Choices and Consequences: Impact of Mobility on Research-Career Capital and Promotion in Business Schools

Abstract

We focus on the role that domestic and international mobility play in achieving a business academic’s career outcomes. We seek to advance existing research by taking a more- nuanced approach to the study of mobility. Using a sample of 376 tenured faculty members from 20 highly research-visible European business schools in 10 countries, we explore different patterns of mobility and highlight their link to research-career capital and the speed of academic promotion. Our findings show that mobility has a positive impact on research-career capital, but multiple moves delay academic promotion. In making decisions about international mobility, it is important to know that moving internationally for one’s first post-PhD job undermines research productivity. However, moving internationally between year 2 and year 7 post-PhD is better than moving later on. The ability to move between countries is deeply rooted in gender, with female faculty less likely to access international mobility. Female academics also take longer to be promoted to a tenured rank and to full professorship. Our findings have implications for academic researchers who consider domestic and international mobility, and for PhD supervisors whose duty it is to prepare their students for successful careers in academia.