Graduates returned to Vietnam re-adaptation and re-integration

At the same time, in many forum of foreign students, when forum members discussed about the choice of staying in foreign countries or coming back to Vietnam, returned graduates and stude

Vietnam National University of Hanoi College of Social Sciences and Humanities

PHAM NGOC YEN

GRADUATES RETURNED TO VIETNAM: RE-ADAPTATION AND RE-INTEGRATION

Graduation master thesis in Sociology

Hanoi 2010

Vietnam National University of Hanoi College of Social Sciences and Humanities

PHAM NGOC YEN

GRADUATES RETURNED TO VIETNAM: RE-ADAPTATION AND RE-INTEGRATION

Major: Sociology Code: 60.31.30

GRADUATION MASTER THESIS IN SOCIOLOGY

Academic advisor:

Asso.Prof.Dr Nguyen Quy Thanh

Hanoi 2010

Table of contents

Acknowledgements 5

Chapter 1: Introduction 6

1 Rationale 6

2 Research objectives and research questions 8

Chapter 2: Study design and methodology 9

1 Study design 9

2 Sampling and sample 10

3 Data collection 11

4 Delimitation and limitations of the study 13

4.1 Delimitation 13

4.2 Limitations 13

Chapter 3: Literature review 15

Chapter 4: Theoretical perspective 19

1 Definitions of core concepts 19

2 Theoretical framework 22

Chapter 5: Findings - What we learn from experiences of foreign graduates returned to Vietnam 29

1 Advantages and challenges for returned graduates 29

2 “Torn between two homes” – emotions and feelings of returners 31

3 Students abroad - Stranger at home 36

4 Choosing the career –“Lets’ go and bring back” 45

5 The question of change 50

Chapter 6: Discussion 59

1 Challenges towards graduates returned to Vietnam 59

2 The answer for integration 66

Chapter 7: Conclusion and implications 70

1 Conclusions 70

2 Implications 72

Reference 73

Annex 1: Questionnaire 76

List of tables and figures

Chart 1: Advantages from external environemt to returned graduates 29

Chart 2: Personal advantages of returned graduates 30

Chart 3: Problems of returned graduates 30

Chart 4: Issues related to families of returned graduates 37

Chart 5: Issues related to socio-culture of returned graduates 41

Chart 6: Issues related to work of returned graduates 46

Chart 7: Employers of returned graduates (who got a job) - Unit % 49

Chart 8: Coping strategies expressed through activities 51

Figure 1: U-Curve of cultural adjustment 22

Figure 2: W-Curve of cultural adjustment 24

Figure 3: Coping strategy model 26

Table 1: Demographic characteristics of sample 10

Table 2: Influencing factors towards returners‟ problems during re-entry 31

Acknowledgements

This study is very special to me because it was inspired by my own experience! I learned a lot during the time of conducting this study and writing this report The first person I would like to express my sincere thanks and deep gratitude is my supervisor – Prof.Nguyen Quy Thanh He was going along with me from the very start of the study His belief, patience, care and his support always encouraged me

to overcome my difficulties to finish this study His broad and deep knowledge in various fields gave me inspiration, ideas and invisibly guided me to different interesting aspects of the topic that I focus on this thesis

By conducting this study, I had chance to meet and listen from a lot of admirable people They are all excellent graduates from international education environment Many of them have contributed their ideas to my study design To students graduated from the US, I would love to thank them for sharing with me their experiences of their life which might include many optimistic viewpoints and many hurting stories I admire their wills in life, their talent in study and their dreams I believe that their contributions are uncountable to Vietnam’s development

This study was done and this thesis was written in a period of my transitional time, which is not only happy but also painful with so many events coming to my life During that time, without the support from my dearest husband, my two families and close friends, I would give up and never go on with this study

Finally, I would spend this final line in the preface to say sorry for every mistake that I got in this study I highly appreciate every comment of you!

Chapter 1: Introduction

1 Rationale

Studying abroad has becoming familiar to almost everyone in Vietnam, especially people in big cities Never before do we see so many students study abroad like these days! In 1970s and 1980s, only outstanding pupils and students can study abroad At that time, they went to Russia and other Eastern Europe by scholarships Nowadays, there is a wider range of countries, study programs and groups of people who can study abroad The increase in the number of students studying abroad can be explained by the globalization trend in Vietnam Chances for students to go abroad are plenty Various Government, organizations, and schools are providing scholarships for students coming from low-income countries, including Vietnam, which gave excellent students opportunities to go on with the study despite their lack of money The government of Vietnam has also provided scholarships to Vietnamese students to go abroad for a higher standard education through scholarship source named 322 On another side of the picture, Vietnam has developed relatively fast for the last ten years The GDP per capita has reached over 1,000$, estimated to be 1,200$ at the end of 2010 (Website CPV, 2010) Many rich families invest in their children’s education, rather than other businesses Given that going to university in Vietnam is so important, many families put all efforts to provide their children with best education environment and the degree that is considered to lead them to a better future

