From “performance competition arena” to “psychological exemption zone”: psychological safety mechanisms in reverse mobility

In contemporary China, increasing numbers of Ph.D.-holding corporate professionals and new-generation doctoral-stage participants (Ph.D. candidates or Ph.D. graduates within 1–2 years) prioritize university faculty or research posts (“reverse mobility”). Prior accounts have focused mainly on economic and institutional push–pull forces; consequently, the psychological and meaning-making processes driving this shift remain under-specified. Accordingly, reverse mobility is conceptualized as a form