Article

When sojournersreturn: Employmentopportunities andchallenges facinghigh-skilledChinese returnees

Jie Hao and Wen WenTsinghua University

Anthony WelchSydney University

AbstractFocusing on the increasingly large numbers of Chinese students under-taking postgraduate programs overseas, this paper examines how inter-national higher education shapes their subsequent career development inChina. The specific focus is on their employment status, the impact ofAustralian higher education, and the challenges they experience uponreturning home. A leading Australian university was chosen as the casestudy, and a mixed research method was adopted. By analyzing question-naire and interview data, the paper argues that holding an internationalqualification is no longer adequate for employment success in China’scompetitive labor market; rather, different forms of intellectual capitalneed to be consolidated and utilized. Unlike the previous generation ofreturnees who gained prestigious positions and made changes to China’sdevelopment immediately upon their return, the research finds that thecurrent generation of sojourners faces a different and more complex set ofopportunities and challenges. Although the majority of such graduatesstill retain an advantage in China’s crowded graduate labor market, thecontext is much more competitive.

Corresponding author:

Wen Wen, Institute of Educational Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China.Email: wenwen@tsinghua.edu.cn

Asian and Pacific Migration Journal

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DOI: 10.1177/0117196815621806

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Keywordsreturnees, student mobility, migration, China, employment

Introduction

With both push and pull factors contributing significantly to inter-national students and young professionals’ mobility (Li and Bray, 2007;Tharenou and Caufield, 2010; Welch and Hao, 2015), China has wit-nessed a rapid increase in the number of student sojourners1 returningin recent years (Ministry of Education, 2015). These high-skilled retur-nees are encouraged by the thriving economy, improved employmentopportunities, and a more liberalized polity and lifestyle (Tharenouand Seet, 2014; Wen, 2012; Wen et al., 2014; Zweig, 2006). Between1978 and 2014, a total of 3.5 million Chinese students went overseasfor various kinds of education, and a total of 1,809,600 returned toChina. In 2014 alone, the total number of Chinese international studentswho went abroad reached 459,800, and 364,800 returned (Ministry ofEducation, 2015). Paralleling the reverse brain drain, two trends havebeen emerging in China’s graduate labor market. One is that China’slabor market is making a transition from a highly planned and seg-mented market to a mobile and competitive market, paralleling thedevelopment of market economics and the effects of globalization, atthe same time, employers are more concerned to attract quality employ-ees (Wen, 2012). The other trend is that more and more young talent hasflooded into China’s labor market, particularly due to the massiveexpansion of higher education enrollments over the years since 1999.In 2012, the total number of graduates completing higher education inChina reached 8,201,695, more than three times over the 2002 total of2,597,421 (Ministry of Education, 2002, 2012).

The employment of overseas-educated professionals has inspiredfierce debate among scholars, the media and the general public, bothwithin China and abroad. Since different types of international graduatesreturned at different stages of development in China, arguments havebeen made from a variety of perspectives. Saxenian (2006) argued thatoverseas-educated Chinese, particularly those who had studied andworked in the USA in the 1980s, had a better chance of succeeding in

1Following Wang (2001: 138), sojourners are defined here as ‘‘individuals and families whohad not intended to migrate, but left their country to trade, to seek skilled employment, toescape temporarily or to look for adventure and fresh opportunities for betterment.’’ For theChinese, this often includes opportunities for further education.

