Navigating Academic Careers Across Borders

Expectations across institutions • Institutional priorities • Work–life balance • Advice for cross-border scholars • Conclusion

For graduate students and early career scholars, the decision to study or work abroad often raises questions about cultural adaptation, institutional expectations, and professional visibility in unfamiliar systems. During the 2025 APS Global Psychological Science Summit, the APS Student Caucus organized a roundtable session titled “Navigating Academic Careers Across Borders,” bringing together scholars with diverse international experiences to share insights on how to thrive in global academic landscapes. 

Organized by Tiffany Shao of Claremont Graduate University, the session featured perspectives from Jennifer Feitosa (Claremont McKenna College), Heather Flowe (University of Birmingham), and Jiin Jung (Lehigh University). Together, they reflected on the realities of transitioning between academic systems, the expectations of publishing and funding across countries, and the strategies that can help emerging scholars build sustainable and rewarding careers abroad. This article highlights key points of their discussion. 

Expectations across institutions 

Navigating academic life across borders often means stepping into new institutional cultures, shifting mentorship norms, and renegotiating work–life balance. Although each institution has its own character, scholars frequently carry a set of general expectations about how academia should function. These assumptions can both guide and complicate their transitions, influencing how they interpret professional relationships, evaluate support structures, and adapt to unfamiliar organizational rhythms.

Professor Jennifer Feitosa emphasized that institutional differences are both real and consequential. “There are many differences in institutional culture, mentorship, and work–life balance, even when moving between institutions within the same country. When changes involve different regions, time zones, or cultures, those differences become even more pronounced.” Each institution brings its own blend of formal rules and unspoken expectations, requiring newcomers to learn how to navigate institutional expectations.  

Professor Heather Flowe, who has spent 16 years across three British universities, often fields questions from U.S. colleagues about building a career in the United Kingdom. She noted that “the United Kingdom is exceptionally conducive to globally engaged, societally impactful research, but it rewards strategic alignment and comfort with shifting priorities.”  

U.K. universities, she explained, are structurally oriented toward upstream influence on policy and practice. In her own work on memory, justice, and humanitarian protection, Flowe has collaborated with survivor‑led NGOs, supported documentation of conflict‑related violence, and built interdisciplinary teams spanning psychology, law, forensic science, virtual reality, computer vision, and public health. This outward‑facing work, she emphasized, is “embedded in how universities understand and evidence research value.” 

Expectations rarely map neatly onto every institutional context. Each university blends formal rules with unspoken cultural norms. These differences remind us that expectations are provisional and shaped as scholars move across borders and encounter different academic worlds.

Institutional priorities 

Universities differ significantly in what they prioritize, shaping everything from how they allocate resources to how they define academic success. As a result, many roles come with nonnegotiable expectations that scholars must navigate as part of the institutional landscape. 

Feitosa highlighted that there may be differences in institutional priorities in teaching versus research, individual achievement versus collaboration, and local impact versus global visibility. Teaching‑focused roles often come with fixed expectations around grading, accommodations, and student engagement. Faculty must balance bringing their own teaching philosophy while remaining open to local norms. 

Research cultures also differ substantially. Some institutions value collaboration through shared data practices and open conversations about work in progress, while others operate more independently. Understanding who does what, how expertise is shared, and which outlets or conferences are valued becomes essential for integration. Feitosa shared that arriving with existing professional relationships helped her integrate more quickly into the local research community. Programs like Fulbright Scholars can also provide a built‑in network that eases this transition. 

Flowe added that “the underlying career logic is different” for institutional priorities at many U.K. universities. The academic job expectations in the U.K. academic system do not mirror those for U.S. tenure. A defining feature of U.K. academic life is the national research evaluation system, the Research Excellence Framework (REF), which assesses publications, societal and policy influence, and the broader research environment. “REF considerations filter into hiring, promotion, workload, and departmental priorities, meaning it’s almost always in the background,” she said. 

