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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to uncover the basic motivations of the administrators (referred to also as “managers”) to hire foreign-born employees in the academic system, which is relatively ethnically homogenous and where the proficiency in Polish is still a strong asset. By doing this, the authors make an attempt to theorise the value of internationalisation of higher education in the academic peripheries.Design/methodology/approachThis study reports the finding of 20 qualitative interviews with the deans and other senior academic officials serving managerial functions at Polish public and private universities.FindingsThe four basic motivations expressed directly by the mangers were (1) the crave for cultural diversity, (2) willingness to “Westernize” the academe, (3) a need for academic achievement and (4) staff shortages. In the discussion, the authors show, however, that the discursive order of these institutional motivations to hire international faculty is incompatible with motivations of international faculty to seek employment in Poland and statistical data regarding their concentration in different academic centres.Originality/valueThe paper tackles crucial issues regarding staffing (including recruitment and retention) and diversity hiring in a country with an “emigration culture”, similar to other East European states, namely a place from which highly skilled workers emigrate. A relocation to Poland is a rather unusual reverse migration, or “stepping down”, to a periphery to use it as a possible stepping stone for career progression.

Richard Florida claims that members of the “creative class” move to cities, perceived as open and conducive to creative work – a phenomenon which Florida insists is a fundamental economic driver in the Western world. This includes academics and researchers and results in the transfer of knowledge and skills. As the concept of “creative class” was coined in the United States, we may pose the question if it is applicable in other social contexts. The geographical focus of the current paper is on the Polish borderlands. We investigate how international academic commuters, i.e. academics travelling to work in Poland from the neighbouring countries, contribute to the knowledge transfer, or more broadly, the “creative transfer”. This study, a part of a broader research project involving 100 foreign-born scholars working in Poland, uses a sub-sample of the 16 in-depth interviews with international commuting scholars (as opposed to those who presently live in Poland). The results show that most of the internationally commuting scholars come to Poland strictly to deliver teaching. Focused on this goal, they do not take part in social or cultural life in Poland. Although not earning enough money in their home countries, they do not want to move permanently to Poland. Instead, they use the opportunities given by living near the border. These practices make them more similar to regular economic migrants, rather than members of the “creative class”, although some traces of the “creative transfer” can be identified.

Changes in the perception of disabled people and the shift towards the social model of disability should also be reflected in the media debate. On the one hand, media expose the dominant social attitudes towards disabled people, on the other hand, they play an important role in shaping public opinion, influencing ways of thinking and talking about disability. The aim of the paper is to examine the extent to which the term osoba z niepełnosprawnością (person with a disability), which is seen in Poland as being connected to the social model of disability and the ideals of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is used by the media and whether this is accompanied by changes in the presentation of social roles performed by disabled people. The analysis encompasses articles published in the selected Polish opinion-forming weekly magazines after ratifying the Convention (2012). The study shows that although the term osoba z niepełnosprawnością is gradually gaining popularity, this is not related to the way disabled people and their social roles are presented.