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their home country by using the knowledge acquired abroad and inter-national resources in their work. In comparison to others who lackexperience of the outside world, people with international educationand work experiences tend to be able to identify promising industries,and create economic and professional opportunities. Norris and Gillespie(2008) also found that the career impact and continued use of a foreignlanguage are much greater among graduates who worked internationallythan those who did not; in addition, international education, overseasinternship participation, and host family living arrangements are all fac-tors that correlate strongly with future international work. Examiningreturnees from Japan and Canada, Zweig and Han’s (2008) researchsuggests that most mainland Chinese returnees from Japan andCanada were able to find jobs within three months of returning. Hao’sdetailed research revealed similar findings for Chinese academic sojour-ners returning from Australia (Hao, 2012). Crossman and Clarke’s (2010)research also suggests that there are clear connections between inter-national experience and employability outcomes associated with the for-ging of networks, opportunities for experiential learning, languageacquisition, and the development of soft skills related to cultural under-standing, personal characteristics and ways of thinking. Contrary to thepositive findings mentioned above, however, some research finds thatinternational education brings challenges and problems to returnees’employment and career development (Hao, 2012; Hao and Welch,2012). According to a study of 1,500 returnees’ career development con-ducted by the Research and Development Centre of the State Council,more than 35 percent of respondents experienced problems with employ-ment, while only 52 percent of returnees were confident about theircareer development (Hu, 2008: 40). Recent studies and reports have sug-gested that international graduates often have overly high expectationsconcerning salary, work environment, and they only consider opportu-nities in China’s major cities. Despite lacking work experience, many stillaspire for higher positions because of their international education quali-fications (Beijing Daily, 2007; Zhu, 2005).

Notwithstanding these substantial student flows, and the evidenceof a changed orientation and skillset among Chinese students, littlesystematic research has been conducted on the career performance anddevelopment of Chinese graduates once they return to China. This paperfills that gap by focusing on Australian-educated Chinese sojourners’return employment experience in their home country; in particular,the paper explores the ways in which Australia higher education shapedtheir career trajectories and the key challenges they experienced uponreturn.

Hao et al. 3

Chinese students in Australia

Although a major destination of Chinese students, Australia has receivedrelatively less attention in the literature devoted to how graduates fare intheir career development. Among all destination countries, Australiaattracts a large number of Chinese students by virtue of its geographicposition, multicultural environment, good-quality education, lower tuitionfees, effective marketing, migration opportunities and stable political rela-tionship with China (Yang, 2007). At the same time, it also produces asubstantial number of high-skilled bi-lingual and bi-cultural Chinesegraduates, who seek work in the homeland, upon return. For 2014, forexample, international higher education enrollments in Australia totaled249,990, which accounts for a quarter of overall higher education enroll-ments. Of the total international students, by far the largest cohort wasmainland Chinese, 92,970, or 37 percent (IIE, n.d.).2 While the shift towardskilled migration meant that more and more Chinese could stay aftercompleting their Australian qualification, tens of thousands have returnedto China, armed with their Australian degrees, and seeking employment(Welch, 2013).

Studies of Chinese student experiences in Australian universities showthat language and social communication are among the more difficult tonegotiate, but that the challenge of living independently, and having tolearn independently are seen as valuable, both by the students themselvesand by employers upon return (Hao and Welch, 2012; Stafford, 2010;Welch, 2013). Stafford (2010) reported that for both Chinese studentsand their families, the decision to study in Australian universities was amix of deficiencies and desires. Often, this was a cost-benefit calculus,broadly conceived, which entails weighing the substantial costs of study-ing abroad against the perceived additional skills and cultural and socialcapital they expected to acquire as a result of their time studying abroad.Discourses of deficiency regarding aspects of the Chinese educationsystem were also evident. Commonly, these related to both the high-stakes, intensely competitive nature of the Chinese educational systemrequiring long hours beyond regular schooling, as well as the domesticlearning environment that was often described as very strict, inflexible andteacher-centered, leaving little room for student interaction anddiscussion:

Students have totally not their own space . . . they just follow the teacher. The

teacher says you should do this, do this, do this. We just do (Sun Yan, as

cited in Stafford, 2010: 114).

2Data are for 2013. The next largest source country was India, at less than 17,000 (less than 7percent of the total).

