Well-being and the internationalisation of academic life: an exploration from the periphery

While internationalising scholarly careers is an imperative in current academia, literature has focused on the impact of such a process at the institutional, national, and international levels. Yet, internationalisation is connected to the personal dimension of careers and, consequently, it might defy academics’ understanding of their working life. The intertwined between well-being and internationalisation in academia is understudied. Using data from qualitative interviews with social science scholars in Mexico, we argue that, seen from the periphery, internationalisation affects personal well-being and job satisfaction both positively and negatively. The challenges of internationalisation for work-life balance depend on the ability of academics to capitalise on their international experiences and their costs. Results indicate that there is no homogeneous positive position with respect to this imperative of academic life today. Hence, if higher education institutions are committed to pursue strategies for internationalisation, they must recognise the personal costs and benefits of this process.