Changing Academic Mobility Patterns and International Migration

Abstract

Several scholars have underlined connections between academic mobility and international migration. This qualitative study explores a spectrum of academic mobility articulated by Teichler that empirically contributes to consideration of these connections. This analysis of e-mail excerpts from 20 migrant academics, living in seven countries, illuminates six distinct patterns of academic mobility and highlights key differences between regions of the world. Narrowly conceiving academic mobility in terms of traditional short-term internationalization finds many universities focused on and staffed for academic mobility between countries. Other regions have long been focused on academic mobility that occurs within countries. These patterns are a result of long-term migration. At the conceptual and practical levels, this study distinguishes between the timescales and contexts of academic mobility and the theoretical justification for doing this. The resulting analysis invites a reconsideration of assumptions about academic mobility dynamics and their implications.