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Student returnees

Reverse culture shock and cross-cultural adjustment are major issues formany repatriates, particularly in China (Black, 1992; Hao and Welch, 2012;Szkudlarek, 2010). Against the backdrop of China’s fast-changing econ-omy, infrastructure development and urbanization (Leonard, 2008), manyreturnees reported the loss of familiar emotional and cultural symbolsupon relocation to China. The process of relocation required returnees toeffectively readjust themselves to become comfortable again with China’sdistinctive form of interpersonal relations (guanxi),3 local cultures, andworking pace and style at work. If not, another re-location might wellbe indicated (Harrison et al., 2004). Most of the current crop of inter-national students did not acquire much work experience or solid socialexperience at home before leaving to study abroad. Rather, they tended totravel between their local school and home, and enjoyed the full care oftheir parents. Therefore, many lacked a mature, independent understand-ing of China’s swiftly changing contemporary development, social system,regime, government policies or major historical events. Most of today’sinternational students were born after the 1980s, and thus grew up afterChina’s Economic Reform and Open-up Policy initiated in 1978. Thereform of Chinese society and resultant economic growth providedthem with the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of this opening-up (Wen,2013). At the same time, while they gained the chance to see the worldwhile they were growing up, many neglected their education in Chineseculture, history and regime (as did their parents). Thus, upon return toChina, they needed to re-integrate into contemporary, swiftly changingcontemporary mores and business practices. As Louie’s (2006) studypointed out, many returnees see themselves as special and unique, believ-ing that they have ‘‘seen the world,’’ but China is changing rapidly and,depending on how quickly things change, those who remained behindmay laugh at returnees who are seen as being unable to make the neces-sary adjustment to successfully adapt to this brave new world.

Chinese students reported substantial, and sometimes surprising,changes as a result of their time spent studying at Australian universities.At the same time, they remained closely connected to China; indeed, manyreported feeling at least, if not more, Chinese after studying in Australia.Qualities of maturity and independence, in terms of having to learn andnegotiate a new and challenging quotidian lifeworld, as well as the greateremphasis on independent learning, problem-solving skills, incorporatingdifferent perspectives and freedom to choose subjects that they experi-enced at Australian universities were prized as elements that gave them

3Known as or guanxi in China, see for example, Gold et al. (2002).

Hao et al. 5

greater confidence in their own abilities, and which would stand them ingood stead upon returning to China and entering the job market (Lu andShort, 2012).4 This experience of greater openness to diversity was char-acterized by one student as follows:

[now] I accept other people’s culture, before I only accepted my own and the

Western. Now I think there is Muslim, Greek, Italian, there is South African,

African, South American. So people are all different, you have to accept

other cultures and make other people understand you more (Peng

Deming, as cited in Stafford, 2010: 179).

Another saw the greater openness to difference as constituting an advan-tage when returning to China:

Back in China I just considering [sic] study. But now I [am] considering

current affairs and international affairs and stuff like that and other really

interesting things. I think it’s really important, like [it] opened my mind

about the world and I think it’s really good for my future . . . like, I’m

more clear what I want to do and what I can do in the future (Lan

Zhiren, as cited in Stafford, 2010: 182).

Such qualities can translate into greater social and cultural capital, whichoffer greater opportunities, social mobility, and wider job choices inthe current highly competitive Chinese job market. Some studentsexpressed the view that their international experience offered the prospectof melding Chinese and Western modes of analysis, such as critical think-ing skills, upon return.

Methods

A survey was conducted of Chinese graduates who returned to Chinaafter completing a Master’s postgraduate qualification from a leadingAustralian university in 2010. The survey assessed respondents’ careerstatus, self-evaluation of Australian higher education’s impact on theircareer, and key challenges. As a member of the elite Group of Eight uni-versities,5 the selected institution was chosen as a case, with the aim beingto retain holistic and meaningful characteristics and select a specific groupof people with a sense of understanding about the general categories(Adler and Clark, 2008; Yin, 2009). With the help of the university’s

4Some characterized the difference between the two systems: in China, it is hard to get into auniversity, but easy to graduate while in Australia, it is the reverse.5The Group of Eight (Go8) is a coalition of research-intensive Australian universities.

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alumni office, an online-based survey was emailed to 1,051 Chinese post-graduate students, most of whom had graduated between 2004 and 2009.Due to disabled email addresses, eventually only 1,006 emails were suc-cessfully delivered by the close of the survey collection in early August2010. Almost 30 percent of the graduates opened the email message; ofthese, 73 percent responded to the survey, to which 156 valid and com-plete responses were received.6 Questionnaire items included informationabout the graduates upon their return to China: length of time to beemployed, employment status, types of employment, cities of employ-ment, positions, annual income, satisfaction in their current jobs, ongoingconnection to the graduating university and key factors that influencedtheir career development.

