Proximity and Inequality in Academia

When mattering is defined as being able to disseminate ideas on a global scale, not all universities and researchers matter equally. Along with many other factors, geographical location can be a source of inequality in the science system, which is characterized by a persistent core–semi-periphery–periphery structure. Collaboration between high-, middle-, and low-income countries, frequently enabled by the mobility of individual scientists, is a strategy that researchers pursue in building their scientific capital. The circumstances of and barriers to scientific collaboration between researchers in high-, middle-, and low-income countries can be described drawing on the theoretical concept of proximity in its spatial and non-spatial dimensions. However, as will be argued with this critical narrative review, the concept of proximity can explain how rather than why researchers collaborate in a science system that shows a pronounced concentration of opportunities to build scientific capital in its core regions. Because the proximity literature scarcely touches on aspects of inequality and tends to be limited in its scope to the experiences of higher-income countries, this chapter aims to explore how the concept can be expanded by incorporating findings from research on inequality in global academia. This will provide a more comprehensive approach to understanding international research collaboration.