I get a lot of requests for help from researchers doing work in areas of expatriate life, including repatriation which was the subject of my book Homeward Bound. Normally, I have to say no (as I can’t help everyone) but in this case I will make an exception because the researchers in this case are, simply, exceptional.
Dr. Margaret Shaffer of the University of Wisconsin and Dr. David Harrison of the Pennsylvania State University (both of whom have published together widely on expatriate subjects in academic journals) are working with Dr. Maria Kraimer of the University of Melbourne to investigate what matters most to repatriating employees and their families in order to learn what companies and sponsoring organizations can do to smooth the repatriation process and reduce the trauma of re-entry shock.
I joke often with my expat audiences that people are positively ‘repatriation-phobic’ and refuse to think about this challenge at all. Well, I’ve got news for everyone: eventually you will come home, or your children will and there will be a reckoning. So why not help these top academics so they can help you?
The project is aimed at both employees and companies; it only requires filling in a simple 20 minute survey (and individual participants will receive a $50 gift certificate to amazon.com). To learn more about participating, contact any of the academic team: Dr. Kraimer can be reached at mkraimer@unimelb.edu.au and Dr. Shaffer is at shafferm@uwm.edu. Dr. Harrison’s e-mail is dharrison@psu.edu.
You can come home again. Let these researchers make it easier for you.