In accordance with the research design and in order to build a rela-tively representative and quality interview participant model within thissampling frame, a non-probability purposive sampling technique wasadopted. Drawn from 156 survey participants, another 12 alumni wereselected for further interviews at the end of years 2009 and 2010, whichaimed to provide rich, in-depth insights. They were selected by gender,age, degrees completed and professional fields (Table 1) to minimize thepossible bias of a homogeneous sample. Three government officials atdifferent levels and four employers or top management team membersfrom different industries and different types of organizations (Table 2)provided diverse points of view. They were first identified as appropriateinterviewees and then recruited by email or phone.

The follow-up interviews were open-ended questions concerning: 1)their evaluation of their current career status; 2) the extent to whichAustralian education assisted their career development; and 3) the chal-lenges experienced after returning. In order to see these issues through adifferent pair of eyes, seven face-to-face interviews were conducted in 2011in Beijing with mainland Chinese employers who had employedAustralian returnees and Chinese government officials who directly man-aged international students affairs and international human resource mat-ters. These semi-structured interviews of both graduates and local Chineseemployers elicited rich, in-depth information regarding sojourners’ returnemployment experiences, including their detailed explanations and exam-ples, and employers’ perceptions of how Australian education influencedChinese international students’ career development in China.

6Questionnaires which contained incomplete responses, some of which were almost full,were not considered in the analysis. Had they been included, the response rate wouldhave been higher.

Hao et al. 7

Results

The results revealed in this study suggest that employees with inter-national experiences are still in great demand and highly valued, andalso support that study abroad shapes graduates’ career in the homecountry (Hao, 2012, Norris and Gillespie, 2008). A substantial numberof graduates were able to find their first employment within threemonths after graduating from the Australian university and returningto China; a third successfully located jobs within one month. About aquarter of the graduates took up to six months to find employment.

Table 1. Profile of the interviewed graduates.

No. Name Gender AgeArea of study(Master’s degree)

Yeargraduated

Year offinalreturnto China*

Employedat time ofinterview?

1 WW Female 20s Economics andbusiness

2009 2010 Yes

2 LZ Male 30s Economics andbusiness

2005 2007 Yes

3 QG Female 20s Engineering andinformationtechnologies

2008 2010 Yes

4 YQL Male 30s Engineering andinformationtechnologies

2005 2007 Yes

5 YJL Female 30s Engineering andinformationtechnologies

2005 2010 Yes

6 TZ Male 20s Arts 2009 2010 Yes

7 BF Female 40s Medicine (SydneyMedical School)

2006 2007 Yes

8 DU Male 60s Education 1995 Before 2005 Yes

9 SZ Male 30s Economics andbusiness

2008 2010 Yes

10 JM Male 30s Medicine (SydneyMedical School)

2009 2010 Yes

11 LW Male 20s Economics andbusiness

2005 2007 Yes

12 LG Male 30s Engineering andinformationtechnologies

2004 2007 Yes

*Prior to their final return, the informants had traveled to the home country a few times.

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Around a third of the graduates worked in finance, banking and insur-ance, which constituted the biggest professional group (Hao, 2012). Thisaccords with overall Australian international enrollment data whichshow that management and commerce, including accounting, togetherrepresent the most popular majors in Australian international education,with such students collectively accounting for 57.8 percent of the total in2013 (AEI, 2014). It was also found that other popular professional fieldsamong these graduates included education and training; manufacturing;media, advertising and PR; information technology; and logistics andtransport.

