Spatial Dynamics of the U.S. Professoriate: Longitudinal Patterns in Faculty Relocation

This project investigates the dynamics of U.S. academic labor mobility and "brain drain" using a robust, multi-source longitudinal dataset spanning from 2011 to 2024. By utilizing a continuous balanced panel design, the study tracks faculty movement across institutions, states, and regions while controlling for institutional entry and exit. The analysis integrates several distinct dimensions of the academic ecosystem: - Individual-Level Drivers: It models the impact of gender, academic age, and multidimensional productivity metrics—such as h-index, grant funding, and patent activity—on the likelihood of interstate migration and attrition from the profession. - Institutional Frameworks: The study examines how factors like the ratio of public to private institutions and shifts in student enrollment influence a state's ability to retain talent. - Macro-Structural Context: By merging IPEDS and Census data, the project correlates faculty migration patterns with broader state-level population changes to identify geographic "winners and losers" in the national talent market. The final outputs include high-dimensional fixed-effects models and geographic visualizations designed to isolate the specific predictors of academic migration and institutional stability.