New work, old power: inequities within the labor of internationalization

Abstract

Purpose -The aim in this paper is to extend Dorothy Smith's conceptual understanding of work to consider the emerging labor of ''knowmads'' within internationalization of higher education. Through original research on everyday experiences of internationalization, the authors seek to illuminate the ways individuals develop skills and competencies in relation to these new forms of work in order to address the reproduction of inequities. The authors make a connection between internationalization of higher education and knowmadic labor based on the premise that cross-border education is often pursued in order to develop knowmadic attributes. Design/methodology/approach -Through a critical institutional ethnography of one mid-sized Canadian university, the paper uses survey and interview data gathered from students and facultyindividuals who are involved in knowmadic labor connected to internationalization -to illustrate some of the study participants' daily experiences of internationalization coordinated by the institutional structures of the university in times of globalization.Findings -It is concluded that internationalization and connecting new forms of work involved in becoming and producing knowmads not only bypass and disregard present inequities in higher education, but work to reproduce them in new ways.Practical implications -The paper provides insight in regards to processes and allocation of work within internationalization, while addressing forms of social inequities that often cut across these practices and concludes with brief comments on the implications of academic knowmadic labor in Western higher education institutions engaged in internationalization.Originality/value -While research has been conducted on work in international contexts, little has addressed ''the labor'' that is involved in becoming knowmads, and that of ''producing'' knowmads. The paper draws connections between the internationalization of higher education and knowmadic work showing that knowmadic labor is often preceded by knowmadic educational opportunities. The cosmopolitan vision of creating globally aware citizens, with international knowledge, skills, and competencies that institutions espouse, are assumed to be good per se, and to lead to knowmadic qualities and attributes required in a knowmad society. The paper questions these assumptions and the relations of power on which they rest.

Institutional Ethnography as a Method of Inquiry: A Scoping Review

“…Authors of 21 publications appeared to draw on material obtained predominantly through a single method of data collection. More than half of these publications (12 or 57%) relied primarily on inter-view data (Harrison 2006;MacKinnon 2006;Murray et al 2006;Weigt 2006;Berkowitz and Marsiglio 2007;Breitkreuz, Williamson, and Raine 2010;Reimer and Ste-Marie 2010;Husso and Hirvonen 2012;Nilsson et al 2012;Beck et al 2013;Haneda and Nespor 2013;Taylor 2013), which is consistent with some claims that interviewing is one of the most commonly used data collection methods in institutional ethnography (DeVault and McCoy 2006). Importantly, some of these authors did situate key issues within an historical context meant to serve as a complement and comparative reference point to their interview data (e.g., Murray et al 2006).…”

The Emergence of Knowmads from the Knowledge Workers

“…Nevertheless, in the context of an intensified and globalized knowledge economy a new type of worker emerges: the knowmad worker (Cobo, & Moravec, 2011;Kubik, 2013;Moravec, 2008Moravec, , 2013aMoravec, , 2013bGarcia, 2012aGarcia, , 2012bOrel, 2019Orel, , 2020. Contemporary times are profoundly shaped by continuous growth, increasing transition, and building confusion, while the effects of globalization are rapidly visible in every part of our lives (Beck et al, 2013;Igielski, 2017;Nadkarni, & Prügl, 2020). Leading influences can be seen in the social and educational fields (Moravec, 2013a;Moravec, & van den Hoff, 2015) while indirect effects closely follow the above-mentioned trends in the labor market, where they are most visible in competencies shift.…”

From knowledge workers to knowmads: skills, roles and attributes – A literature review

“…The first quarter century seems to bemore than anything else -defined by progress, changes, and uncertainty in the context of globalization becoming more visible and impactful in practically all parts of our existance (Beck et al, 2013;Nadkarni & Prügl, 2020). Primary effects can be noticed in the societal and educational domains (Moravec, 2013b;Moravec & van den Hoff, 2015) and secondary effects can be noticed eventually in the work field (fHokanson & Karlson, 2013;Kubik, 2013).…”

“…Based on this generally acknowledged definition in the field (Beck et al, 2013;Garcia, 2012aGarcia, , 2012bOrel, 2020) we have defined the research directions. A knowmad is a nomadic knowledge worker, an individual relying on his/ her creativity, imagination, and capacity to innovate, a flexible worker when it comes to time, location of work, people on his or her team or collaborators' teams, in addition to the tasks they are performing.…”