According to the survey data, the majority of respondents (68.6 percent)worked in China’s first-tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou),while the second biggest cohort (27.6 percent) were spread over provincialcapital cities, the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions. Thisfinding not only reflects the fact that international graduates are attractedby these high GDP growth regions with vibrant economic development,but also signifies that their international skills and capacities are appre-ciated in these places. Half of the participants expressed satisfaction orstrong satisfaction in response to the question ‘‘Are you satisfied with yourcurrent job?’’ while another 41 percent indicated no problems. It was alsofound from the interviews that the quality of international education andexperience helped in ensuring a better job and life compared to the past.A small number of respondents suggested that they were dissatisfied orvery dissatisfied with their current jobs, with the main reasons cited beingthat the job was not challenging or interesting, or that there was too muchovertime, which is somewhat different from the working hours inAustralia.

Table 2. Background information of interviewed stakeholders.

No. Name Gender Age PositionOrganization/Company Type

1 L M 60s Deputy Chairperson Municipal government

2 L M 50s Deputy SecretaryGeneral

Government organization

3 C M 40s Vice President State-owned enterprise

4 L F 30s Director Multinational company

5 Y M 30s Director Central government

6 C M 30s Vice President Public hospital

7 Z M 40s Managing Director Private company

Hao et al. 9

Australian higher education’s impact on graduates’ careerpath in China

The survey also revealed the following five factors considered critical bygraduates in influencing their career development: 1) communicationskills, 2) foreign language ability, 3) learning abilities, 4) professionalknowledge, and 5) international experience. It is worth emphasizing thatinternational experience or exposure consists of not just the knowledge orinformation obtained from university courses, but also everything thathappens outside the college, from finding accommodation to acquiring adriver’s license, improving one’s second language and participating in therange of social activities involved in making a life overseas, all of whichcan represent challenges requiring no less attention than academic study.A graduate suggested that:7

I have spent weeks finding an appropriate place to live . . . It is a very com-

plex task, I need to search online, deal with local estate agents, ask friends or

classmates for suggestion, visit potential homes, apply via the required pro-

cedures, sign all of the legal documents, and move into the new place . . . but

by doing all these by myself, I learned about western culture and social

systems (Interview with Graduate WW).

This point was echoed by comments from many interviewed employersand human resource (HR) directors. The HR director of a multinationalcompany indicated that graduates with international experience and edu-cation generally had strong learning abilities and imbibed new thingsquickly, especially Western ideas and international systems. A stronglearning ability is a vital skill, required in most companies and organiza-tions. As argued earlier, not only does the Australian academic curriculumeducate in researching and thinking independently but also the experienceof living abroad teaches one how to adapt well to new situations (Lu andShort, 2012; Stafford, 2010). The overseas environment forces internationalstudents to learn new things quickly. Consequently, their accumulatedknowledge and experiences help these international graduates take onnew tasks more effectively. As a senior director of a government affiliatedorganization remarked:

In my experience, returnees from Australia seem to have a reasonably good

sense and understanding of international ways of doing things. They are

good at their jobs, picking up things very quickly and whenever we

7All quotations are from the in-depth interviews. Further details about the interviews areprovided in Tables 1 (graduates) and 2 (stakeholders).

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organized big international events or forums, my colleagues who had

returned from Australia usually performed very well, especially when deal-

ing with international guests (Interview with Stakeholder L2).

Most interviewed graduates suggested that Australian higher educationqualifications played a vital role when they were applying for jobs, andthat an international qualification provided a foot in an employer’s door.This is in line with Spence’s (1973) signaling model that suggests employ-ers rely on certain indicators to predict one’s productivity when they areunsure about an applicant’s productivity during the search or interviewprocess; an education certificate is a strong signal. According to a maleeconomics and business graduate, an international qualification helpedhim find a good job upon his return to China:

The Australian higher education certificate itself would give people a good

impression. Firstly, it represents an overseas background, and the certificate

holder is expected to have fluent English language skills and strong capabil-

ities. Secondly, the global reputation of the university is also very important,

and a certificate from a top-ranking university brings extra credit. The image

of a well-known university reflects the image of its graduates to some

degree, especially a highly ranked university that also has a positive, high

status in China. Subsequently, the graduates are likely to have an advantage

when applying for a job (Interview with Graduate LZ).

