The Global Faculty Market, 2026
Where research-active faculty move between five regions, the corridors that carry them, and an opening for universities hiring in each.
Five regions · 8,762,862 researchers · moves detected 2021 to 2026
Market brief
Gulf Faculty Movement, 2026
The eastward turn: who is arriving at Gulf universities, from where, in which fields, and where the openings are.
Six Gulf states · 215 institutions · moves detected 2021 to 2026
Key figures
The Brief in Four Numbers
- 2,466+
- Arrivals, 2021 to 2024
- Complete moves from abroad; a floor
- +14 to 29%
- Growth in arrivals
- 2023 and 2024 against 2021 and 2022
- 2.6 to 7.6
- Arrivals per departure
- Range across the three cuts
- 215
- Gulf institutions read
- 186,253 researcher records
Source: ATLAS movement registry, read 18 October 2026, built from OpenAlex author and work records. Complete moves, 2021 to 2024; counts are a floor.
Findings
What the Record Shows
- 01
Arrivals are turning east: the United States and the United Kingdom went from between 24 and 27% of arrivals to between 16 and 17%.
- 02
The United States is the corridor that runs both ways, and the largest destination of departures.
- 03
Engineering and computing take a growing share of arrivals; medicine and the foundational sciences a shrinking one.
- 04
Within the Gulf, moves run towards the United Arab Emirates, 8 to 10 to one.
Inside the brief
Four Sections, Five Pages
- i.
Arrivals at Gulf universities rose by 14 to 29% in two years, and outnumber departures by more than two to one.
- ii.
Arrivals are turning east: the United States and the United Kingdom supply a shrinking share, and Pakistan, Malaysia and China a growing one.
- iii.
Engineering and computing take a growing share of arrivals; medicine and the foundational sciences a shrinking one.
- iv.
The record points to five openings for universities hiring in the Gulf.
Read the full brief, with every chart, table, source, and method note.
More Market Briefs
What an Appointment Adds
About half of arrivals raise their institution's research average. Their record before the move shows which half.
Confirmed arrivals at Gulf institutions · moves complete by 2023 · outcomes through 2025