Abstract

This article examines forced academic migration by asking how displaced Ukrainian scholars reconstruct their careers and identities in exile. Drawing on survey data from 125 researchers-at-risk and follow-up interviews, it analyses participants’ demographic and disciplinary diversity, pathways into the UK, and configurations of institutional support. The findings reveal a strongly gendered pattern of mobility, with a majority of women arriving with children and navigating the dual pressures of caregiving and scholarly productivity. Host universities provide uneven assistance, shaping prospects for belonging and professional reintegration. Despite severe disruption, scholars demonstrate resilience and sustained intellectual contributions. By situating individual trajectories within broader logics of displacement, this portrait calls for more context-sensitive support for academic refugees and invites reflection on what it means to host, to belong, and to rebuild a scholarly life across borders and amidst crisis. This article is published in the thematic collection ‘Researchers at risk: the view from Ukrainians in the UK’.