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Beyond traditional destinations: exploring international scholars’ decision-making patterns for postdoctoral positions at Chinese universities
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DOI：10.1007/s10734-026-01726-x.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
International postdoctoral researchers represent a distinctive cohort within global academic migration, characterised by their temporary appointments and transitional career phase. While extant literature has examined international postdocs primarily in traditional academic destinations, the experiences of those in non-traditional destinations such as China remain comparatively understudied. Addressing this gap, this study investigates the motivations and decision-making processes of 28 international scholars who took up postdoctoral positions at Chinese universities. It develops an integrated analytical framework that combines push–pull factors with three core dimensions of postdoctoral career development—professional security, professional growth, and career outlook. By analysing the relative strength of push and pull factors across these dimensions, the study identifies four distinctive decision-making patterns: academic stepping stones, attraction-led, second-best optimisation, and serendipitous mobility. By revealing the diverse and strategic calculations driving international postdoctoral mobility to China, these findings nuance traditional core–periphery conceptualisations of academic migration and advance our understanding of these scholars’ dynamic career trajectories in an increasingly multipolar academic landscape.
Keywords:
Postdoctoral researchers
International academic mobility
Push–pull theory
Core–periphery
Chinese universities
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