YQL, a male engineering graduate who had worked for a private com-pany in Beijing before leaving for further studies in Australia, shared thesame appreciation about international education. A male Economics andBusiness graduate, SZ, who worked for a foreign medical company inShanghai, made a very similar comment. He was appointed as managerimmediately on his return to China. Nonetheless, both YQL and SZ agreethat, although an international qualification helps in terms of obtaining ajob, after starting the job, professional knowledge and skills were moreimportant. This was strongly echoed by another Economic and Businessgraduate, JM, who worked as a marketing manager for Siemens inShanghai:

At the end of the day, it is still about what value you can bring to the company

and what contribution you can make (Interview with Graduate JM).

Despite the graduate returnees’ different career paths, a strong positivefeeling toward their Australian alma mater was a quite consistent finding.Most participants indicated that they felt a connection with the university

Hao et al. 11

from which they had graduated: 46.8 percent remained in communicationwith their international alumni office, including 14.7 percent who main-tained active connections through a range of alumni activities. Gains aremutual: against the benefits that the alumni received from the university(quality of education, career gains, social connections and prestige) mustbe set the benefits to institutions themselves, since professional and per-sonal connections held by returnee graduates can open many doors(Weerts and Ronca, 2007).

Major challenges facing returnees

A number of key issues arose from the interviews with the respectiveemployers and HR directors. First, in their eyes, was the ability toobtain or regain an in-depth understanding of Chinese culture, its fast-changing environment and the domestic market.

When you get into a new professional arena, it is important to learn and

understand the whole system first, and then let yourself be accepted before

trying to change the whole system. Having spent some years overseas, many

returnees cannot bear the sight of many things. But they should still remind

themselves to be more humble at the beginning. As an example, returnees

should perform like a medicine or vitamin that is coated with sugar; that is,

to help the body’s system to get better without tasting the bitterness

(Interview with Stakeholder C6).

A second challenge was inappropriate knowledge transfer, which suggeststhat instead of merely deploying one’s professional knowledge, returneesmust also be aware of the local situation: building trust lies at the heart ofinteractions with local stakeholders including employees, local partnersand government officials (Buckley et al., 2006). As a vice-president froma state-owned enterprise suggested:

International exposure is very important as China opens to the world

because there is increasing interaction with international firms and for-

eigners. Returnees certainly have strengths when such opportunities arise,

and returnees from Australia seem easily to settle into a regular working

style and environment. But whatever international practice they use, it has to

address the local needs and follow the Chinese rules (Interview with

Stakeholder C3).

To this should be added a degree of local resistance and resentment, attimes to returnees—notably by peers who criticize ‘‘the superstition that

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‘monks from elsewhere are better at reading the scriptures’’’ (Zweig andYang, 2014).

The final key challenge is from competitive counterparts, both overseasand domestic. While bringing back new ideas and being innovative isclearly important (OECD, 2008; State Council, 2010), the current humanresource market is far different from before. International graduates fromother developed countries, like the USA, UK and Europe, as well as localcounterparts from elite universities like Tsinghua and Beijing, are strongcompetitors in the professional arena. Studies have documented the qual-ity and influence of returnees from USA, UK and Europe starting fromChina’s first group of international students that went to the USA in theQing dynasty in the 19th century (Rhoads, 2011; Stafford, 2010; Yao, 2004),to many of China’s founding fathers from politics to social science whosojourned in Europe (Guo, 2009), and to many of today’s successful peoplein business and academia (Lin et al., 2014; Xinhua, 2009).

At the same time, the quality of the Chinese higher education system hasrisen quickly (Hayhoe and Lin, 2008; Yang, 2002), particularly at the elitetier of universities such as Peking, Fudan, and Tsinghua (Yang and Welch,2011; Yuan, 2009). Graduates from these top local education institutions areoften no less competitive than international graduates. According toresearch on the employment status of Tsinghua’s postgraduates, between2004 and 2006 an average of 95 percent of graduates either found employ-ment or chose further study after graduation, while more than 80 percentgained employment in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, including anaverage of 65 percent who were employed in Beijing (Yuan and Yang,2010). In addition, the respective work units (danwei) usually have highexpectations of, and are satisfied with, such elite graduates’ professionalknowledge and practical performance at work (Yuan and Yang, 2010).

