Internationality in competition: foreignness and conversion in postdoc careers

Prof. Dr. Julian Hamann (Humboldt University of Berlin)

Prof. Dr. Kathia Serrano Velarde (Heidelberg University)

Jonas Gottschalk-Rayling (Heidelberg University)

Tim Fenkner (Humboldt University of Berlin)

Michi Hügel (Humboldt University of Berlin)

Sven Boniger (Heidelberg University)

The project aims to empirically reconstruct competitive forms and functions of internationality in postdoctoral careers. Based on premises from the sociology of evaluation and a relational understanding of internationality, the central assumption is that postdocs and their activities are not “international” per se. In order to be used in competitions, internationality must be asserted and validated. The creation of internationality is particularly complex in multiple competitions. The study focuses on the production of internationality in postdoctoral careers using two analytical approaches. Firstly, they capture the translation of the capital accumulated by postdocs between international contexts and, secondly, the classification and valorization of international mobility experiences. The project approaches the underlying practices and processes through a triangulation of ethnographic and interview-based longitudinal data: Ethnographic surveys capture practices of interpersonal negotiation, evaluation and attribution of internationality, while the qualitative interview panel from the current DFG project will be continued for the processual analysis of intrapersonal mobility strategies and competitive positioning. Cross-cutting these approaches is a comparative perspective across disciplines. The project makes key contributions to research into internationality in scientific careers, and to understanding the dual character of internationality both as a competitive advantage as well as a result of competitive practices in science.