Transnational Diaspora Engagements in Higher Education: A Case of Ethiopian-born Academics in the US

Abstract

The literature on diaspora engagement in higher education focuses on broad environmental, policy and institutional issues as critical determinants of the scope and efficiency of engagement. Using data from interviews with 16 Ethiopian diaspora academics in the United States, this article undertakes a micro-examination of factors in their personal spaces and immediate environment that influence such engagement. Using a phenomenological approach, it examines how professional, personal, familial and other individual attributes shape the trajectories of diaspora engagement. It demonstrates how nuances in personal and micro-environmental factors shape motivation for, and sustenance of, engagement, while they maintain a complex and interdependent relationship. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of a holistic approach to the study of diaspora engagement in higher education that pays attention to personal and microenvironmental factors as well as institutional, legal and political issues.