Disentangling international research collaboration in the Spanish academic context: Is there a desirable researcher human capital profile?

Abstract

A number of studies has focused on examining those academic researchers attributes-demographics or not- that condition international research collaboration (IRC) and its results. However, it is not possible to speak about an ‘ideal’ type of researcher so far. Should we assume that just only those ‘star researchers’ collaborate internationally?. The literature is not clear enough on this topic, offering interesting but insufficient support to know the set of individual characteristics that ensures fruitful IRC. To deepen the analysis of academic researchers attributes, in particular, the human capital characteristics, this study proposes in-depth research on exploring different combinations on human capital dimensions and testing potential differences in IRC levels. To do so, from an exploratory perspective, a cluster analysis was conducted in a sample of 937 Spanish academics, obtaining three researcher profiles: (1) consolidated international research collaborators, (2) effective international research collaborators, and (3) skilled international research collaborators. Far from the recurrent analysis of single or disconnected researchers' attributes, this paper contributes to the extant literature with a new typology based on the variables of academic human capital, providing an useful starting point to better understand who really can develop international networks to collaborate and, therefore, how to foster IRC in Universities.