International graduate returnees’ accumulation of capitals and (re)positioning in the home labour market in Vietnam: the explorer, the advancer or the adventurer?

Abstract

ABSTRACT International graduate employability is critical to host universities’ positioning in the education export market, internationalisation agenda and ethical responsibility to international students and alumni. However, little is known about the positioning and re-positioning of international graduates in their home labour market. This article responds to this critical gap in the literature by drawing on in-depth interviews with 30 Vietnamese graduates from Australian universities who have returned to their home country since 2015. The qualitative data were interpreted through the innovative conceptual framework combining Bourdieu’s forms of capital and Harré’s positioning theory. The study found the emergence of three distinctive positionings of Vietnamese returning graduates: the explorer, the advancer and the adventurer. Based on the empirical findings, the study contributes to the literature on graduate employability by showing that labour market navigation is an ongoing interaction between initial capitals and continued accumulation of capitals, which play a critical role in determining returnees’ positioning and repositioning in the market. The findings of the study provide important implications for returning graduates as well as host universities and home employers to provide effective support for this cohort to enhance their employability and facilitate their access to the home labour market.