According to the annual report Open Doors 2009 of International Institute of Education (IIE), the number of Vietnamese students in American colleges and universities is estimated to reach 13,000 With the exact number of 12,893 students in the United State (US), Vietnam is one of the top 15 countries to have biggest number of students in the US It has been a huge change, if we compare to 1,587 students studying in the US in 1998, and 6,036 in 2006 Counted to 2009, from 1998 to 2008, it is estimated to have 50,000 Vietnamese students going to the

US to study Most of them studied business administration, information

technology and natural sciences in California, West Virginia, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming The US is one of the best choices because of the fame in qualified education and open lifestyle of the social environment that created big attraction to students (International Institute of Education, 2009)

While discussion topics about their study, their life and their choices continue to

be paid attention, little information about the process of integration of graduates has been discussed about At the same time, in many forum of foreign students, when forum members discussed about the choice of staying in foreign countries or coming back to Vietnam, returned graduates and students studying in US have got ebulliently raised their ideas about life of coming back Those stories have not got the agreed solution, but the choices are various based on individuals’ decisions and thoughts Vietnamese context has been mentioned generally based on individuals’ own opinions and attitudes Life of returned graduates has not been provided adequate information Furthermore, the process of individuals’ active re-adaptation and reintegration was rarely mentioned Those topics will be the focal points of this study

Topics related to re-adaptation and reintegration of returned graduates has been studied by many scholars Previous international studies focused on describing and analyzing difficulties of returned graduates (Brabant et al., 1990, Adler, 1976, Gama and Pederson, 1977, Goodwin and Nacht, 1984, Klineberg and Hull, 1979, Brislin and Van Buren, 1986) Some studies only described various problems during re-entry process of returners, while some others analyzed environmental contexts and some demographic as independent factors influence the process of reintegration Many studies explored the cultural shock of the re-acculturation process of returned graduates (Gullahorn and Gullahorn, 1963, Denney and Eckert, 1987) In Vietnam, acculturation is also the topic that gained deep analysis

in different studies in sociology, psychology and other social sciences However, problems of returned graduates and the ways they deal with their situations is still new in Vietnam Furthermore, by adding the role of agency in the ways returned

graduates deal with their problems, this study is to contribute to understand the complexity of re-adaptation and reintegration of this group

2 Research objectives and research questions

This study is conducted with the aim to understand the process of re-adaptation and reintegration of graduates coming back from foreign countries, their difficulties in that process and the methods they used to overcome them Given that there were a lot of discussions about the choice of staying in Western countries or coming back to Vietnam, this study would add in one aspect of the whole story These experiences will help students who are still in foreign countries

to have a better view of life in Vietnam when/if they come back and prepare for it,

so that they can overcome their difficulties easily and contribute more for the society

The study will focus to answer these following questions:

- What are the advantages and challenges to graduates returned from the US

to re-adapt when they come back to Vietnam?

- What are social components to affect their advantages and challenges in adaptation to Vietnam when they come back?

- How do graduates cope with their difficulties during their re-adaptation and reintegration process when they come back?

Chapter 2: Study design and methodology

1 Study design

This study uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to answer the research questions Three initial in-depth interviews with returned graduates were conducted as the first step for brainstorming It was aimed to collect information about their life and their experiences when they came back to Vietnam These interviews are complemented by discussions found in forums of students studying abroad and graduates Based on their stories, a framework on their advantages, difficulties and causes of their problems were built Afterward, scientific articles were reviewed and compared with findings of the initial interviews to get a new approach for the study

The survey was conducted with students reached through convenient and snow ball sample The data on students going abroad is little and hard to access I can only access to the list of students who have gone abroad by VEF scholarship and a list receiving scholarship of Population Council (which include students returned from different countries so filtering has to be done through telephone and e-mails) Thereafter, the selection of respondents is snow ball This is helpful as graduates often join in their groups, especially when they have just come back from the US Besides, the donors to provide scholarships also created chances for graduates to meet when possible, so that they can share their ideas about the study environment while graduates have other thousands of different purposes to join in those programs Moreover, given that those two scholarships are only for students to gain master degree or PhD, snow ball was the only way we used to access students who study from BA level

The survey was conducted at the same time with more literature review, other depth interviews, and observations During this period, in-depth interviews were more focused into topics which have been chosen for the purpose of elaborating ideas given in the survey In sum, quantitative and qualitative complemented each other during the study Qualitative data was collected before the survey for

in-brainstorming and designing the study, and it was done after the survey to elaborate the findings

Data analysis was done through SPSS

2 Sampling and sample

The difficulty in defining the sample frame made it impossible to make the data collected in this study useful for generalizing the results I used convenient sample

by collecting list of returned graduates from several scholarship donors Snow ball was used more frequently in reaching respondents

