TY - JOUR

T1 - Spatial mobility and the perception of career development for social sciences and humanities doctoral candidates

AU - Schäfer, Gregor

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [grant number 281509238]. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - The spatial mobility of students and academics as part of the internationalisation of higher education is becoming increasingly relevant in securing top-tier positions, especially within academia. While the number of doctoral candidates is rising, new positions are not created at the same rate, leading to scarcer career opportunities in academia and the need to develop alternative career paths. Previous studies have much focused on the connection between mobility and career development among junior academics in the STEM fields, but the significance of mobility for SSH PhD candidates and their career development remains unanswered. Does spatial mobility have any effects there, and if so, which? For this reason, this paper studied doctoral SSH candidates from Germany with mobility experiences in the Netherlands. The findings show that spatial mobility affects the perception of the PhD candidate's career in several, sometimes ambivalent ways. It shows that the experience of mobility narrows the planning to a career in academia, contributes to the informal learning process of the candidate, and expands the horizon for possible opportunities in academia. The perceived asset of mobility varies alongside the internationalisation of disciplines and whether the candidate plans to return to Germany or pursue an international career.

AB - The spatial mobility of students and academics as part of the internationalisation of higher education is becoming increasingly relevant in securing top-tier positions, especially within academia. While the number of doctoral candidates is rising, new positions are not created at the same rate, leading to scarcer career opportunities in academia and the need to develop alternative career paths. Previous studies have much focused on the connection between mobility and career development among junior academics in the STEM fields, but the significance of mobility for SSH PhD candidates and their career development remains unanswered. Does spatial mobility have any effects there, and if so, which? For this reason, this paper studied doctoral SSH candidates from Germany with mobility experiences in the Netherlands. The findings show that spatial mobility affects the perception of the PhD candidate's career in several, sometimes ambivalent ways. It shows that the experience of mobility narrows the planning to a career in academia, contributes to the informal learning process of the candidate, and expands the horizon for possible opportunities in academia. The perceived asset of mobility varies alongside the internationalisation of disciplines and whether the candidate plans to return to Germany or pursue an international career.

KW - career development

KW - Doctoral candidates

KW - mobility

KW - PhDs

KW - social sciences and humanities

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092376041&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/0158037X.2020.1826919

DO - 10.1080/0158037X.2020.1826919

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85092376041

VL - 44

SP - 119

EP - 134

JO - Studies in Continuing Education

JF - Studies in Continuing Education

SN - 0158-037X

IS - 1

ER -