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Integration or stratification? Cumulative advantage and prestige homophily in the CEEPUS inter-university network
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DOI：10.1007/s10734-026-01728-9.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
International student mobility is often framed as an integrative policy instrument, yet mobility systems frequently display durable inequalities and core–periphery structures. This study examines whether a regionally bounded program outside Western Europe’s historical academic core functions primarily as an infrastructure of integration or as a mechanism that reproduces stratification. Using openly accessible administrative records from the CEEPUS, the analysis reconstructs a 20-year longitudinal bipartite network of higher education institutions and thematic network agreements (2005/2006–2024/2025). To identify the micro-mechanisms governing network change, the study estimates a bipartite stochastic actor-oriented model in which institutions adjust their memberships over time, while accounting for the creation and discontinuation of thematic networks. The model tests closure mechanism, cumulative advantage, and selection processes based on geopolitical position, research prestige, and institutional type. Results indicate that cumulative advantage operates strongly at the institutional level: institutions already embedded in multiple thematic networks are substantially more likely to expand further. Stratification is further reinforced by prestige-based activity and prestige homophily, with higher-prestige institutions both participating more and clustering with similarly positioned partners. Relative importance analysis confirms that prestige-based effects constitute the dominant attribute-based force governing tie formation decisions throughout the observation period, consistently outweighing both geopolitical and organizational mechanisms. Geopolitical and organizational boundaries also shape collaboration: institutions in European Union member states expand less on average, yet institutions cluster by shared European Union status, and public and private institutions show both differential activity and strong within-type clustering. Overall, the program expands and stabilizes over time but evolves toward patterned integration rather than uniform cohesion, with stratified collaboration dynamics consistent with persistent academic hierarchy.
Keywords:
University network
Organizational network
CEEPUS
Student mobility
University prestige
Collaboration network
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