In the initial proposal, I tried to find 200 students coming back from the US to conduct the study However, during the process of finding these students, it was hard to have 200 students I have sent out 175 questionnaires and received 128 back (73%) One of the most popular reasons is that they refused to response due

to their busy schedule (as their statement)

The refusal has its own characteristics: Male is more likely to answer the questionnaires I also have more chance to work with returned students at the age

of 1980s, than the younger or the older groups My initial informants were taken from the list of people who received scholarships; therefore, I had more chances to work with master and PhD students who are easier to have scholarships Many returners also confirmed that they returned because they finished PhD and they had no chances or no reasons to stay in the US

My sample can be described through gender and age as below:

Table 1: Demographic characteristics of sample

Full scholarship 69 (54%) Partial scholarship 6 (4.7%) Age of going study

abroad

<18 years old 8 (6.25%) 18-23 years old 27 (21.1%) 23-30 years old 61 (47.65%) More than 30 years old 32 (25%) Duration of study 12 – 24 months 20 (15.6%)

24 – 40 months 46 (35.9%)

> 40 months 62 (48.43%)

3 Data collection

Methods used in the study are as below:

 Literature review with scientific papers, including books, article journals, workshop papers

 Review of forums and discussions of students who have been or being in foreign countries, especially US have been reviewed Two main forums that were followed up are VietPhD.org and Vietabroader.org Their ideas have helped in brainstorming the study, and elaborated the findings

 Survey by e-mails: 175 questionnaires have been sent to students returned from the US When the survey is conducted through e-mails, telephone calls are used to remind respondents and follow up their answers 3 calls for maximum will be conducted to follow up when questionnaires were not sent back Reasons of denial to join in the study have been asked and

can be seen as one finding of the findings (Please see more in Findings)

 Observations: 5 home visits to respondents’ homes were conducted with a structured observation form filled in after the visits Observations at the working environment and their working style were conducted but have free observation guide

 In-depth interview: 10 in-depth interviews were conducted In most of the cases, interviews were conducted in chosen café where respondents feel comfortable to share their experiences and feelings A few interviews were done at their homes, and they were more effective when both the husband and wife are students graduated from foreign countries (or the USA)

 Forum discussion: I have posted a topic to one forum for students studying in US and returners from US to ask for their opinions about the integration and re-adaptation of returners The topic is named “After graduation, coming back and then what?” in VietPhD.org Thirty four members have followed the topic and 18 responses have been provided I have contacted some of them for further discussions (shown in in-depth interviews)

Analysis

Quantitative data was analysed by SPSS software In the survey, the Likert scale is used for respondents to evaluate the level of difficulties and the advantages that they have gained

In question 1, respondents are asked to assess their difficulties The measurement from 0 to 4 is used for a list of problems (given that 0 is for the lowest level and 4

is the highest level) to understand more about the levels of seriousness of problems 0 means “no problem”, 1 means “slight serious”, 2 means “average or

no idea”, 3 means “serious” and 4 means “very serious” Mean of the score will be calculated for further analysis on the seriousness of each problem and for each group of problems

In question 2, respondents are asked to assess their advantages The measurement from 0 to 4 is used for a list of advantages to assess the level of advantages in terms of quantity and quality 0 means “not an advantage”, 1 means “slight advantage”, 2 means “average or no idea”, 3 means “big advantage” and 4 means

“great advantage” Also, mean of the score will be calculated to see what the biggest advantages of returned graduates through their assessment are

4 Delimitation and limitations of the study

4.1 Delimitation

This study only examined experiences of the USA’s graduates back to Vietnam in terms of re-adaptation and reintegration, and had no chance to compare the issues with graduates coming back from other countries My respondents were limited to people who came back to Vietnam for the last 5 years and now staying in the home country Experiences of graduates who came back to Vietnam and left again

to foreign countries have not been included in the study Therefore, the findings of the study will need to be accessed with consideration of the study delimitation

4.2 Limitations

The study consists into itself a lot of limitations due to the ability and resources of the researcher Above all, the quantitative data used in this study is only to provide description of the issues, but the real meaning of statistical aspect As I have mentioned above, I could hardly find the information source with data on students returned from the US The process of surveying the questionnaires, we have seen a lot of rejection from participants When my supporting data collector called, many

of them have refused to join in the survey due to their busy schedule Some of them may change their mind when I call, because of my personal relationship with some groups of graduates Still, at the same time, they advised me to give up the study “because I have another better diploma already”

This study only focused on the returned graduates, so many problems of returned graduates which were raised in the findings might also occur with several

studying abroad to advantages and problems of returners needs further analysis when there is comparison between a controlled group and group of returners are done In this study, due to the limited resource and time, I did not provide that comparison for a better assessment to the impact of studying abroad to returners Also, there are many other social factors which facilitate the problems of returners but were not measured in this study I fully recognize these limitations of the study and hope that the study will be expanded in the future to cover them

