International researcher mobility has become an indispensable part of a successful scholarly career and a strategy of universities to enhance their internationalization profiles. It is largely associated with positive effects on science production through knowledge exchange and creation of global professional networks. Researcher mobility across an invisible line between the “Global North” and the “Global South” is expected to bridge the gap between the scholarly communities of what is assumed to be the “center” and the “periphery” of science production. Yet simultaneously, the phenomenon of forced internationalization, resulting from involuntary emigration of scholars due to war or threats of political prosecution, has prompted controversial debates on potential marginalization of exiled researchers in their host countries. Thus, the conference theme of whether inclusiveness, respect and reciprocity through digital communication can be enhanced is of crucial interest for scholars-at-risk and their host communities.
This contribution will present key empirical results of a qualitative network analysis (QNA) of 13 scholars-at-risk in Germany to highlight the role and limitations of transnational networked communication in situations of high vulnerability.
This paper is based on a qualitative network analysis (QNA) senior scholars who were forced to leave Turkey and the MENA region due to political and security reasons. The QNA was used to reconstruct the scholars’ networks including their peers and academic institutions with regard to importance to their career and intensity and means of communication with them. While international mobility and transnational contacts and communication are considered to be typical parts of an academic career, the network analysis reveals major ruptures and changes in the networks of the scholars investigated due to forced mobility. The network analysis showed strong dependencies on host persons or institutions, which were often related to a feeling of marginalization in the host country and a cut-off of relations in the home country. Yet, others strengthened their position in their host environments by exploiting their transnational connections as well as those to the home country. Still, this often changed the direction of their academic pathways. The paper will thus show how digitalized modes of communication can help but also limit exiled scholars’ future careers.