Pushing performance by building bridges: Human and social capital as mechanisms behind the mobility-performance link

Abstract

Temporarily going abroad is widely believed to increase academics' research performance. However, our understanding of the mechanisms linking academics' temporary stays abroad and subsequent research performance is tenuous. We investigate to what extent the accumulation of career capital (i.e., human and social capital) links temporary stays abroad and subsequent research performance by focusing on the conditions under which career capital is enhanced. Using matching and mediation analysis on a sample of 277 academics in German-speaking Europe, we show that it is the accumulation of social capital (i.e., contacts and social networks) rather than the accumulation of human capital (i.e., knowledge and skills) that accounts for the positive performance effects of temporarily going abroad. Furthermore, our study highlights the conditions (e.g., duration and number of stays abroad, number of different host institutions) that facilitate the accumulation of career capital during a stay abroad. Thus, our study informs academics on how to build their career capital and thus push their performance by temporarily going abroad.