English version below.
Lhaih mee yn art shoh moghrey jiu: Academics Anonymous: international staff suffer raw deal from universities
She eie anaasoil t'ayn, agh bare lhiam fakin ny smoo fysseree er y chooish. Er lhiam dy nee cubbylyn ta bun smoo y doilleeid. My t'ou uss cummal ayns y Reeriaght hannah as y sheshey ayd caghlaa staartey, dy cadjin foddee oo freayll y staartey t'ayd hannah. Foddee oo cummal seose cooish ghraih foddey rish tammylt, derrey fow uss staartey ny s'faggys da'n boayl noa, ny foddee fer jiu troailtey. Cha nel monney caa ayn dy vow shiu daa staartey ollooscoillagh lane-emshiragh beayn 'syn ynnyd cheddin ec y traa cheddin; myr shen, my t'ou uss geiyrt er sheshey ass çheer elley, cha nel monney caa ayd dy 'eddyn staartey dy leah. Ta teiy ayd: goaill rish staartey nagh vel 'syn ollooscoill (as gyn screen yn art shoh), ny goaill rish staartey ollooscoillagh nagh mie lane chooie dhyt.
Er lhiam dy nee feme (feer ny far) dy hannaghtyn 'syn "teihll ollooscoillagh" ta bun y cheisht, son t'eh cur stiagh feme elley mastey ny cummaghtyn t'ort rish shirrey staartey. As feme ort dy gheddyn staartey faggys da'n çheshey, as ec y traa cheddin, ta sleih goaill rish staartaghyn nagh goghe ad rish jeh yioin. S'cosoylagh dy vel y red cheddin ry-akin mastey cubbylyn ta gobbraghey ayns sur-vagher erbee.
Jeeaghyn er y chooish ayns aght elley, ta mee çhelleeragh fakin kiare cummaghtyn er y teiy. S'cosoylagh dy bee eh ort lhiggey lesh fer jeu:
- Foddid: by vie lhiat staartey faggys da'n çheshey ayd
- Coorse: by vie lhiat ve mie er enney 'sy vagher keirdagh ayd, as cummal seose y schlei ayd.
- Argid: shegin dhyt feddyn staartey dy leah dys eeck ny billaghyn.
- Quallid: t'ou shirrey reddyn er lheh ass y staartey, m.s. ooashley, sorçh dy obbyr t'ayn, çhymbyllaght obbree a.r.e.
As nyn mast'oc, she quallid y red sassey dy lhiggey lesh, as t'eh gientyn lheid yn art. My t'ou lhiggey lesh yn argid, ta shin lhaih artyn ta gra nagh vel un 'aill olloo lane-emshiragh cooie dy chummal seose cubbyl ny lught-thie. My t'ou lhiggey lesh y choorse, ta shin lhaih artyn er "cur magh ny fioghee", anchorrmid keintys ayns ollooscoillyn*, as cre'n fa ta sleih faagail yn seihll ollooscoillagh. My t'ou lhiggey lesh foddid, ta shin lhaih artin er doilleeidyn cormaghey coorse as bea my t'ou dy olloo.
*Ta ourys aym, kyndagh rish anchormid faill as cultoor, dy vel ny smoo ollooyn firrynagh garraghey as sheshey bwoirrin geiyrt orroo, na'n aght elley. Cha nel y fysseree aym. Foddee chammah dy vel eh ny s'doillee da ollooyn bwoirrin feddyn staartey noa my t'ad arraghey.
Trooid as trooid, er lhiam nagh vel eddyrashoonaght y pheiagh bentyn rish y chooish. Er lhiam dy nee shirrey daa staartey ooashley sur-cheirdagh lane-emshiragh ayns ard beg ec y traa cheddin (as costreeu agglagh ayn son ny staartaghyn shen, as cha nel ny currymee caghlaa dy mennick, as cha nel ad ayn agh ayns shiartase dy chaayryn er lheh) ta bun y chooish.
It’s an interesting point, but I’d like to see some more data on the topic. I suspect a major cause of the problem is likely to be couples. If you’re moving within the UK, it's often feasible for the already-employed partner to retain their job, either having a medium-distance relationship for a while until they can find a job nearer the new place, or with one partner (or both) commuting. The chances of getting two permanent academic jobs in the same area at the same time are very limited, so if someone follows their partner from abroad, they’re unlikely to get one quickly. This means a choice: either taking a non-academic job (in which case you don't write this article) or taking a much less appealing academic job. I suspect the root problem here is simply that a perceived or real need to remain "in academia" is a substantial additional factor in jobseeking. Coupled with the need to find a job near a partner, and at around the same time, people end up taking jobs they ordinarily wouldn't. I imagine the same problem applies in most specialised fields. To look at it another way, I can immediately think of four factors in the decision. It’s very likely that you’ll have to compromise on at least one: Distance: you want to work near your partner. Career: you need to maintain a name in the field and your career skills. Financial: you need to get a job fairly soon to pay the bills. Quality: you want certain things out of the job, such as prestige, the nature of the work, conditions and so on. Of these, quality is perhaps the easiest to compromise and leads to this article. If you compromise on finance, we get articles on how a single academic salary isn’t enough to support a couple or family. If you compromise on career, we get articles on “publish or perish”, gender imbalance in universities*, and why people left academia. If you compromise on distance, we get articles on the difficulties of juggling career and relationship for academics. *I suspect that because of pay discrepancies and cultural tendencies, there are statistically more male academics moving and taking female partners with them than the other way round. It may also be harder for female academics to get a new job after moving. On the whole, my take is that this is very little to do with staff being international, and very much to do with trying to find two full-time high-prestige specialist jobs within a small geographical area, when said jobs are limited to specific cities, subject to furious competition and have relatively low turnover.
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