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The Experience of European Researchers in China: A Comparative Capital Advantage Perspective

ABSTRACT: This paper unfolds a “black box” concerning European researchers working in China, an emerging phenomenon as an outcome of European and Chinese international research collaboration. China’s rapid economic growth has created plentiful career opportunities in research and innovation, attracting mainly returning Chinese but also non-Chinese researchers. While emerging research has brought attention to the individual experiences of the latter group, this work has been hampered by a lack of conceptual frameworks, as well as empirical knowledge regarding these migrants’ motivations, job satisfaction, and career prospects. This article attempts to bridge this research gap by focusing on European researchers working in Chinese universities. It develops a novel analytical framework that integrates insights from the push–pull framework and Bourdieu’s conceptualization of capital and applies this framework in a qualitative investigation of China-based European researchers. This analysis shows, first, that significant capital gains exist for natural scientists, as opposed to social scientists, in China, as the former operates in a more internationalized, better-funded, and less politically controlled environment. Second, it demonstrates that European researchers’ migration journeys in China remain predominantly temporary, as their initial advantages tend to fade away over time. Finally, this article finds that European researchers’ reasons for leaving China are connected to challenges beyond the workplace, yet their stay in China becomes an important step in increasing their competitiveness in the global academic labor market.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13132-022-00982-3.

SUBMITTER: Braun Strelcova A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8900960 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Older adults (aged 65+) are still less likely to adopt the Internet when compared to other age groups, although their usage is increasing. To explore the societal effects of Internet usage, scholars have been using social capital as an analytical tool. Social capital pertains to the resources that are potentially available in one's social ties. As the Internet becomes a prominent source of information, communication, and participation in industrialized countries, it is critical to study how it affects social resources from an age-comparative perspective. Research has found a positive association between Internet use and social capital, though limited attention has been paid to older adults. Studies have also found a positive association between social capital and wellbeing, health, sociability, and social support amongst older adults. However, little is known about how Internet usage or lack thereof relates to their social capital. To address this gap, we used a mixed-methods approach to examine the relationship between Internet usage and social capital and whether and how it differs by age. For this, we surveyed a representative sample of 417 adults (18+) living in Lisbon, Portugal, of which 118 are older adults. Social capital was measured through bonding, bridging, and specific resources, and analyzed with Latent Class Modeling and logistic regressions. Internet usage was measured through frequency and type of use. Fourteen follow-up semi-structured interviews helped contextualize the survey data. Our findings show that social capital decreased with age but varied for each type of Internet user. Older adults were less likely to have a high level of social capital; yet within this age group, frequent Internet users had higher levels than other users and non-users. On the one hand, the Internet seems to help maintain, accrue, and even mobilize social capital. On the other hand, it also seems to reinforce social inequality and accumulated advantage (known as the Matthew effect).

Dataset Information

The Experience of European Researchers in China: A Comparative Capital Advantage Perspective

Supplementary information

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