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Research on skilled migration has grown substantially in recent years. Drawing on 58 in-depth interviews with skilled Americans in China, this paper explores how the intersectionality of race, gender, and citizenship shapes their occupational and social mobility, and whether these two forms of mobility align. The findings suggest that skilled migrants’ social identities simultaneously create both advantages and disadvantages in their occupational and social mobility. I coined the term ‘glass box’ to describe their experiences: while many enjoyed enhanced occupational mobility, they eventually hit a ‘glass ceiling’ that blocked access to top positions and faced ‘glass walls’ that pigeonholed them into a narrow range of occupations. However, their social identities also brought privileges, forming a ‘glass floor’ that protected them from employment precarity. Their social mobility, extending beyond occupational mobility, improved to varying degrees after migration to China but declined rapidly and unexpectedly following the outbreak of COVID-19. While changes to skilled Americans’ occupational and social mobility aligned most of the time, there were notable exceptions where these two forms of mobility shifted in opposite directions. Such contradictory experiences highlight the persistent structural barriers that shape their professional and social trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Everyday mobility is critical to understand migrants' accessibility and inclusions to the destination cities. Existing research was insufficient to explain the everyday movement of relatively privileged skilled migrants from the Global North to the Global South, nor did it distinguish the role of one's capability and intentionality in shaping mobility. To fill in the research gap, we employ the capital-mobility framework to investigate how skilled U.S. migrants' capital accumulation and intentionality jointly affect their everyday mobility in Chinese cities, and the implications for their social inclusion in the local society. We use sketch mapping with semistructured interviews to conduct this study in the Pearl River Delta region, a pioneer of economic development in China. We find that although migrants' capital accumulation facilitated their everyday movement, COVID-19 disrupted such mobility. Whether migrants had intentions to move varied, shaped by geopolitical relations, urban environment, and migrants' own capital. The voluntary or involuntary nature of their everyday mobility also suggests whether their social inclusion or exclusion in the local society is by choice or constraint. Our study integrates geographic information systems visualization with qualitative data to highlight the spatial mobility and immobility at the individual level and generates policy implications for retaining global talent at the city level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing globalization and rising knowledge-based economy have created a higher-than-ever demand for skilled workers. China, among some Global South countries, is joining the race for talent to alleviate the brain drain. Using the conceptual framework of 'intellectual migration', this study examines how the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China is increasingly becoming an 'intellectual gateway' that attracts and retains skilled international migrants. Drawing on 58 semi-structured interviews with skilled US migrants in this region, this article addresses the following research questions: (1) Why do skilled US migrants choose the region as their migration destination; and (2) As a rising intellectual gateway, how does the PRD region shape the integration of skilled US migrants? Our findings suggest that the PRD region's knowledge-based economy and socio-cultural environment serve as strong magnets that attract skilled US migrants. These factors are critical to the structural and socio-cultural integration of skilled international migrants. The research advances the intellectual migration framework by providing empirical evidence on the geography of intellectual migration in a fast-growing megalopolis in the Global South, demonstrating the diversity of intellectual migrants and intellectual gateways. Policy implications include supporting the synergy of structural and socio-cultural integration of global talent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of skilled migrants moving from the Global North to the Global South has been increasing in recent decades. This paper develops and employs a capital-mobility framework to analyze empirical evidence about the new international migration of skilled U.S. migrants to the Pearl River Delta Region of China. Guided by the literature on im/mobility and capital, this paper asks the following questions: What affects skilled U.S. migrants' mobility to and from China? How do they experience the dynamics of voluntary and involuntary immobility in China? Drawing on 58 semi-structured interviews, we found that the level of capital accumulation and its transferability and convertibility influenced migrants' mobility and immobility. In addition, the global outbreak of Covid-19 facilitated mobility for some while hindered mobility for others. This study discusses the differences between North-to-South and South-to-North skilled migration and conceptualizes im/mobility as a continuum experienced by skilled migrants during their migratory trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]