International academics’ perceptions of short-term teaching in a Chinese university: motives, challenges and academic acculturation

ABSTRACT International mobility in academia contributes to knowledge exchange, career progression and internationalisation, but limited research has investigated short-term roles. This paper studies international academics who travelled to China to teach a four-week summer school programme. Participants (n = 44) were interviewed about motives for coming to China, challenges encountered and academic acculturation. Findings showed that motives, challenges and acculturation experiences were complex and diverse. While disciplinary outreach was a prominent driver, the programme itself had an important role. Most challenges for long-term international academics were not applicable to short-term international academics. Instead, short-term mobile academics’ reported challenges tended to be programme or discipline-related, and perceptions of difficulty were shaped by individual factors such as frequency of academic mobility and personal world view. In addition, short-term international mobile academics did not report active engagement in a mutual academic acculturation process, although there was evidence of one-way acculturation directed from home (academic staff) to host (students) and reported changing views about the host culture. Findings enrich understanding and support policy for short-term international academic mobility.