By Alex Moller
The globalization of science has led many women in fisheries to work or study abroad. I missed out on study abroad opportunities during my undergraduate schooling and my international graduate work trips were canceled due to the pandemic. Finally, as a post-doc I was able to secure a job in the United Kingdom at University of Oxford! It was a truly amazing experience, but it highlighted some major roadblocks faced by anyone, but especially women, trying to work abroad.
Before you even get to another country the visa process is a vacuous effort and money pit that makes you question if the opportunity is even worth it. After I got the offer from Oxford, I had to immediately start the visa process, all while I was still wrapping up my dissertation and preparing for my defense. The paperwork for a visa is stressful, and you will have lots of questions that are hyper-specific to your case. Luckily, Oxford assigns each international applicant a case worker, but not all companies or universities are like that. Either way, you will be losing quite a few hours to the visa process over the course of a few months.
Most people assume visas are entirely paperwork, but there are a few steps that have to happen in person. I had to go to a specific immigration office and get biometric information sent to the U.K.. For that appointment, I had to take off work, drive 45 minutes to the outskirts of my city, wait for over an hour, and spent the whole time worrying I would be sent away for having the wrong papers. Then after all the appointments, I had to go to the post office to have all my documents, including my passport, sent to the main embassy in New York City. I went through the dependent visa process for my fiancé, which is an entire second application, biometrics appointment, and passport shipment. Repeating the process for partners and kids is another whole layer of confusion, effort, and costs.
On top of all this effort, a visa and associated fees costs a ridiculous amount of money that you usually do not get back. For the U.K., you pay for the visa, shipping your passport, and a health care fee, all in a foreign currency, so international charges may apply. This can total close to 3000 GBP, per person, which is probably cheaper than U.S. health insurance in the long run but is a high upfront cost.
One major perk of the U.K. dependent visa is it allows the partner to do any kind of work while abroad (other than sports coach, so specific!). Other countries have partner and dependent visas which are not as open ended and can cause complications for a couple. While there were no legal restrictions, we were still weighing my career against my partner’s career. I had a job offer, while my partner had to start job searching abroad, despite having a good, stable career in the States. I understand this is an issue that comes up with every job change in your life, but when moving abroad it can be particularly stressful to lose secure income for new opportunities.
After arriving in another country, the next big hurdle is finding housing. For women, the safety-price curve is the biggest issue, finding a living situation that you feel comfortable in can be expensive. Safe areas tend to be more expensive, so right off the bat you’re paying a premium. To reduce rent, you could choose a safe area that is far from your workplace, but then you would spend that extra money on the commute. The only surefire way to reduce your rent is to live with roommates, but that can be a gamble.
I moved to the UK with my partner, so we couldn’t look at house-shares. But I’ve met a few women researchers that ended up in precarious living situations with sketchy landlords or housemates that did not show their true colors until after they’ve moved in. It’s one thing when you can break your lease, stay at home for a few weeks until you find a new place, but being abroad means you don’t have the support system to safely leave a bad situation without spending more money. Sometimes your employer can provide housing assistance, but this is not the standard, even though it should be.
On a lighter note, I discovered I needed to replace my entire wardrobe when moving abroad. Since I was making the extreme move from Miami, FL to Oxford, UK, I had no winter clothes to speak of. Luckily, I slowly accumulated pieces over the fall as I required more and more layers. While warming up, I learned about the unspoken dress code around Oxford. Everyone looks very academic and at a minimum business casual. I was invited to a holiday party where I was told to dress “smart” and everyone showed up in what I would consider American cocktail or formal attire. This might be an Oxford or a European trend, but I had to update my looks accordingly. This pressure to elevate the wardrobe also affected my partner, but while he needed a few shirts, I needed new dresses, cardigans, sweaters, coats, and shoes, which was much more expensive. If you ever find yourself with new foreign colleagues, discussing local clothing brands and customs can be super helpful!
Moving abroad was not a complete money pit and waste of time, there were many awesome benefits! Being in the UK gave me easy access to all of Europe with plenty of days off for travel. Going abroad is a great chance to explore places you never would have gotten a chance to explore otherwise. Some items are also priced differently in other countries. I got designer Barbour wellies for much cheaper in the UK and still wear them around New England on soggy days. Work-wise, I was surprised by the diversity of my colleagues and enjoyed meeting people from all over the world working on cutting edge research. Being at a unique university like Oxford meant I spent more time with researchers of all fields instead of locked in my department. If you get the chance to work abroad, seize it, but make sure you are prepared for the initial barriers!