Identifying obstacles to incoming academic staff mobility and institutional gaps for more welcoming services

 

After a thorough qualitative research we are finally ready to present the key finding of the study on attracting and supporting international PhD students, lecturers and researchers in 10 countries of the Central-Eastern ans South-Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia).

The report Attracting and Supporting International PhD Students, Lecturers, and Researchers in Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe: Current Status and Recommended Improvements provides novel insights into this understudied topic in the target region based on the robust evidence collected from the region in 2021, including policy analysis, a survey of 640 international PhD students, lecturers, and researchers hosted or employed by institutions in the target region and a series of 70 semi-structured interviews with the responsible higher education managers and support staff.

The analysis explores current national and institutional approaches to attracting and supporting international talent; target countries’ and their higher education institutions’ overall attractiveness to international academics; different types of information guidance and support services offered to international academics by higher education institutions in the target region at different mobility stages and related levels of satisfaction. The report concludes with a series of specific recommendations for higher education institutions and policymakers in the target countries.

The report provides a clear and comprehensive path for the higher education sector in the target region to improve the attraction and support of international academics, which can also serve as an inspiration for the other players in other European countries.

 

Annex 1: UniWeliS survey questionnaire for international academics

Annex 2: UniWeliS interview questionnaire for higher education managers responsible for the design of support services for international academics

Annex 3: UniWeliS interview questionnaire for higher education support staff offering assistance to international academics