This suggests the importance of adjusting one’s attitude and positioningwhen returning to China. It is not only about Australian returnees’ highsalary expectations or wanting to play a ‘‘big’’ role in the workplace(Keren et al., 2003), but also over-confidence. As noted above, alongwith the large numbers of people who study abroad and return, and therapidly increasing quantity of local graduates, today’s returnees face amore challenging set of employment opportunities.

China is now well integrated into the global world, and with the rapid

increase of returnees, companies have many more choices in terms of

hiring international professionals. Positive attitude, appropriate self-aware-

ness and evaluation are very important for young returnees. Many of them

might need to lower their expectation in terms of salary and package for the

first job after returning. From the employer’s perspective, companies who

Hao et al. 13

hired returnees were not meant to pay back their entire education invest-

ments. Talking about how much investment they have made in their inter-

national education is one of the worst things in interviews (Interview with

Stakeholder Y5).

Discussion

Different forms of intellectual capital like human capital, cultural capitaland social capital stand out according to their distinct characteristics, butthey also share some similarities. In relation to this study, returnees havebuilt up human capital by investing in Australian higher education thatyields new skills and knowledge; this allows them to work in new waysand more productively. They have obtained cultural capital and theseintellectual advantages will be transmitted to their children (either con-sciously or unconsciously) in order to succeed in the current educationalsystem. They certainly have gained social capital, a key part of whichemphasizes relationships of trust, cooperation, and mutually supportiverelations in communities and nations, that facilitate a denser civil society.Putnam’s (2001) concept of bonding social capital is particularly relevantto this case, as it is inward looking and tends to reinforce exclusive iden-tities: graduates with international education from the same institution canbe argued to form a typical model. From a Chinese perspective, suchalumni relationships often provide solid intellectual resources that canhelp one’s career, acting as a network of important contacts and resources.

As with many other scholars’ research findings (Crossman and Clarke,2010; Norris and Gillespie, 2008; Palifka, 2009; Saxenian, 2006; Zweig andHan, 2008), the positive effects of quality international education on one’scareer development were also evident in this study. It is clear that theinternational qualification itself derived from overseas education experi-ence indicates that the graduate has the requisite professional skills andknowledge. While possession of the certificate proved advantageous whenapplying for jobs in China, the skills and knowledge obtained overseasplay a more important role in one’s career development after one startswork. Many graduate returnees stated that their advanced knowledge andinternational standard professional information obtained from theirsojourn of studying abroad shaped their mentality and way of thinking,and helped them be more efficient at work:

The Master’s program in Australia has progressively helped me to form

an active mind, innovative spirit and professionalism (Interview with

Graduate LW).

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It is fair to argue that international education, especially from elite insti-tutions, is still a strong signal that helps returnees send certain messages totheir respective employers (Spence, 1973). However, it is no longer a guar-antor of success in today’s China, a much more complex and highly com-petitive society. The reform of Chinese higher education and itsinternationalization has also increased local graduates’ quality and com-petitiveness, thus enhancing their employability. Foreign language teach-ing on campus, international accreditation and increased employment ofinternational professors are now features of major universities in China(Wu, 2007). At the same time, returning graduates seem to have oftenmissed out on the defining common life experiences of the interveningyears, and are relatively disadvantaged in their access to the necessarylocal networks (Buckley et al., 2006).

Unlike the previous generation of returnees who took up prestigiouspositions and made changes to China’s development immediately upontheir return, the new generation of academic sojourners faces a differentset of opportunities and challenges. One of the biggest barriers fortoday’s sojourners is to re-adapt to traditional Chinese culture andwisdom upon their return. Culture here does not simply mean settingoff fireworks at the spring festival or the lion dance; rather, it indicates asolid understanding of Chinese history, government structure, economicgrowth, different customs in different regions and China’s position inthe world. As has been argued, culture does not stand still but ratherevolves:

Culture is not static, but changes according to socio-historical circumstances.

Necessarily, then, culture is not abstract (restricted to the world of ideas,

remote from people’s day-to-day lives and practices), but also includes the

material (ways of making things, such as art, houses, or implements) (Welch,

2013: 157).