The study might also have limitation due to my personal experiences in terms of studying abroad I used to study abroad and have several ideas on the process of coming back to Vietnam My integration experiences have partly influenced the ideas of some participants while I conducted the interviews, and also put a little guidance for my analysis At the same time, as I have shown, the quantitative data

is not qualified enough to be representative

I realized all of these limitations during the time I conducted the study I have put efforts to enrich my data by my in-depth interviews and observations I also tried

to ignore my own feelings when I conducted interviews so that I can concentrate

on respondents’ stories and provide objective evaluations Although I hardly say that I was totally successful in getting rid of all the limitations in this study, I believe that this study can help other scholars to have a better view on cultural integration in an Asian society in Vietnam during the period of so much change, and also examine the idea of agency in a culture that highly appreciate the community characteristics

Chapter 3: Literature review

Studies on re-entry of students after studying abroad stand the second position of the topic re-entry for all groups Counted to 2010, Szkudlarek has seen more than

150 works including articles, book chapters, conference papers and other publications on the topic of re-entry but none of agreement was made in this study due to the complexity of the problem in different contexts, especially with students coming back home (Szkudlarek, 2010) It can be seen that students coming back from Europe has been paid less attention than from the US, and American students were studied much more than non US foreign student at a social interaction level (Brabant et al., 1990) Still, since 1990 to 2010, two famous scholars have confirmed that research on re-entry generally and about foreign students about their life after they come home has been given little attention, neglected or underestimated (Brabant et al., 1990, Szkudlarek, 2010) In Vietnam, this is still a new topic that has not been studied much

Problems of returned graduates

In one study done by Brabant and colleagues (Brabant et al., 1990), problems of returners were evaluated as not much serious Nonetheless, most studies proved that the readjustment back home is likely to be even more difficult than going abroad in the first place (Gullahorn and Gullahorn, 1963, Brislin and Pederson,

1976, Adler, 1976) Gama and Pederson (1977) even proved that there was less conflict and problems related to family life than professional problems (Noted that this conclusion is applied in a study with only 30 students, therefore it has little statistical meaning) Problems related to work such as adaptation of new skills to the local scene have been described in several studies (Gama and Pederson, 1977, Goodwin and Nacht, 1984, Klineberg and Hull, 1979) Problems with family and friends have also been noted by some researchers (Brislin and Van Buren, 1986) Scholars divided problems that returners have by different categories, but dividing into family and professional problems is the most popular category

Coming back home, returners may find themselves with different values, expectations and behaviours which make them different from people around, that lead them to the need of changing for reintegration (Gullahorn and Gullahorn, 1963) A great majority of them mentioned double standards of morality (Gama and Pederson, 1977) to make them confused, which was called “Torn between two cultures” (Denney and Eckert, 1987) These are the same problems with some other groups in the society, though the expressions can be different

In spite of general acceptance of term (re)culture shock for students coming back from foreign countries, the definition of the phenomenon is not consistent in the literature While Adler (1981) called culture shock as a process of adaptation, Oberg (1960) defined it as a failure to adapt or adjust to a new life

Most studies on re-entry crisis focus mainly on the identification of the problems sojourners experience after they return home (Gama and Pederson, 1977) but paid little concern on how intense or serious returners feel those problems Another

weakness of studies when they showed problems of returners is that they do not compare this group with other groups, that means their conclusions are lack of supportive data to state that it is the problem of returner or it is just a general one coming from any other source

Factors influence the re-adaptation of returned graduates

Both objective and subjective factors can affect the process of re-entry Some people can have more problems or their problems might be more complicated while the others might get the opposite situations In individual level, background variables have been examined, such as age, academic level, gender, social class, nationality, and previous cross-cultural experience of returners have been examined From the perspective of host culture, variables influence graduates could be location and duration of sojourn, degree of interaction with host culture (Szkudlarek, 2010) The size and characteristics of the communities are also seen

as a factor contributing to graduates returned to their countries

Coping strategies

Little but important, coping strategies of students to their re-acculturation challenges has raised more concerns In 1974, a re-entry/transition workshop focusing on re-adaptation has been organized in order to develop “guidelines and recommendations for ways to assist foreign students in the United States to return and fulfil needed roles in their countries of origin” (Marsh, 1975) This workshop gained little achievement for its goal but care for the needs of solutions has been raised Unluckily, until now, none specific solutions have been publicized Gama and Pederson (1977) has tried to fill in the gap by measuring coping skills used to deal with the problems experienced according to the returners’ own perception of coping adequately Coping strategies can be changing attitude or behaviours, for example be patience, tolerance, disregard of norms or it can be trying to implement changes or building a support system…

