This paper discusses the precariousness of an academic profession in contemporary Slovakia and Poland. Although some of the patterns have been previously studied, this analysis sheds new light on the problems of Polish and Slovak academia as seen by foreigners, who, according to official policy, are expected to contribute to the excellence of Polish academia. In reality, low wages and underfinanced universities often make their work very difficult. The analysis is focused mainly on the issues related to low salaries and ways that allow foreign-born employees to secure extra income necessary to maintain the desired standard of living. Even if, for some interviewees, local salary is sufficient to live in CEE, other academics have higher demands because of their family situation (e.g., “international children”), extra travel expenses for private purposes, or spending on bilingual education in Poland or Slovakia. Foreign-born academics living in Poland and Slovakia compensate for low salaries in three distinct ways discussed in the paper — by taking various academic and non-academic extra jobs, acquiring external funding from their home country’s government, or relying on family economic resources.

本文讨论了当代斯洛伐克和波兰学术职业的不稳定性。尽管之前已经研究了一些模式，但这一分析为外国人所看到的波兰和斯洛伐克学术界的问题提供了新的线索，根据官方政策，他们有望为波兰学术界的卓越做出贡献。实际上，低工资和资金不足的大学往往使他们的工作非常困难。分析主要集中在与低薪相关的问题以及允许外国出生的员工获得维持理想生活水平所必需的额外收入的方式。即使对于一些受访者来说，当地的工资足以在中东欧生活，但其他学者由于家庭情况（例如“国际儿童”）有更高的要求，额外的私人旅行费用，或在波兰或斯洛伐克的双语教育支出。生活在波兰和斯洛伐克的外国出生的学者通过论文中讨论的三种不同方式来弥补低薪——通过从事各种学术和非学术额外工作，从本国政府获得外部资金，或依赖家庭经济资源。