Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Mobilities on 08/01/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17450101.2015.1116884
Accepted author manuscript, 455 KB, PDF document
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Mobility and professional networks in academia: an exploration of the obligations of presence
AU - Storme, Tom
AU - Faulconbridge, James
AU - Beaverstock, Jonathan V.
AU - Derrudder, Ben
AU - Witlox, Frank
N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Mobilities on 08/01/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17450101.2015.1116884
PY - 2017/6
Y1 - 2017/6
N2 - This article explores the obligations of presence behind work-related mobility for academics in internationalizing higher education systems. By further developing John Urry’s concept of ‘meetingness’, the article reveals how academics depend on corporeal and virtual mobility to create and maintain a networked professional life outside their own institution, which is crucial in the context of changing work conditions. Our insights are drawn from original qualitative research (42 interviews) in a Flemish and Danish context. The data reveal obligations of presence associated with an interrelated mix of functionality, and the construction of dense and sparse social networks that together support career success and work at the frontiers of academic knowledge. Despite the now well-recognised costs of corporeal mobility, obligations of presence result in virtual and corporeal mobility coexisting, rather than the former substituting for the latter. Virtual mobility is mainly used when conflicting obligations of presence exist, and as a means of sustaining networks over time given the processual nature of meetingness, rather than as a means to reduce levels of corporeal mobility.
AB - This article explores the obligations of presence behind work-related mobility for academics in internationalizing higher education systems. By further developing John Urry’s concept of ‘meetingness’, the article reveals how academics depend on corporeal and virtual mobility to create and maintain a networked professional life outside their own institution, which is crucial in the context of changing work conditions. Our insights are drawn from original qualitative research (42 interviews) in a Flemish and Danish context. The data reveal obligations of presence associated with an interrelated mix of functionality, and the construction of dense and sparse social networks that together support career success and work at the frontiers of academic knowledge. Despite the now well-recognised costs of corporeal mobility, obligations of presence result in virtual and corporeal mobility coexisting, rather than the former substituting for the latter. Virtual mobility is mainly used when conflicting obligations of presence exist, and as a means of sustaining networks over time given the processual nature of meetingness, rather than as a means to reduce levels of corporeal mobility.
KW - Academic mobility
KW - Meetingness
KW - Mobility obligations
KW - Internationalization
KW - Social networks
U2 - 10.1080/17450101.2015.1116884
DO - 10.1080/17450101.2015.1116884
M3 - Journal article
VL - 12
SP - 405
EP - 424
JO - Mobilities
JF - Mobilities
SN - 1745-0101
IS - 3
ER -