Home sweet home? International mobility among Flemish doctoral researchers

Previous research has shown that spending a period at a foreign university is a very valuable part of one’s doctoral training. Although researchers and policy makers agree that international mobility of doctoral students enhances the quality of doctoral training and stimulates the professional and personal development of young researchers, actual mobility of Flemish doctoral researchers remains fairly low. In this study we investigate which factors play a significant role in the intentions of young researchers to go abroad during their doctoral research. The role of personal characteristics (gender and family situation), professional factors (scientific discipline, attitude of the supervisor, phase in doctoral research, future career plans) and previous stays abroad (during study or research) on the intentions of doctoral researcher to go abroad were investigated. The study uses the results of the ‘Survey of Junior Researchers’ that was conducted in 2008 among all doctoral students at four Flemish universities. The results indicate that previous international experiences during one’s study have a positive effect on one’s intentions for international mobility during one’s doctoral research. In addition it was also demonstrated that researchers who are encouraged by their supervisor to go abroad and researchers with ambitions to pursue an academic career show more interest in international mobility. Our findings confirm that family related factors (partner/children) are the most important inhibiting factors for international mobility, even for short periods