Construction of European Identity among Intra-EU Mobile Young Academics

The development of a European identity is often discussed in connection with spatial mobility. However, even though the relationships between both has been touched on in previous research, it is usually not the main focus of such studies. This paper will specifically look into the importance of spatial mobility for the construction of a European identity among intra-EU mobile young academics. Junior academics are a particularly interesting sample group because they represent the potential future (trans-)national educational elite and may provide an example to follow for the rest of society. The findings show that European mobility does not lead to a European identity in a straightforward way but the experience of mobility overall adds in various ways to the construction of a European identity and to alternative models of social identity.