Studying abroad: a necessary path towards a successful academic career in social sciences in Lebanon? - Kabbanji, Lama; Awada, Hala; Hasbani, Mariam; El Hachem, Elsa; Tabar, Paul (International Review of Sociology, 2019)
Scholars have only recently started to take an interest in the return of highly qualiﬁed migrants to their country of origin, especially when it comes to Arab countries. This research, conducted between 2014 and 2016, provides evidence on the Lebanese case, a country where most social scientists have been trained abroad. This article uses a multi-level approach and compares careers paths of social scientists trained in Lebanon and abroad, working in Lebanese public and private universities. If a foreign diploma appears as a signiﬁcant factor of career diﬀerentiation, the analysis undertaken in this article nuances this ﬁnding. It reveals to what extent the characteristics of the academic ﬁeld in origin countries such as Lebanon shape the career paths of academics. Public and, to a lesser extent private universities have become ideological state apparels which are used by the ruling elites to ensure their reproduction, through the revaluation of social capital. However, this reproduction is not made without social actors and their involvement. Lebanese academics develop strategies to accumulate the relevant symbolic capital in order to be recruited or promoted. The activation of the relevant political and sectarian networks is, therefore, one of the key strategies which social scientists mobilise as a ﬁrst or last resort to acquire university positions.
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