Literatures have concluded that research investigate the phenomenon of re-entry should be deepened further from various perspective, so that we can apply that knowledge to discover effective coping strategies to be used by sojourners in the re-entry transition (Martin, 1984) This has to be emphasized by one more thing,

“International students are not a homogeneous category with similar characteristics and potential problems Potential problems vary by both region of countries where they come from and countries where they study” (Brabant et al., 1990)

In sum, there are a lot of international articles mentioning about the process of acculturation to a new culture, and the re-entry and re-acculturation of returners Nonetheless, re-entry is still a potential topic for researchers in many fields including sociology It can be seen that most previous studies focused on the problems of re-entry but not the process of learning and re-adapt to the society of returners Although theories have been developed, the coping strategies expressed through activities in daily life has not been paid adequate attention At the same time, the topic is very new in Vietnam, especially for returned graduates By this study, I would like to contribute to fill in the gap of knowledge about this group in Vietnam, and also to add the aspect of returners’ active coping strategies to the topic about re-entry

Chapter 4: Theoretical perspective

1 Definitions of core concepts

1.1 Returners

Students coming back to their countries after studying abroad can be called by many terms, and none research have confirmed which term is the best one, or the full meaning of the word they used Noted that the lack of a consensus term for this group is also a missing part in studies of this field, the groups that I chose to study was called by “sojourner”, “returner”, “expatriate” “returnee”…

In this study, I often call the group of graduates who came back from foreigner countries as “returners” but it does not imply any differences with the word sojourner or returnee My target group is the people who have studied in the US at least one year Therefore, it is not counted for people who have just come to the

US for the short training course, meetings… My group of respondents includes only people who have come back to Vietnam and now staying in Vietnam People who have come back to Vietnam and returned to the US were not reached in this study This has to be noted as they might be a group who has more problems with re-entry

In my study, the term re-entry does not illustrate the “culture shock”, and furthermore, does not only focus on difference in culture as a difficulty for returners I use Nancy Adler’s definition on re-entry for this study According to

Nancy Adler, re-entry is “the transition into one’s home culture after having lived and worked abroad” (Adler, 1976) During that process, they may, or may not have critical attitudes towards the home culture and general emotional withdrawal from interpersonal relationships, which would last from many months to a lifetime (Martin and Harrell, 1996)

Reverse culture shock often happens during the re-entry process Culture shock is

a well-known concept to imply the broad range of emotions which occurs when one is absent from the familiar structure of one’s own culture (Brislin and Yoshida, 1994) Fewer people will be familiar with the experience of reverse culture shock, re-entry shock or re-entry-transition stress These terms refer to the often unanticipated range of emotions and transitional difficulties experienced by sojourners upon returning to their home country While intercultural returners fully expect and anticipate some difficulties in their cultural adaptation; it is uncommon for them to expect difficulty in reentering their home culture (Cushner and Brislin, 1996, Arthur, 2003)

1.3 Re-adaptation/ Reintegration

Adaptation gets the full meaning of the process in which one person adapts with the new conditions Re-adaptation therefore is used for people who have left an environment for a period of time and now come back to it This term was well-known for many studies for immigrants, especially refugees when they come back

to their own countries In studies for refugees, re-adaptation is used to indicate the long process of learning about the society and changing to fit the society Therefore, it implies the process by which people undergo change in form and/or function in response to change in themselves and their environment The process might start from facing with differences, recognizing and understanding the differences and then changing themselves to fit with the demand of the society As graduates returned from studying abroad often have shorter time in other countries, and still get connections with their home country, this term has not been used that much Recently, this term is more often used in natural sciences than in

social sciences, as it does not express the active role of individuals in the process

of adapting with the new conditions I consider re-adaptation as a part of the process of socialization, in which individuals find ways to adapt to social values and norms, so that they can be accepted in that community/society As the time for returners to readapt has not been found, I keep using the term re-adaptation for students graduated from a foreign country

In sociology, integration is a term that is used more often, because it links with the importance of the society, while reducing the idea of “learning culture” in the process of graduates coming back There are at least three different ways of understanding the concept of social integration For some, it is an inclusionary goal, implying equal opportunities and rights for all human beings In this case, becoming more integrated implies improving life chances To others, however, increasing integration has a negative connotation, conjuring up the image of an unwanted imposition of uniformity And, to still others, the term does not necessarily imply either a positive or a negative state It is simply a way of describing the established patterns of human relations in any given society (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 1994) In this study, I take the last definition as the concept to understand the process in which graduates identify the social identities of their countries from different viewpoints to adapt and become part of that society

