Examining global mainland Chinese academics in Hong Kong SAR: a document analysis of features, opportunities and challenges

Hong Kong SAR, a global education hub, lures numerous scholars for career development. Data show that 69.3% of its academics are non-local, and they hold half of the leadership roles in major universities, which is rare in any other place. Mainland Chinese scholars are the predominant non-local group, and their number has even surpassed that of locals recently. Guided by career capital theory, this paper formulates an analytical framework with seven indicators to investigate the features, opportunities and challenges of mainland Chinese scholars in Hong Kong SAR. Then, the documentary analysis approach was used to collect the headcounts of all academic staff by categories, 979 academics with leadership roles, and the academic trajectory of 363 mainland Chinese. Findings indicate that mainland Chinese scholars own extensive global networks and career capital and are increasingly representative in STEM and business fields. They are more well-included than other non-locals, but still face challenges. Meanwhile, some benefited from local policies that support locally nurtured talents. This paper not only draws an overall picture of mainland Chinese scholars from a career capital aspect to fill in gaps in academic mobility and career development literature, but also offers practical insights for institutional talent management and maximising scholars’ resources.