Keywords
international cooperation
European academic profession
Polish academic profession
research productivity
publications
Polish universities
How to Cite
Abstract
The internationalization of the Polish academic profession is studied in a comparative quantitative European context. A micro-level (individual) approach which relies on primary data collected in a consistent, internationally comparable format is used (N = 17,211 cases). The individual academic is the unit of analysis, rather than a national higher education system or an individual institution. Our study shows that research productivity of Polish academics (following European patterns) is strongly correlated with international collaboration: the average productivity of Polish academics involved in international collaboration (“internationalists”) is consistently higher than the rate of Polish “locals” in all academic fields. Polish academics are less internationalized in research than the European average but the research productivity of Polish “internationalists” is much higher than the productivity of Polish “locals.” The impact of international collaboration on average productivity is much higher in Poland than in the European countries studied. In all countries and all clusters of academic fields studied, international collaboration in research is strongly correlated with substantially higher research productions. Internationalization increasingly plays as stratifying role, though: more international collaboration tends to mean higher publishing rates and those who do not collaborate internationally may be losing more than ever before in terms of resources and prestige in the process of “accumulative disadvantage.” The competition is becoming a permanent feature of European research landscape and local prestige combined with local publications may no longer suffice in the race for resources and academic recognition. Huge cross-disciplinary and cross-national differences apply but, in general terms, this study shows a powerful role of internationalization of research for both individual research productivity and the competitiveness of national research outputs. Cross-disciplinary and cross-country differences are discussed and policy implications are explored.
Funding
MAESTRO (Program Międzynarodowych Badań Porównawczych Szkolnictwa Wyższego DEC-2011/02/A/HS6/00183
2012-2017)
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