Therefore, re-adaptation and re-integration has a strong connection First of all, I assume that these two terms imply the cultural diversity, but it does not demand for an imposition of uniformity as some other studies Secondly, these two terms

do not entail the idea of promoting any mainstream in the society Rather, I focus

on the social values and social norms In other words, the idea of socialization will

be my focal point in this study Finally, these two terms do not tend to narrow concentration on the normative goal of social integration - disintegration of existing systems of social relations can be essential before progress toward a more just and equitable society During the process of re-adaptation and re-integration, there would often have cultural adjustment This term has been conceptualized as

a psycho-social process focusing on the attitudinal and emotional adjustment of the individual to a new culture In this study, it is viewed as a social process, whereby the individual integrates into the social interaction of the cultural system (Church, 1982)

2.1 Stage theories and curves of adjustment

According to Martin and Harrell (1996), the early literature on re-entry focused on the social-psychological symptoms that accompanied the returners’ feelings of comfort and satisfaction experienced over time with the home culture Until now,

it has been used to depict the level of adjustment of returners While no research to date has characterized the re-entry process as occurring in discrete stages, phases have been described in terms of the U-curve

Figure 1: U-Curve of cultural adjustment

It can be seen in the curve, scholars have conceptualized the adjustment process as stages or phases which the returners experience (Adler, 1976, Oberg, 1960,

Rhinesmith and Hoopes, 1972, Smalley, 1963, Torbiorn, 1982) Kohls’ (1996) adaptation of Lysgaard’s U curve theory proposed four stages: initial euphoria, irritability, gradual adjustment and adaptation and biculturalism However, there might be different labels that may be used, most researchers include at least a

“honeymoon phase” where the sojourner is excited by the experience, often favourable and uncritical It is followed by a period characterized by confusion or disintegration in confronting new beliefs, values and behaviours During this period, when they have involved in the day-to-day living of the new culture and encounter frustrations, they become confused, depressed and express negative attitudes This emotional state of the returner is depicted as the “bottom” of the U-curve This “culture shock” phase may be marked by withdrawal, confrontation, depression and alienation A final stage is “recovery,” or adjustment, characterized

by increased sensitivity, understanding and appreciation for the host culture This stage marks the success of integration, when returners resolves frustrations, becomes more integrated into the host culture, more accepting and understanding (Casse, 1979)

Research investigating the accuracy of the U-curve hypothesis has not provided conclusive evidence to support it (Coelho, 1958, Deutsch and Won, 1963, Hull,

1978, Klineberg and Hull, 1979, Morris, 1960, Selby and Woods, 1966) The mixed reports have led recent reviewers to conclude that while sojourners can usually identify points in their adjustment as highs and lows of the curve, it is not clear whether the model accurately represents most sojourners experience (Becker,

1968, Brislin, 1981, Spaulding et al., 1976, Torbiorn, 1982) Further research is needed to test the hypothesis as appropriate for acculturation and/or the readjustment process

Gullahorn and Gullahorn (1963) suggest that the re-entry process may be

represented as an extension of the U-curve to the W-shaped curve (see Figure 2) The complete W curve process usually consists of: initial entry into a new country, culture shock, adjustment, returning home, a honeymoon stage, re-entry shock, recovery at home, and adjustment at home (Storti, 1997) This suggestion is based

on their study of U.S scholarship grantees returned to the United States after studying in various countries around the world They suggest that after the rise in adjustment to the host culture, after the sojourner has been socialized into new ways of thinking and behaving, the return home is an emotional “down,” as persons encounter difficulties in readjusting to the home culture This is followed

by a gradual rise in emotional adjustment, as the individual becomes acculturated While the assertion here is that adjustment is better represented as occurring as a process, rather than in discrete phases, the approaches are very similar in the conceptualization of the process which occurs in cultural adjustment

re-Figure 2: W-Curve of cultural adjustment

In this study, to complement to the idea of positive change, I use both U and W models to describe the process of re-adaptation and integration of graduates This

is due to the complexity of the re-adaptation process, and also the variety of integration caused by individuals’ own abilities and situation (see further in the part Agency) Although it seems that the process of adaptation with the foreign country is the same with the re-entry process, in reality, re-entry can be as intense and sometime more challenging than the overseas adjustment (Adler, 1981, Sussman, 2000) Not anticipating this intense experience, the returner is often not prepared for the extent to which they experience confusion and disorientation upon their return to their home culture and environment (Martin and Harrell, 1996)

These models are often used through the lens of socio-psychological research This theory should be complimented with the sociology perspective to be more complete This study follows the subsequent research which looks at traits and discovered that individual background, host environment, and re-entry environment variables influenced the intensity and severity of an individual's re-entry experience (Martin and Harrell, 1996)

2.2 Coping styles

Nancy Adler (1979, 1981) has devoted herself to study the theory of coping styles for reentering people, including students studying abroad come back home Her starting point is the emphasis on potential growth as an important aspect of the re-entry experience Her model is based on Lewin’s (1972) proposition that for growth to occur there must be “unfreezing” an individual awareness of self-change, and an openness to learn from the experience

