INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN A RESEARCH PROJECT

PROJECT INFORMATION STATEMENT

Project Title: Flying Academics: Examining short-term assignments impacts on academics’ work-life
balance and career success.

Investigator:

Juraifa Jais
PhD degree student,
School of Management,
RMIT University,
juraifa.jais@rmit.edu.au
Tel: +613 9925 1681

Supervisors:

Alan Nankervis PhD Greg Fisher PhD

Research Supervisor, Associate Professor Research Supervisor, Associate Professor
School of Management, Flinders Business School,
RMIT University, Flinders University,
alan.nankervis@rmit.edu.au, greg.fisher@flinders.edu.au
Tel: + (61 3) 9925 1650 Tel: (08) 8201 3118

Dear Participant,

You are invited to participate in a PhD research project being conducted through RMIT University, which will
take approximately 20 minutes to complete. This information sheet describes the project in straightforward
language, or ‘plain language’. Please read this sheet carefully and be confident that you understand its
contents before deciding to participate. If you have any questions about the project, please ask one of the
investigators identified above.

Who is involved in this research project? Why is it being conducted?

This research is being conducted by Juraifa Jais, a PhD student enrolled in the School of Management at
RMIT University, Melbourne. The research is supervised by Associate Professor Alan Nankervis, School of
Management, RMIT University and Associate Professor Greg Fisher, Flinders Business School, Flinders
University. This research project has been approved by the RMIT Human Research Ethics Sub-Committee.

Why have you been approached?

We are interested in the opinions of both academics who are involved in offshore teaching and those who are
not involved in offshore teaching. Individuals who meet these criteria have been approached and invited to
participate.

What is the project about? What are the questions being addressed?
This study is designed to explore the impacts of short-term assignments on academics’ work-life balance and
career success. The questions to be asked will focus on how participants evaluate their organisational support
in related to the transnational/offshore teaching assignments. The next set of questions explores on work-life
balance and perceived career benefits associated with short-term assignments. The findings of this study will
be disseminated in conferences and published in journals.

What are the risks associated with participation?

There are no perceived risks associated with participation in this research. If you are concerned about your
responses or if you find participation in the project distressing, you should contact my supervisors as soon as
possible. My supervisors will discuss your concerns with you confidentially and suggest appropriate follow-
up, if necessary. Participation in this research is entirely voluntary and anonymous; you may withdraw your
participation and any unprocessed data concerning you at any time, without prejudice. There is no direct
benefit to the participants as a result of their participation. However, I will be delighted to provide you with a
copy of the research report upon request as soon as it is published.
What are the benefits associated with participation?
Whilst there are no direct benefits for participating in this study, your input will provide vital information
regarding the short-term offshore assignments, and how these are associated with work-life balance and
career success.

What will happen to the information I provide?

This project will use an external site to create, collect and analyse data collected in a survey format. The site
we are using is Survey Monkey. If you agree to participate in this survey, the responses you provide to the
survey will be stored on a host server that is used by Survey Monkey. No personal information will be
collected in the survey so none will be stored as data. Once we have completed our data collection and
analysis, we will import the data we collect to the RMIT server where it will be stored securely for a period
of five (5) years. The data on the Survey Monkey host server will then be deleted and expunged.

Your privacy and confidentiality will be strictly maintained in such a manner that you will not be identified
in the thesis report or any publication. Any information that you provide can be disclosed only if (1) it is to
protect you or others from harm, (2) a court order is produced, or (3) you provide the researchers with
written permission. Data will be only seen by my supervisor and examiners who will also protect you from
any risks.

To ensure that the collected data is protected, the data will be retained for five years upon completion of the
project after which time paper records will be shredded and placed in a security recycle bin and electronic
data will be deleted/destroyed in a secure manner. All hard data will be kept in a locked filing cabinet and
soft data in a password protected computer in the office of the investigator in the research lab at RMIT
University. Data will be saved on the University network system where practicable (as the system provides a
high level of manageable security and data integrity, can provide secure remote access, and is backed up on a
regular basis). Only the researcher will have access to the data.

What are my rights as a participant?

You have right to withdraw their participation at any time, without prejudice. You have the right to have any
unprocessed data withdrawn and destroyed, provided it can be reliably identified, and it does not increase the
risk for the participant. Participants have also the right to have any questions, in relation to the project and
their participation, answered at any time.

Who should I contact if I have any questions?

If you have any queries regarding this project please contact me at +61 3 9925 5618 or +61 41225 3775 or
email me at juraifa.jais@rmit.edu.au; or the supervisors listed above.

Thank you very much for your contribution to this research.

Yours Sincerely,

Juraifa Jais
School of Management
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Any complaints about your participation in this project may be directed to the Chair, Business College
Human Ethics Advisory Network, College of Business, RMIT, GPO Box 2476V, Melbourne, 3001. The
telephone number is (03) 9925 6597 or email address peter.burke@rmit.edu.au. Details of the complaints
procedure are available from http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=2jqrnb7hnpyo