research universities in P.R.China,who are in the highly competitive academic field to seek professional development.The above-mentioned problems also remind university administrators that,it is necessary to further strengthen policy and resource supports for junior faculty members by concerning university's position orientation,guiding principles and concrete strategies for internationalization.It is only through fundamentally enhancing the academic competitiveness of junior faculty that they could benefit from more and better interdisciplinary/cross-culture exchanges and cooperation opportunities. |
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