She posits three styles of coping with re-entry experience (1976) The proactive style reflects the most growth, where the individual sees the uniqueness of the situation of being between two cultures, and is primarily influenced by internal stimuli This was mentioned before as “inner-directed people” (Riesman 1950),

“internal locus of control” (Rotter, 1966) In contrast to the proactive style, there are two reactive styles for coping with re-entry: alienated and resocialized Alienated reenterers have a high need for external validation (similar to “other-directed people,” Riesman 1950; “external locus of control,” Rotter 1966), and fail

to recognize the uniqueness of being between two cultures They react negatively

to the home environment and experience little growth Resocialized reenterers also have a high need for external validation and fail to value the uniqueness of the transition period However, they respond positively to the home environment, try

to fit back into the culture, and therefore experience a period of adjustment, rather than growth (Adler, 1976)

In 1981, Nancy Adler completed her theory through the research on Americans and Canadians returning home after several years abroad and found a matrix into

which most returning sojourners fall This time, she posits a fourth style of coping, the rebellious reenterer who, like the alienated type, rejects the home environment, but who acts aggressively, rather than passively, against the home environment Thereafter, the matrix is defined by two dimensions: optimism or pessimism and passivity or activity The four types of coping styles defined by the scheme (below right) are resocialized, alienated, rebellious and proactive They are described by

Jacque Behrens in her book on Looking Forward, Looking Backward (1986) as

follows:

 The resocialized students wholly readjust to their home culture rather than incorporate the experiences from their travels abroad They remove themselves from their foreign experience

 The alienated person rejects the home environment and consequently fails

to continue to grow from the foreign experience

 The rebellious type reacts to the home environment by trying to control it and change it in unrealistic ways

 The proactive individual is one who grows from the foreign experience even after returning home and maximizes learning

Figure 3: Coping strategy model

in Adler, Nancy J “Re-entry: Managing Cross-Cultural Transitions,” Group and Organization Studies, 1981, 6(3)

2.3 Agency and (re)adaptation

The term “Socialization” is used in this study with the full meaning of it, emphasizing that it is not a passive process in which individuals learn about social values/norms Agency is a concept contributing to the other side of socialization, which means that individuals are active in choosing their ways of re-adaptation and reintegration Individuals can be seen as social actors, and have minds to analyze socio-cultural elements around them They choose what to learn and what not from the society, in order to keep balance with the existing value system that gained before This is also the process in which role conflict or value conflict occur strongly, create difficulties of individuals to choose their own ideas, attitudes and behaviours

Components of agency, such as self-protection concerns, efficacy beliefs, and moral responsibility values, were found to facilitate social action in modem Western societies Social action, in turn, enables citizens to acquire rights and resources that facilitate their participation in work and the community Accordingly, agency as well as communion, are necessary for citizens to establish the requirements for participation in modern and technologically-advanced

societies

Individualism is associated with agency, which is another term often used for individualism (see e.g., Bakan, 1966) Agency is a mode of human functioning that involves self-concern, self-protection, self-determination, self-efficacy, and an instrumental approach to the environment, whereas communion involves focus on one’s connections, obligations, and relationships with others (Bakan, 1966, Helgeson, 1994) In the present paper agency is conceptualized in a more limited way, as an active and instrumental orientation to the environment (Reykowski, 1994)

Agency, however, need not include a socially isolated person or an encapsulated self that is separated from others in the community Aspects of individualism may

indeed make people competitive and aggressive However, in a competitive society, agency is necessary for adaptation In modern Western societies, components of agency, including self-protection concerns, efficacy beliefs, and moral responsibility values are necessary for social action and for the acquisition

of rights and resources (Horvath, 1998) That idea applies well to graduates returned to Vietnam with the strong opinion about individualism

In the re-entry process, graduates’ social attitudes and values may be incorporated into the self when they are congruent with personal goals and values (see review

by Markus & Cross, 1990) The result is that they become more concerned with social and community issues Agency can be the means for the attainment of connection to both the physical and social environments It can facilitate graduates’ participation in a complex community According to the theory above, agency beliefs regulate the nature of the interaction of the person with the environment (Bandura, 1978, Bandura, 1986) Self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations regulate functional relationships between actions and outcome events Agency orientations imply an instrumental approach to the world with an emphasis on control They are concerned with the effect of the person on social and physical objects Communal orientations are concerned with relations, commonalities, and obligations of the person to others and of others to the person Communal orientations have an approach based on social interests It is easy to see that communal orientations function to connect the person to the social environment However, agentic orientations can also function to connect returners

to the physical and social world, although perhaps in a more indirect manner

In this paper I will elaborate on the role of agency in the process of change awareness, plan building and decision making to ensure the efficiency of re-adaptation and reintegration It is certainly analyzed in the context of a dynamic interplay among diverse person and environmental factors (Stokols, 1992) Both communion and agency assist the person to adapt to the environment

