Wei Li is Professor at the School of Social Transformation and the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University, Tempe, USA.Lucia Lo is Professor Emerita at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, Toronto, Canada.Yixi Lu is Associate Professor at the Research Institute of Social Development at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China.

• Preface. Introduction: the intellectual migration analytics 1. To study abroad or not, and why? Exploring Chinese university students’ postgraduate intentions 2. Students on the move? Intellectual migration and international student mobility 3. Intellectual capital and student mobility 4. The impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on motivation to stay: a comparison between Chinese and non-Chinese international students in Nova Scotia, Canada 5. International students in China: regional distribution and macro-influencing factors 6. China-born scholars’ intellectual capital: a network approach 7. Global education trajectories and inequality: STEM workers from China to the US 8. Comparing Chinese academic returnees in Chengdu and Guangzhou: reasons for return, choice of destination, and onward migration intention 9. Skilled US migrants in the Pearl River Delta Region: the rise of an intellectual gateway in China

Wei Li is Professor at the School of Social Transformation and the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University, Tempe, USA.Lucia Lo is Professor Emerita at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, Toronto, Canada.Yixi Lu is Associate Professor at the Research Institute of Social Development at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China.

• Preface. Introduction: the intellectual migration analytics 1. To study abroad or not, and why? Exploring Chinese university students’ postgraduate intentions 2. Students on the move? Intellectual migration and international student mobility 3. Intellectual capital and student mobility 4. The impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on motivation to stay: a comparison between Chinese and non-Chinese international students in Nova Scotia, Canada 5. International students in China: regional distribution and macro-influencing factors 6. China-born scholars’ intellectual capital: a network approach 7. Global education trajectories and inequality: STEM workers from China to the US 8. Comparing Chinese academic returnees in Chengdu and Guangzhou: reasons for return, choice of destination, and onward migration intention 9. Skilled US migrants in the Pearl River Delta Region: the rise of an intellectual gateway in China

Wei Li is Professor at the School of Social Transformation and the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University, Tempe, USA.Lucia Lo is Professor Emerita at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, Toronto, Canada.Yixi Lu is Associate Professor at the Research Institute of Social Development at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China.

• Preface. Introduction: the intellectual migration analytics 1. To study abroad or not, and why? Exploring Chinese university students’ postgraduate intentions 2. Students on the move? Intellectual migration and international student mobility 3. Intellectual capital and student mobility 4. The impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on motivation to stay: a comparison between Chinese and non-Chinese international students in Nova Scotia, Canada 5. International students in China: regional distribution and macro-influencing factors 6. China-born scholars’ intellectual capital: a network approach 7. Global education trajectories and inequality: STEM workers from China to the US 8. Comparing Chinese academic returnees in Chengdu and Guangzhou: reasons for return, choice of destination, and onward migration intention 9. Skilled US migrants in the Pearl River Delta Region: the rise of an intellectual gateway in China