International Mobility of Academics: Science Mapping the Existing Knowledge Base

Abstract

The worldwide interdependency of nations has been acknowledged throughout the globalization literature and by many national and international organizations, including higher education institutions (HEIs), which have become an essential tool to accelerate this process. Financial, cultural, and political motives have driven 21st century higher education (HE) toward a more international direction shaping HE policies and promoting the mobility of ideas and individuals across the world. Utilizing bibliometric and descriptive tools, the article aims to analyze the existing knowledge base on international mobility of academics (IMA) as a core component of internationalization. More specifically, the study examines 423 papers published between 1970 and 2021 in Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases to reveal the big picture of the knowledge base by identifying the volume, growth trajectory, geographical dispersion, the most influential authors, articles, journals as well as the intellectual structure and the topical foci in the field. The findings have produced four distinct schools of thought labeled as “Knowledge Transfer and Mobility Networks,” “Academic Mobility in IHE Process,” “Expatriate Studies,” and “Scientific Mobility.” Moreover, the co-occurrence keyword map has yielded several topical foci: “Internationalization and Expatriate Academics,” “Academic Mobility and Career Paths,” and “Knowledge Transfer, Migration, and Academic Identity.” Considering the general trends and developments in the field, the study might provide more insight into further research.

Citation

Polat, M. and Arslan, K. (2023), "International Mobility of Academics: Science Mapping the Existing Knowledge Base", Wiseman, A.W. (Ed.) Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2022 (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 46A), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 45-55. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-36792023000046A004