Passport privilege is a topic rarely discussed in academia, but it is a lived experience for many of us. Nihan Albayrak-Aydemir points out that passport-holders from the Global South often incur hidden costs and miss out on research and networking opportunities due to their immigration status while working and studying in the Global North. Most host institutions overlook the burdens on Global South scholars as they relate to academic travel and research, such as applying multiple times for visas, having to check in with immigration authorities, being delayed when traveling, incurring additional costs for visas, and documenting proof of financial resources.
In this event, we spoke with Nihan about the hidden costs and burdens of being a Global South scholar in the Global North. We unpacked what these costs look like, the emotional and professional burdens they cause, and what institutions can do to remove these barriers.
About our fellow traveller
Nihan Albayrak-Aydemir (@nihanalbay) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at the LSE, sponsored by the Turkish Ministry of National Education. She holds a Master’s degree in Applied Social Psychology from Royal Holloway, University of London and a Master’s degree in Neuroscience from King’s College London. Her PhD research examines the ways in which people help in global emergencies, employing a mixed-method design and focusing on individual helping responses from Europe to the Syrian refugee emergency. Her general research interests include helping, identity, migration, religion, and meta-science. She is especially passionate about equality, diversity, and inclusion issues and practices within academia and the production of academic knowledge.