"It is not O.K to think that you are good just because you have graduated from overseas": Agency and contextual factors affecting Vietnamese returning graduates
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Author | Ly Thi Tran,Huyen Bui,George Tan,Mark Rahimi |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12954 |
International Migration. 2022;60:43–59.
|
43
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
Received: 29 Mar ch 2021
|
Revised: 27 Septem ber 2021
|
Accepted: 25 Novemb er 2021
DOI: 10 .1111/imig .12954
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
"It is not O.K to think that you are good just
because you have graduated from overseas":
Agency and contextual factors affecting
Vietnamese returning graduates
Ly Thi Tran1 | Huyen Bui1 | George Tan2 | Mark Rahimi1
© 2021 The Author s. Internationa l Migration © 2021 IOM.
1School of Educ ation, Deakin Uni versity,
Burwood, V ictoria, Aust ralia
2Norther n Institute, Charl es Darwin
Universit y, Casuarina, Austr alia
Correspondence
Ly Thi Tran, School of Edu cation, Deakin
Universit y, Burwood, Victo ria, Australia.
Email: ly.tran@deakin.edu.au
Abstract
Over the past decade, a growing number of graduates,
originally from key source countries of internat ional stu-
dents such as China and V iet Nam, have re turned home
after graduation from overseas universities. In particular,
there seems to be a re cent surge in the number of interna-
tional gradu ates heading home du e to the high unempl oy-
ment, tightening migration, rising national protectionism
and emerging challenges, exacerbated by the COVID- 19
pandemic, in major hos t countries such as Australia, the
UK and the United States. While there has been emerg-
ing empirical research on international returning graduates’
contributions to their home country develop ment, little is
known about graduates’ own perceptio ns of the impacts of
the contex tual factors on their homecoming decis ion and
their home labour market navig ation. Draving on a qualita-
tive study, this article r esponds to this criti cal gap in the
literature by conceptualising returnee employability as a
dynamic interactive proces s between multiple force s in the
host and home labou r markets and broader s ocio- economic
contexts, and betwe en these forces and return ee agency. It
identified interrelated contextual factors in the host and
home contexts that drive Viet namese graduates home,
including challenges in securing migration, and insecure
44
|
THI TR AN eT Al.
INTRODUCTION
The homecoming mob ilities of international graduate s have been a prominent phenomenon over the past dec ade.
Major se nding countrie s of internat ional student s have recen tly seen a significant number of international stu-
dents ret urning home afte r their overseas study. There has been a growing trend of repatri ation of Chinese and
Vietnamese internat ional graduates. It was est imated that the migration rate of Vietnamese international gr adu-
ates was around 27 per ce nt, while up to 73 per cent returne d home or relocated to anoth er country (Docquier &
Rapoport, 2012). Overal l, only 16 per cent out of 1.6 millio n international stude nts who commenced their course
in A ustralia between 2 001 and 2014 wer e granted permanent residency (Austra lian Govern ment, 2018 ). The
majority of intern ational gradu ates from Australia have returne d to th eir home country, rel ocated to the third
country or rema ined in Australia on a differe nt visa. Despite attrac tive post- stud y work rights policies intro duced
by countrie s like Australia , Canada, Ne w Zealand and the UK, in reality, there s eems to be a mismatch between
international students’ intent t o remain in the hos t countries and th e actual uptake (B erquist et al., 2 019). This is
illustrated by OECD data, which show that even though around 60– 80 per cent of international student s indicated
that they wished to stay in the host countr y after graduation, only around 25 per cent ac tually remained for a long
term in the OECD count ries (OECD, 2011).
The inter national literatu re highlights a range of p ull and push factors sha ping home- return mob ilities. Host
countries’ ri sing labour competi tion and limited job opportunities ( Blackmore et al., 2 017; Tran & Bui , 2019), bar-
riers to migration (Dam et al., 2018) and the national prote ctionism of some Western countries (Xiong & Mok,
2020), have been identified as the key f actors pushing international gradu ates to retur n hom e. In addit ion,
education- work transition has always been challengi ng for inter national gradu ates who rem ain in Aust ralia and
navigate t he host la bour market (Tran et al., 2019). Th is challenge is escalating due to t he COVID- 19 pandemic
causing eco nomic recessions and rising unemp loyment across t he world. Given that the complex structures and
constant changin g demands of labour markets within/bet ween occupations as well as within/betwee n economies
are highly differe ntiated (Brown, et al., 2012; Tu & Nehring, 2020), the transition from st udy to work, in particular,
for internation al students, is getti ng tougher.
Within this context of increase d home- ret urn mobilities, it is important to understand the contextual facto rs
impacting Vietnames e internatio nal gradua tes’ mediatio n of the home labour market for several reasons. The
literature s uggests a crit ical need to ta ke into account the broader social, cultural, economi c and policy env iron-
ment of the home country to understand returnees’ home labour market participation and employment outcomes
(Hao et al., 2016). In a ddition, while emer ging marke ts in home countries might pr esent grea ter employ ment
job prospect s facing them in Aus tralia and simultaneous ly,
greater employment and business opportunities at home.
In partic ular, the study found that contextual f actors such
as sector characte ristics, types of employers, econo mic
performance and cultura l practices create an in stitutional
environment, in which returnees’ agency is enacted, re-
sulting in dif ferent returnees’ labou r market navigation
experiences and employment outcomes. Significant rec-
ommendations for key stakeholders in both home and host
countries to support international graduate emp loyability
are provided.
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting