Internationalisation as transformation: trans-national mobility and research careers in the human and social sciences

This paper addresses the meaning and implications of international experience at the individual level by focusing on the transformative effects of international mobility. We conceive the international mobility of researchers as a potentially transformative process subject to strong uncertainty. In addition, we understand individual research careers as ‘self-discovery’ processes, over which researchers progressively builds their identity. We conduct an empirical analysis drawing upon research undertaken in the course of a European Project across 13 countries, throughout which a total of 358 interviews were conducted addressing the factors shaping the careers of doctorate holders in the social sciences and humanities. We consider how trans-national mobility stimulates and shapes processes of transformation and self-discovery within three differentiated contexts of change: i) cognitive changes; ii) changes in the professional-organisational context; and iii) changes in the socio-cultural environment.