International Mobility of Researchers in Social Sciences and Humanities: Adaptation Strategies and Consequences for Professional Development

Research Article
Acknowledgments
This article is an output of a research project HSE-BR-2025-014 implemented as part of the Basic Research Program at HSE University under the supervision of Alena I. Nefedova — PhD in Sociology, Leading Research Fellow, Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge, Laboratory for Economics of Innovation, HSE University, SPIN-код: 8041-4989Исследование осуществлено в рамках Программы фундаментальных исследований НИУ ВШЭ (HSE-BR-2025-014) под кураторством Нефедовой Алены Игоревны, кандидата социологических наук, ведущего научного сотрудника Лаборатории экономики и инноваций Института статистических исследований и экономики знаний Национального исследовательского университета «Высшая школа экономики».
How to Cite
Marinina E.I. International Mobility of Researchers in Social Sciences and Humanities: Adaptation Strategies and Consequences for Professional Development. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal = Sociological Journal. 2026. Vol. 32. No. 2. P. 98-120. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/socjour.2026.32.2.6 (in Russ.).

Abstract

This article presents the results of a qualitative study of the impact of long-term international mobility on the professional development of researchers in the social sciences and humanities. Given a global intensification of competition for human capital, the mobility of scientists has become an integral feature of the modern academic landscape. However, unlike STEM disciplines, the specifics of social sciences and humanities, including language barriers, contextual rootedness and locality of academic markets, create additional challenges for their adaptation and professional development after mobility. The analysis is based on the theory of the researcher’s three careers (cognitive, organizational and community careers) by J. Glaser and G. Laudel. Using this approach helped us to learn that relocation affects these career dimensions unevenly: organizational career turns out to be closely related to the national and local context, community career depends on the branching of social and professional ties and the level of international recognition, while cognitive career is determined by the universality of competencies. The empirical database consists of 21 in-depth interviews with Russian researchers of social sciences and humanities who have left Russia and have been living abroad for more than one year. Three key strategies of adaptation and effects on professional development after relocating were identified: reassembling the network of contacts; reconfiguration of professional identity (going into applied research or retraining); transitioning to less qualified positions. The analysis shows that long-term mobility can both stimulate professional growth and lead to deprofessionalization, stagnation of cognitive career and loss of social capital. The results highlight the need to develop targeted support measures for mobile researchers in the social sciences and humanities, taking into account their career stage and disciplinary specifics.
Keywords:
international mobility of researchers, social sciences and humanities, adaptation strategies, effects on professional development, three careers of an academic

Author Biography

Elizaveta I. Marinina, HSE University, Moscow, Russia
Research Assistant, Doctoral Student, Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge, Laboratory for Economics of Innovation

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Article

Received: 09.02.2026

Accepted: 26.06.2026

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[1]
Marinina, E.I. 2026. International Mobility of Researchers in Social Sciences and Humanities: Adaptation Strategies and Consequences for Professional Development. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal = Sociological Journal. 32, 2 (Jun. 2026), 98-120. DOI:https://doi.org/10.19181/socjour.2026.32.2.6.
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