Academic mobility is a central issue in the study of academic professions, shaping career trajectories, institutional dynamics, and the distribution of knowledge production. While international research has explored its determinants and implications, evidence from Global South contexts remains scarce. Brazil, with one of the largest higher education systems in the world, provides a valuable case to examine how institutional, sociodemographic, and policy factors shape academic mobility. This study investigates the employment trajectories of professors affiliated with Brazilian higher education institutions between 2003 and 2021, based on microdata from the Annual Social Information Report (RAIS). The analysis accounts for gender, age, degree, institutional type, distance, and remuneration. Nearly half of faculty (46.9%) experienced at least one mobility event, but mobility is highly segmented: it is concentrated in teaching-intensive private institutions, while research-intensive and graduate-oriented public universities exhibit markedly lower mobility and stronger retention. Most moves occur within the same institutional segment, suggesting barriers to entry and circular mobility within less prestigious tiers. Spatial mobility is likewise concentrated: 62.6% of moves occur within 0–50 km and 28.1% within 50–500 km, with evidence of greater geographic anchoring later in the career. Salary effects are asymmetric by direction: transitions from public to private institutions are associated with short-term wage losses, whereas moves from private to public institutions show sizable gains that materialize more gradually. The study contributes original evidence to the international literature on academic mobility, while also highlighting data limitations in Brazil. It calls for complementary qualitative research and deeper exploration of labor precarization in the private sector.
