Omar Lujan1 & Harald Bauder
Journal of Social Research & Policy, Volume: 10, Issue: 1, pp. 83-99 Date: May 2019 ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic) Abstract: Like few other migratory movements, academic mobility reflects the synergies between knowledge production and wealth
accumulation, intellectual work and social prestige, and migrants’ search for tolerant and progressive socio-cultural
environments. Correspondingly, some of the wealthiest, and most powerful and cosmopolitan countries in the world are
top destinations for academics. While the literature has problematized the historical relationship between power,
knowledge, and scholarship in the context of the production of social and cultural norms, there has been less emphasis
on how wealth, prestige, and social progress interact in the context of academic mobility. In this article, we explore how
ideas of “social progress” related to specific welfare state policies and multiculturalism counterweight financial
prospects and academic prestige in the choice of a destination where academics live and practice their profession. Based
on data collected from interviews with forty-two academic researchers located in Germany Canada at different career
stages and with varying migration histories, we explore how values of cultural tolerance and social equality make
relatively less prestigious and less wealthy academic destinations more desirable. Our findings suggest that social
progress constitutes a competitive advantage for attracting internationally mobile academics Keywords: Social Policies; Academic Migration; Social Progress; Welfare State; Academic Hierarchies | Download
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1. Postal Address: 99 Vaughan Road. Apt 402, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. E-mail Address: olujan@ryerson.ca
