This paper is a creative and critical exploration of what it means to navigate academia as early-career women in an increasingly neoliberal and competitive environment. Using Bourdieu’s concept of illusio—the belief in and investment in the “game” of academia—it questions why and how we stay within this system, even as it demands constant adaptation, productivity, and resilience. Through a co-autoethnographic and arts-based approach, the paper turns the method of collage into both metaphor and method, allowing fragmented experiences, emotions, and contradictions to come to the surface. This methodology disrupts the linear, success-driven narratives that often dominate discussions about internationalisation and early-career development. The impact of this work is social and political. It challenges the hidden pressures and inequities of academic life while creating a space for collective reflection. It tries to contribute to earlier works in the field and make visible the different dimensions of academic survival. The contribution invites all scholars to question the rules of the academic “game” and to imagine fairer, more connected, and more human ways of doing research and being in academia.
Turelli, F., Barquero-Ruiz, C., & Castro-García, M. (2025). Collaging the (Dis)illusio of Being International Early Career Women in Physical Education and Sport Sciences/Kinesiology. Quest, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2025.2575375
Dr. Carmen Barquero-Ruiz is an Associate Professor in the Physical Education and Sport Sciences Department, University of Limerick.
Contact: Carmen.BarqueroRuiz@ul.ie. Follow on twitter: @Cbarquero93. Research Profiles: Researchgate, ORCID, Linked-In
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