Move or perish? Sticky mobilities in the Swiss academic context

Abstract

This article uses a context of increasing institutional demand to be geographically mobile to examine how early-career researchers move across borders. I explore the case of Swiss academia, a particularly competitive and attractive environment with the highest levels of inbound and outbound mobility in Europe. In line with the aims of the European Research Area, an EU programme created in 2000 to foster a pan-European academic labour market, Switzerland funds scientific mobility and promotes extended research trips abroad as tools to boost collaboration and research excellence. Therefore, Swiss institutions have valued mobility for professional and personal development. In the meantime, they have raised concerns about female academics not being mobile and the potential consequences of their local family ties on career inequalities. In this study, I explore how early-career researchers experience mobility and how their personal accounts challenge institutional definitions of being mobile or immobile. I draw on a qualitative analysis of 65 semi-structured interviews conducted for two EU research projects on early-career academics from various backgrounds. I show how empirical data question the traditional—and often gendered—mobile/immobile dichotomy. I also highlight how mobility practices are normalised by the interviewees. Moreover, using the concept of stickiness, I describe a subtle range of sticky-to-stretchy mobility experiences influenced by both structural and individual factors. Finally, through the figure of the geoccasional worker, I question romanticised visions of mobility and stress the need to reconsider mobility as a (gendered) precarity issue rather than as a female problem.

Reconceptualising international academic mobility in the global knowledge system: towards a new research agenda

“…Research on the factors that influence people’s mobility decisions has mostly focused on their experiences and needs in both sending and receiving countries (Cantwell & Taylor, 2013 ), as well as the adaptation after they return home (Johnsrud, 1993 ). Gender issues are another important topic with nuances to consider, as the mobility patterns of male and female academics vary across different contexts (Sautier, 2021 ). Literature has discussed the decision-making process of international students and identified influential factors using the ‘push–pull’ framework.…”

Peripheral Contingencies: Experiences of International Scholars in Latvia

“…This leads to what Ferreira (2017) has termed "indefinite mobility" and Vatansever (2018) refers to as "academic nomadism." These movements may be experienced by scholars themselves-and early career researchers in particular-as forced and exhausting (Carrozza & Minucci, 2014;Manzi et al, 2019;Sautier, 2021;Schaer, 2021).…”

A cross-country configurational approach to international academic mobility: exploring mobility effects on academics’ career progression in EU countries

“…Previous research suggests that short-term mobility, long-term mobility and migration can entail different career outcomes due to the varied types of links they involve with the home country and the different benefits and costs they entail (Aksnes et al, 2013;Børing et al, 2015;Cañibano et al, 2016;Edler et al, 2011;Netz et al, 2020;Sautier, 2021;Tzanakou, 2021).…”

“…These findings appear to be contradictory and might be better understood by examining the characteristics of the science system where academics develop their scientific careers (Cañibano et al, 2016;Cruz-Castro & Sanz-Menéndez, 2010;Sanz-Menéndez et al, 2013;Scellato et al, 2015). The characteristics of the science system may be a contingent factor to explain the effect of academic international mobility on career progression (Sautier, 2021). These characteristics have both a formal and an informal dimension (Gläser, 2019).…”

“…Countries have specific uniform terms of contracts across knowledge fields and institutions, and cultural practices (i.e. formal and informal institutions) that act as strong standardising forces at the country level (Janger et al, 2019;Lepori et al, 2015;Sautier, 2021).…”