Introduction

This book was initiated during one of the lockdowns in Melbourne in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I emailed Dr Marian Mahat (the series editor of the Surviving and Thriving in Academia book series) after reading her edited book titled ‘Achieving Academic Promotion’ to just let her know that her chapter on promotion has helped me to gain confidence to apply for promotion as an international early career researcher. We then had an informal conversation over Zoom, where I was tossing an idea to her on writing on international academic experiences. She then said ‘Why don't you take the lead?’. I still remember the conversation till today as I was caught by surprise – me as a junior researcher and that too an international academic who is trying to thrive in uncharted territory? I remember saying ‘Me? You sure? I have not done this before’. Marian encouraged me and shared her wisdom with me on the process. I am forever grateful to her for this opportunity as I obtained knowledge on how the process works – to be an editor of a book (previously I was a chapter contributor only), fortunate to know other international scholars from around the world and rekindled with my colleagues, friends and acquittances to invite them to contribute to this book.