Research on return migration of the highly skilled is dominated by economic reasoning, whereas nonmaterial drivers of their repatriation are poorly understood. This study explored the journeys of 22 Israeli academic families who returned home after 3–7 years of (post)doctoral training in the United States/Canada. The migration narratives of these families, belonging to Israeli Ashkenazi elites, were interpreted using Bourdieu's concepts of cultural and social capital. Feeing alienated as immigrants in the American academia and society, most returnees reckoned that their professional potential could be maximised only at home. They manifested strong national identities, cultural and filial attachments and wanted their children to grow up Israeli. However, facing precarious Israeli realities, the informants described their return as second migration. Within 2 years, most scientists landed academic or research positions at home and were satisfied with their work lives. Their ‘trailing wives’ have typically paid a higher career tax for their American sojourn, yet no couples in the sample regretted their return decision. Thus, purely economic explanations of mobility among academics and other professionals may overlook salient sociocultural forces shaping family-based return decisions.

中文翻译：

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没有像家一样的地方：以色列学术家庭回迁的社会文化驱动因素

对高技能人才回迁的研究主要是经济推理，而对其遣返的非物质驱动因素却知之甚少。本研究探讨了在美国/加拿大进行 3-7 年（后）博士培训后返回家乡的 22 个以色列学术家庭的旅程。这些属于以色列德系精英的家庭的移民叙事是用布迪厄的文化和社会资本概念来解释的。作为移民在美国学术界和社会感到疏远，大多数海归认为他们的专业潜力只能在国内发挥最大。他们表现出强烈的民族认同、文化和孝道，并希望他们的孩子成为以色列人。然而，面对不稳定的以色列现实，线人将他们的返回描述为第二次迁移。在 2 年内，大多数科学家在家中找到了学术或研究职位，并对他们的工作生活感到满意。他们的“未婚妻”通常会为他们在美国的逗留支付更高的职业税，但样本中没有一对夫妇对他们的回国决定感到后悔。因此，对学者和其他专业人士之间流动性的纯粹经济解释可能会忽略影响基于家庭的回归决定的显着社会文化力量。