Identifying What is Missing: International Diversity and Inclusion in Norwegian Academia

Abstract

With increased internationalisation and academic migration, today Norwegian universities are workplaces with an internationally diverse workforce. Research on international workers reveals challenges concerning topics such as language practices and social inclusion. This article contributes to knowledge about diversity and the university working culture from a perspective we know relatively little about: university administrators. Through organisational theories of inequality, power and discourses, the article explores how administrators frame international diversity, and identifies what is missing, from their perspective. The interviews show a paradox in the way that Norwegian academia handles diversity: on the one hand, internationalisation and international recruitment are prioritised and presented as positive, but on the other hand, there seems to be a culture of silence about the challenging aspects of cultural differences. Distribution of information about social expectations and how working life is culturally organised is not neutral, but can affect people’s social inclusion, the extent to which they are organised in labour unions, and even their salary development. The article reveals some of the ways that international researchers are vulnerable in the imbalanced employer-employee relationship at Norwegian universities.