Short-Term Internationally Mobile Academics and Their Research Collaborations Upon Return: Insights From the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program

Abstract

The international mobility of academics is one of the key mechanisms through which university internationalization occurs; yet, fewer studies have investigated the impact that it has on academics’ teaching, research, and service. This study investigates the relationship between short-term international mobility and changes in academics’ research networks. Using bibliometric data, research collaboration patterns of 303 U.S. Fulbright academics were analyzed to determine with which academics abroad they are more likely to collaborate and which factors influence the likelihood of research collaboration. The findings demonstrate a positive relationship between short-term international mobility and subsequent research collaborations between mobile academics and host institution and host country academics, but co-publications were more likely with host institution as opposed to host country academics. The results also indicate that this positive relationship is mediated by academics’ pre-existing networks, characteristics of the abroad experience, and academics’ sociodemographic characteristics.