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Postdoctoral mobility and returnees' careers in Italian academia

Massimiliano Coda Zabetta & Aldo Geuna

Research Policy2026https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2026.105456article
FT50AJG 4*ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between international postdoctoral stays and academic career advancement among researchers returning to the Italian university system. Using a unique dataset of Italian PhD holders observed over a 30-year period, we analyze how international postdoctoral stays are associated with two key career outcomes: (i) the time between PhD completion and first appointment as Assistant Professor ( time-to-entry ), and (ii) the time between Assistant Professor appointment and promotion to Associate Professor ( time-to-promotion ). We identify international postdoctoral stays by tracing foreign affiliations in researchers' publication records and examine how their association with career progression is moderated by institutional inbreeding, home-country linkages, and the persistence of international research networks. To explore these relationships, we apply a Cox proportional hazards model combined with entropy balancing. Our findings were validated by using curriculum vitae information for a subsample of researchers. We found that international postdoctoral stays are associated with slower entry into the academic system but are positively related to shorter time-to-promotion. Notably, this association is strongest for researchers promoted at universities other than their alma mater . We also observe that maintaining a strong home-country publishing network is associated with quicker entry as Assistant Professor, while sustained collaboration in postdoc-period co-author networks is linked to faster promotion to Associate Professor. • Postdocs returnees to the Italian academic system take longer time to get an Assistant Professorship position. • Controlling for productivity, postdocs returnees get promoted faster. • Postdoctoral stays longer than 18 months at prestigious foreign host institutions are associated with faster promotion in “non-inbreeding” universities. • The Italian academic labor market has increasingly rewarded quality and mobility among recent PhD cohorts.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2026.105456

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{massimiliano2026,
  title        = {{Postdoctoral mobility and returnees' careers in Italian academia}},
  author       = {Massimiliano Coda Zabetta & Aldo Geuna},
  journal      = {Research Policy},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2026.105456},
}

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Postdoctoral mobility and returnees' careers in Italian academia

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.