As all of the interviewed stakeholders—representing a broad range ofChinese stakeholders—suggested, the concrete conditions applying incontemporary China should be taken as the basis or foundation for retur-nees’ efforts at innovation. Effectively deploying what has been learntabroad and appropriately contributing to Chinese society are essentialsteps. These international graduates may have a higher starting pointthan many local graduates, but simply speaking a foreign language andmerely transferring international knowledge are not enough to succeed.The ability to combine international knowledge with local realities, uniteWestern and Eastern wisdom and consequently cater to China’s actualneeds are equally important.

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Furthermore, sojourners’ personal attitudes and self-positioning arevery important for their career development upon their return. Such retur-nees may need to be more modest and flexible about settling into theirnew environment, and lower their expectations of salary packages, espe-cially at the beginning of their career, since there are many things to learn.Calculating how much income they should earn based on their economicinvestment in international education is the least appropriate response. Asseen above, the large number of quality applicants, both domestic andinternational, means that employers often have a wide choice when select-ing potential employees. Moreover, rising graduate unemployment andunderemployment in contemporary China (as manifested in the ‘AntTribe’ phenomenon8) are making the job market even more competitive,for both local and international graduates (Sharma, 2014; Si, 2009).

An interesting point that surfaced from our interviews with Chineseemployers which deserves further reflection is that returnees from theUSA are seen as generally more competitive and mature, and often havea clear mind and know what they want to achieve. They work very hardand convey a strong impression that they are ready for any tasks.Comparatively, returnees from Australia are perceived as less matureand usually have limited work experience. Many of them were sent bytheir parents to Australia to study and lacked a clear picture of their careerdevelopment and what they want to achieve in 20 or 30 years’ time. Manyof the young returnees felt they have seen the world and are able to con-tribute to China, but the reality is that the mainstream of returnees andthe elite returnees who have been and still are contributing to China’sdevelopment are from the USA and Europe (Guo, 2009; Wadhwa et al.,2009; Wang et al., 2011). While, as indicated above, relatively lessresearch has been done on those returning to China from Australia,might it also be that broader international exposure is required for suchindividuals?

Conclusion

Overall, the increasingly competitive Chinese labor market now meansthat employment opportunities have changed for returning high-skilledinternational graduates. No longer is simple possession of an overseasdegree sufficient, without relevant work experience. Nonetheless, thedata above reveal that, in an increasingly global market for high-skilled

8Research by Si (2009) in Beijing has pointed to the rise of groups of underemployed gradu-ates in China’s major cities, whose low earnings and precarious existence force them to livetogether in overcrowded accommodation, like ants, to save money. The phenomenon is notentirely unlike the Western notion of the ‘precariat’ (see Si, 2009; Standing, 2011).

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labor, Chinese international graduates with degrees from leading univer-sities in Australia remain quite competitive in the Chinese labor market.Their international higher education experience positively shaped theircareer, a point that was generally agreed by almost all graduates fromdifferent faculties and graduating years. Similarly, feedback from differentlevels of government officials, employers or HR directors from varietytypes of enterprises, including multinational company and state-ownedenterprises, was extremely consistent, confirming the perceptions of retur-nee sojourners themselves. Employers, both public and private, shared apositive perception of Australian returnees, stating that their adaptability,foreign language ability, capacity to learn quickly and familiarity withforeign environments constituted key advantages (despite believing thatreturnees from America remained the strongest of all graduate returnees).This suggests that an area for future studies in the effects of internationaleducation would be to explore the competitive position of Chinese gradu-ate returnees from Australia, relative to other major study destinations likethe USA, the UK or Canada. Overall, however, the study confirms theenduring, if perhaps eroding, advantages of graduate returnees, in theever-more competitive Chinese labor market. Higher return rates, togetherwith greater competition from high-quality graduates from leadingdomestic universities, mean that the level of competition is only likely tofurther increase, thus likely eroding the competitive advantage of high-skilled graduate sojourners, upon returning from Australia.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/orpublication of this article.

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