From East to West - an early-career researcher's voyage across continents.
An early-career researcher’s international journey highlights the hidden challenges faced during cross-continental academic mobility, with 3 major stages from West Africa to Western Canada.
- Why it matters: Understanding these challenges is crucial because they often remain unacknowledged in formal acceptance letters, impacting researcher well-being and career development across diverse regions.
- What they did: The researcher recounts their experience navigating loneliness, ambiguous job titles, and underfunded postdoctoral roles during their move from West Africa to East Germany and then to Western Canada, emphasizing systemic issues.
- The result: This narrative underscores the need for institutions to address these overlooked hardships, fostering more supportive environments for early-career researchers undertaking international careers.