The Independent Expatriate: Academics Abroad

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An increasing number of people are choosing to pursue an inter-national career. While many are sent overseas by their employers others choose to go it alone as independent expatriates. This book explores what it means to pursue an international career independently. It examines the experiences of a group of British ex-patriate academics who have left Britain to work in one of four countries: New Zealand, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. It considers why they decided to expatriate, the nature of their subsequent experiences and how they evaluated those experiences in retrospect. While family and career played a dominant role, a search for adventure was the most dominant driver to expatriation. For many of the people who took part in this study expatriation was a modern day adventure characterised by professional and personal challenge as well as learning and transformation. The book is a useful resource for IHRM researchers and practitioners, particularly those managing expatriates. It is also useful for people considering expatriation as part of their own careers, particularly with respect to the impact on family, personal and professional develop-ment.