Institutional priorities inevitably shape what scholars must deliver, but they don’t have to navigate these expectations alone. Leveraging existing networks can provide insight, advocacy, and practical support, helping scholars interpret institutional demands and position their work in ways that align with both personal goals and organizational priorities. 

Work–life balance 

Work–life balance is often shaped by unspoken rules. Some departments model strong boundaries, where out‑of‑office messages are routine and weekend emails are discouraged; others assume constant availability. “Success depends not only on your own academic skills, but on your ability to read the environment, learn its priorities, and adapt without forgoing your core values,” Feitosa said. 

Feitosa’s guidance for scholars navigating new academic and cultural systems centers on community. Reflecting on her sabbatical abroad, she said, “Everything was new: The language was not my own, my spouse was fluent but navigating systems alongside me, and my son was only 3 years old.”  

What made the biggest difference was building community outside academia—connecting with parents at her child’s school, expatriates who had already navigated similar hurdles, and other visiting scholars. These networks provided “invaluable practical knowledge and emotional support,” she said, and helped her family build a sense of belonging. 

Flowe also emphasized the importance of investing in life outside of work. In her blog, she shares that though the United Kingdom offers more generous benefits on paper than the United States, the lived reality of work–life balance can be far more complex. “When my children were small, support was thinner on the ground. … [I experienced] negative attitudes toward working mothers, little institutional backing, and an expectation you simply soldier on.” Although conditions have improved, those early experiences continue to shape how she thinks about balance and mentorship. 

Her own strategy has been to integrate family and academic life by bringing her children along to conferences, involving them in research-related activities, and exposing them to the international networks that flow through her home. Observing colleagues across the United Kingdom has also shown her that there is no single “correct” career trajectory. Some academics slow down during caregiving years and accelerate later, while others maintain a steady, high‑intensity pace throughout.  

The U.K. system, she noted, tends to accommodate both patterns more flexibly than the United States, in part because promotion is less rigidly tied to early career output. This makes it entirely possible to reach senior ranks later in one’s career, once children are older or life has stabilized. 

Similarly, Feitosa maintains a work–life balance for her family by exploring nearby towns, discovering new sports like ​​​​​​​​​​pádel and fit boxing, walking, and forming friendships with others in similar situations. Living without a car, finding favorite local restaurants, and building a “village” of support all contributed to their well‑being. 

Advice for cross‑border scholars 

For early career researchers considering a move, Flowe recommended learning local incentives early, translating one’s experience into the new system, and thinking ahead about how to “explain, frame, and ‘sell’ your work if you later return to the U.S. system.” Cross‑border mobility is entirely possible, but “requires being strategic,” she said. 

Feitosa encouraged scholars to ask questions early and often and to intentionally build a “transactive memory system”—learning who knows what and where to go for different kinds of information. Making an effort to speak the host country’s language, even imperfectly, was also helpful. Equally important were people who could bridge gaps in understanding, whether by explaining norms, translating bureaucracy, or simply validating confusion. 

Informal networks such as parent groups, Fulbright communities, and expatriate WhatsApp and Facebook groups were, in Feitosa’s words, “incredible sources of shared knowledge, recommendations, and reassurance.” Reflecting on the experience, she added, “We had the time of our lives, and hope others get to experience something like this in their lifetime, too.” 

Conclusion 

International academic mobility is multifaceted. Building a career across borders involves far more than relocating to a new institution. It requires learning new systems, adapting to unfamiliar expectations, and cultivating communities that make both work and life sustainable. The experiences shared by Feitosa and Flowe highlight that although the challenges are real, the opportunities for intellectual growth, global collaboration, and personal transformation are equally profound.  

For graduate students and early career scholars considering similar paths, their reflections offer both guidance and encouragement: With curiosity, strategic awareness, and a willingness to engage deeply with new environments, it is possible to build a meaningful and impactful academic life abroad. 

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