Academics ‘in motion’: A mixed-methods study on the link between social and spatial mobility of researchers

该项目探索了随着时间的推移，德国研究人员的社会和空间流动性之间的联系，特别是在传记回顾中。在对当代先进现代社会进行诊断的背景下，假设近年来空间流动性不断增加，我们想知道，这些不断增长的流动性要求是否同样有害于学术界，或者空间灵活性是否只是学术工作的一个相宜的特征。除了目前的研究状态，我们系统地研究了不同的学术生涯阶段（博士候选人，博士后研究员和高级科学家），并以不同的过程类型和轨迹的形式分析了社会和空间流动性之间相互作用的动态。考虑到对不同形式流动的主观解释有助于深刻理解因果关系，例如，通过区分“机会驱动”和“生存驱动”的流动，并且超越了对表面相关性的分析。此外，还出现了一个问题，即解释因素在何种程度上和以何种方式影响不同职业阶段的社会和空间流动性的相互作用。为了解决这个问题，我们区分了三个主要维度：1)个人特征和资源，例如根据“运动性”的概念；2)个人态度和偏好（在学术生涯中很可能发生变化）；3)结构条件，例如高等教育机构的密度或交通基础设施。在此基础上，从社会不平等的社会学视角，考虑学术生涯的典型特征和不断变化的社会框架条件，旨在分析学术领域空间流动对社会向上流动的重要性。我们的实证方法包括三种形式的研究方法：一种是对各种调查数据的定量二次分析，另一种是对选定学科的研究人员进行定量在线调查，另一种是对具有不同流动经历的研究人员进行定性深入访谈。通过利用DZHW和DIW/GSOEP的现有数据集，二次分析的目标是获得高范围的发现，而我们的一些研究问题需要更深入和更差异化的观点。因此，需要收集自己的定量和定性的补充数据，特别是关于不同职业阶段的主观态度。因此，我们以富有成效的方式结合了已批准的研究方法：1)我们的定量研究议程：序列模式分析，因果分析和网络分析；2)对于我们的定性研究议程：遵循扎根理论方法的分析策略。

The project explores the link between social and spatial mobility of researchers in Germany over the course of time, especially in the biographical retrospective. Against the background of diagnoses of contemporary advanced modern societies assuming an increasing spatial mobility in recent years, we ask whether these growing mobility requirements are likewise virulent in academics – or whether spatial flexibility is rather a congenial feature of academic work.Beyond the current state of research, we take a systematic look at various academic career stages (PhD candidates, post-doctoral fellows and senior scientists) and analyze the dynamics of the interplay between social and spatial mobility in the form of different process types and trajectories. Taking into account subjective interpretations of different forms of mobility contributes to a profound understanding of cause-and-effect relationships, e.g. by distinguishing between 'opportunity-' and 'survival-driven'-mobility, and transcends the analysis of superficial correlations. Moreover, the question arises as to which extent and in which ways explanatory factors impact on the interaction of social and spatial mobility in different career stages. In order to tackle this question, we distinguish between three main dimensions: 1) individual characteristics and resources, e.g. in accordance with the concept of 'motility'; 2) personal attitudes and preferences (which may well change in the course of academic careers); 3) structural conditions, e.g. density of higher education institutions or transport infrastructure. On this basis, a sociological perspective on social inequality, which considers typical characteristics of academic careers as well as changing societal framework conditions, aims to analyze the importance of spatial mobility for upward social mobility in the academic field.Our empirical approach involves three forms of research methods: a quantitative secondary analysis of data from various surveys and two additional studies: a quantitative online survey with researchers in selected disciplines and qualitative in-depth interviews with researchers with different mobility experiences. By drawing on existing data sets from the DZHW and the DIW/GSOEP, the target of the secondary analysis is to achieve a high range of the findings, whereas some of our research questions demand a deeper and more differentiated view. Therefore, own quantitative and qualitative complementary data collections are required particularly with regard to subjective attitudes in different career phases. We thus combine approved research methods in a productive way: 1) for our quantitative research agenda: sequence pattern analysis, causal analysis and network analysis; 2) for our qualitative research agenda: analytical strategies following the grounded theory approach.