GEOGRAFICKÝ ČASOPIS / GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL 75 (2023) 1, 69-84 69 MIGRATION TRAJECTORIES AND ASPIRATIONS AMONG HIGHLY SKILLED MIGRANTS IN CZECHIA Barbora Frličková*, Lucie Macková*, Nela Przetaková* * Palacký University Olomouc, Faculty of Science, Department of Development and Environmental Studies, 17. listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czechia, barbora.frlickova01@upol.cz, lucie.mackova@upol.cz Migration trajectories and aspirations among highly skilled migrants in Czechia The emphasis on the ‘global race for talent’ has only intensified in recent years. This paper focuses on a group of highly skilled migrants in Czechia – country that has so far been less researched in terms of skilled migration. Highly skilled migrants repre- sent an important part of the labour force and can have a transformative potential in some sectors, including science and education. The transnational dimension of differ- ent migration trajectories represents an important part of the migration experience and can influence an intention to stay, return, or move to another country. Based on previ- ous life trajectories and migration experience, this paper explores migrants’ decision- making in connection with future migration trajectories. Using a survey among highly skilled migrants in Czechia, we explore their intention to stay and the factors that may lead to onward international migration from Czechia. Key words: highly skilled migration, trajectories, motivations, intention to stay, Czechia INTRODUCTION In recent years, the overall numbers of migrants have grown and so have those of highly skilled migrants. Yet, there remains a lack of knowledge on highly skilled migrants in some specific receiving contexts (Petroff 2016). In international migra- tion, the reasons for selecting the countries of destination differ and so do the mi- grants’ aspirations to stay in their country of destination or to re-migrate. While migration includes migrants with different levels of skills, this study has focused on migrants with higher skill levels, who have lived in Czechia for at least a year. For statistical purposes, highly skilled migrants are those who have at least tertiary levels of education (Lowell 2005). However, countries often define highly skilled migrants differently based on their labour market needs and might define highly skilled migrants as essential workers (Weinar and Klekowski von Koppenfels 2020). The description has often shifted from migrants’ levels of education to the description of their profession (Kuvik 2012). In Czechia, highly skilled migrants are classified under the CZ-ISCO (International Standard Classification of Occupa- tions) classification in the following categories – higher management, researchers, technical, health, and pedagogical staff (CZ-ISCO 2022). Czaika and Parson (2017) proposed that migrants with occupational qualifications in the top three cat- egories of ISCO should be considered skilled migrants. In our research, we have included migrants who have a completed tertiary education of at least three years. Rather than selecting migrants from a specific field or based on their labour market position or visa status, this approach has enabled us to select the broadest sample of skilled migrants. While research on migration in Czechia is extensive and the country has gradu- ally changed from a country of emigration to a country of immigration (Drbohlav ISSN 0016-7193 © Geografický ústav SAV / Institute of Geography SAS DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/geogrcas.2023.75.1.04