“We Are Back”: Reverse Culture Shock Among Saudi Scholars After Doctoral Study Abroad

Miriam Alkubaidi,Nesreen Alzhrani

doi:10.1177/2158244020970555

Abstract

The experiences of individuals returning to the most conservative countries from abroad are not being recorded. The present study explores how Saudi scholars working in the higher education sector readjust and reconnect to their workplace after completing their doctoral scholarships abroad. The study has adopted a narrative approach and used the transformational learning theory to account for reverse culture shock. Six assistant professors (three males and three females) from three Saudi universities were recruited and they underwent 30- to 50-min-long semi-structured in-depth interviews. The data were analyzed through thematic analysis and the developed themes included emotional adaptation to home culture, adaptation to their work in their home culture, adaptation of families to home culture, and reentry coping mechanisms. The results depicted how the participants readjusted to their context after extended study abroad. They returned with new identities shaped by their life and education abroad and by their exposure at university to people from different cultural backgrounds. They had also become used to a more comfortable lifestyle in their host countries. The study concludes that there is a need to prepare and organize programs that could assist Saudi new returnees to readjust and reconnect to their context again. Moreover, it would be useful in helping universities prioritize their staff’s well-being and design rehabilitative courses for new returnees helping them integrate into their workplace.

Highlights

In 2005, King Abdullah’s Scholarship Program launched and allowed many Saudi students to travel abroad
From 2005 to 2012, a total of more than 7,000 doctoral students traveled to the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia, with many of these students returning to continue their work at Saudi universities (Saudi Arabia Ministry of Higher Education, 2016)
This is because the cultural practices in Saudi Arabia differ from those practiced abroad

Summary

Introduction

In 2005, King Abdullah’s Scholarship Program launched and allowed many Saudi students to travel abroad. The main objective of sending these students abroad was to make them globally competitive and enrich their experience This helps them to contribute toward the development of Saudi Arabia, given the limited number of graduate programs in the country (Yakaboski et al, 2017). The change in perceptions and lifestyle varies based on their years of living abroad, age, and cultural differences; it is common that what was perceived as normal and natural before they left was perceived to be strange upon returning (Gu & Schweisfurth, 2015). This is because the cultural practices in Saudi Arabia differ from those practiced abroad. Saudi women in particular face a struggle as they return to their conservative home country where restrictions are imposed on them

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion