International Academic Mobility: Directions for a Fairer Knowledge Production Landscape
International academic mobility has become integral to contemporary academia and is widely promoted in policy discourses as a driver of mutual understanding, excellence, innovation, knowledge production, and research partnerships. Yet injustices, inequalities, and colonial legacies still shape who can move, under what conditions, and whose knowledge is recognized and valued.
Scholars and students have crossed borders for research, teaching, and learning for centuries. Yet in recent decades, international mobility has become a central policy goal in academia, celebrated as a marker of excellence and increasingly treated as a requirement for academic success. This policy discourse and normative expectation, however, often hides deep inequalities in the global academic system.
Academic mobility is not equally valued in all directions. Mobility to institutions in the Global North is seen as prestigious and expected, while scholars in the Global South frequently face limited resources, restricted mobility, and situations in which their knowledge and expertise are undervalued or overlooked.
In this way, structural inequalities and colonial legacies continue to shape who can move, whose knowledge is recognized, and which research partnerships are considered valuable. This blog series, International Academic Mobility, brings together scholars worldwide to critically examine these dynamics. It seeks to contextualize the broader field of knowledge production and to reflect on the achievements and limits of these mobilities.
Contextualizing the Field of Knowledge Production
Knowledge production is characterized by epistemic injustices. As argued by Wiethüchter, “the global science system is structured in such a way that researchers from the Global South find it more difficult to participate in global knowledge production, and their perspectives are therefore less likely to be taken into account.” Some reasons lie in colonial legacies and financial differences (see e.g., França, Malefakis, Oldac).
Other reasons are related to increased border securitization. For example, Okunade, Issah, and Djilaili argue that “the rise in visa denials for African academics is emblematic of a broader trend of profiling and exclusion (…). This exclusion of African voices creates an intellectual monoculture in migration studies, dominated by perspectives from the Global North.” Furthermore, as argued by Samuk Carignani, the academic job market is also characterized by precarious conditions, which disproportionately affect female and migrant academics (academics who are third-country nationals/non-Western citizens).
Calls to « decolonize » research have not had much impact, because the “reform is (…) led by the very powers it seeks to dismantle” (Malefakis), while researchers from the Global South are relegated to supporting roles (Oldac).
Future Directions for Mobility Schemes
While mobility schemes such as the ones implemented by the nccr – on the move can have positive individual impacts, they also have their limitations, and little effect on the global structuring of the academic world (Durak, Oesch, and Ruedin). However, such tools could benefit from adopting bold principles to contribute to wider changes in the politics of research funding.
Malifakis argues that such measures should be part of the creation of research partnerships in the form of “autonomous frameworks led by the « Global South » from which the « Northern » partners can learn and align.” However, there is a lack of consensus on why science funders in the Global North would want to pick up the bill. Alternatively, complementing physical mobility with a sound strategy of virtual mobility could also be promoted (Eldemir).
Measures can also be taken at a smaller scale, such as through joint reading groups (França). A central argument is that researchers from the Global North and the Global South alike benefit from the exchange of perspectives and insights.
A different suggestion is the further development of South-South hubs and collaborations (Jamid), which “can make a difference towards a more plural knowledge production space.” (Oldac)
Toward a More Inclusive and Fair Academic Landscape
All contributions to this blog series underline the growing awareness of the multiple global inequalities (e.g., in opportunities, funding, etc.) that exist when it comes to knowledge production, international academic mobility, and research partnerships. They also underline persistent power structures that structure migration studies in the broader sense. In this regard, the research-evaluation of nccr – on the move’s mobility schemes that we are currently conducting suggests that, while mobility schemes such as those supported by NCCR have significant impacts on participants’ careers and mobilities, their effects on the broader structures of the field remain limited and largely confined to the individuals who take part in them.
The contributions to this blog series also point to the directions in which knowledge production, academic mobility, and research partnerships are moving; towards more multipolar and multimodal forms of engagement in which previously silenced voices and hidden knowledge become a powerful force for building a more just academy and society. Yet bolder initiatives and policy shifts are needed to accelerate this momentum and keep pace with these emerging directions.
Tugay Durak is an Associate Researcher on the Academic Mobility project, funded by the nccr – on the move. Before this role, Durak was a Visiting Fellow at the nccr – on the move in the spring term of 2025.
Lucas Oesch is Scientific Officer at the nccr – on the move where he manages the Visiting Fellowship scheme and the Neuchâtel Graduate Conference (NGC).
Didier Ruedin is a Senior Lecturer at the Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies at the University of Neuchâtel and a Project Leader of the nccr – on the move project” Narratives of Crisis and Their Influence in Shaping Discourses and Policies of Migration and Mobility.”
To go back to our blog series on International Academic Mobility.
