Network embeddedness of knowledge creation among international migrant academics in China’s Sino-Foreign Cooperative Universities

Attracting and retaining international migrant academics has become a priority for higher education systems worldwide. While existing research recognizes that their knowledge creation is shaped by the networks in which they are embedded, less is known about how international academics in China build such embeddedness and especially how they connect to different types and scales of collaborative ties. This study addresses this gap through mixed-methods research in China’s Sino-Foreign Cooperative Universities (SFCUs). Integrating the “buzz–pipeline” model with Granovetter’s network embeddedness theory, we examine how migrant academics form place-based collaborations (“local buzz”) alongside regional and international partnerships (“pipelines”), and how these different forms of embeddedness relate to knowledge creation. Two key patterns emerge. First, migrant academics tend to rely on local buzz collaborations based on geographical proximity when pursuing research productivity, while cultivating broader partnerships across China’s regional research clusters in connection with higher-quality research. Second, scholars exhibit a stronger preference to stable strong-tie international collaborations, as social-cultural and institutional barriers limit deeper integration into China’s academic system. Maintaining stable, well-established global research networks is widely described as a strategy for preserving career flexibility and preparing for potential future mobility. Overall, the study demonstrates how multi-level network embeddedness shapes migrant academics’ knowledge creation and offers insights for improving talent integration and retention in China’s internationalized higher education sector.