Chapter 5: Findings - What we learn from experiences of foreign graduates returned to Vietnam

“After all of our exploration we will return to the place we started and know it

for the first time.” T.S Elliot

-1 Advantages and challenges for returned graduates

This study has pointed out that graduates have a lot of advantages when they came back from the US to Vietnam The advantages can be from external environment, such as family, friends and the society Having a chance to study abroad, they were highly appreciated by both family and their community and therefore, gained many opportunities in developing careers The society has also changed and fit more with their expectations Besides, returners got good sentiments from people

at home

Chart 1: Advantages from external environment to returned graduates

Their advantages in work is the most important thing that they have when they came back Returners recognized their abilities in getting a good job with high salary They also think that they have good skills in adapting with changing life It can also find that returners gave higher scores for their advantages than their difficulties This can be a good sign to see that returners in Vietnam can readapt

1.8 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.6 3.0

VN developed like other countries

Have good friends for sharing Families try to adapt with returners

Good companies to work for Have network of returners Returners are appreciated in VN

Being loved by family

Chart 2: Personal advantages of returned graduates

On the other hand, they had some problems that made their re-adaptation and reintegration process slower and more difficult They are not getting used to the family, culture life and social environment Problems which can be occurred due

to differences from friends can be seen as the lightest ones Problems in psychology, family, social environment and work seem to have similarity in terms

of seriousness level It is only remarkable that problems in social environment and

culture take the highest score in the problems

Chart 3: Problems of returned graduates

1.8 2.4 2.8 2.9

3.8

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 Short time in abroad

Regularly updated info at home

Be psychological prepared before

returning Good ability in integration Have capacities for good jobs

To review the advantages and difficulties of returners, it is important to answer the question on how returners deal with them More importantly, it helps to see how

we can make use of people who have gained knowledge, skills and new ideas about positive changes.

These difficulties were influenced by both geographic and environmental factors Correlation between some factors and these problems can be seen in the below table

Table 2: Correlation between several factors and returners‟ problems during entry

Psychological issues

Family issues

Cultural issues

Work issues Age of leaving VN -.329* -.344* -.276* -.120

2 “Torn between two homes” – emotions and feelings of returners

Before coming back to Vietnam, psychological state of graduates which was expressed through the feelings of anxiety has almost no significant problems The medium score for the issue “worried to come home” is just 1.31 According to the scale mentioned in the Section Method, it is around the level of “slight serious” Graduates do not worry much about the return and did not expect to have difficulties during re-entry Returners are often worried about their career because all the newspapers, journals and forums are spending too much concentration

about that topic Questions often raised are around the jobs they will take in future, amount of money they can get when they come back, and working environment they will be in Most of them confessed their worry is the ability to have an

expected working environment and high salary

Returners do not recognise that they might have psychological influences due to cultural shock, or difficult social adaptation Often, all the returners think that they are coming back home when they get in the flights back to Vietnam Even when several graduates shared their problems with others in forums, they might receive not only sympathy and understanding, but also the critics if they said about not being able to adapt to home Despite all of those experiences, other graduates do have little preparation for the cultural shock or all the differences they have when they come back to Vietnam

Before coming back, their images about life in Vietnam is that they will be with their family again They can also see their advantages of having knowledge, skills and experiences in another country when they get back They believe they understand Vietnam’s culture and society well enough for re-integration The story

of differences often starts when their plane landed in Vietnam, lead them to another environment and different climate Almost all of them start to feel annoyed by the pollution despite where they studied before It is just the initial feelings until it is becoming one of the most exasperated problems of many returners, because it makes them sick more often All the respondents that I talked with mentioned about air pollution as the first thing they feel annoyed when they come back home

“Maybe I have acquainted with the weather, the climate in Boston, but maybe because it is more and more polluted here everyday I feel hard to get used to that

I lost 4kg after 3 months coming back and have not gained any more weight since then I got sick all the time, though I try to keep my same eating when I was in the

US I think it is because of the pollution…” (female, 27y/o)

The environment has a close linkage with the idea of quality of life that returners did not aware of when they come back Although it might not be very close with psychological issues, in fact, it affected strongly their emotions The way they adapted that issue is annoying, and it is worse because they cannot do anything with that fact It is also one of the reasons for the nostalgia emotion with the US that occurred after a period of being happy with the family The average score for nostalgia feeling is 2.4 Their feelings are not so serious but it is significant in their life

“It is sad to see all of my friends to enjoy the fall in Philadelphia It is beautiful, but more than that, I don‟t know what to say You know, it is just amazing with all the yellow leaves… And I miss it, I miss the beautiful time to be with friends there, having BBQ and so on…” (male, 25y/o)

“Home is where the heart is”! That is a very common saying, which was mentioned by several returners Being in a place for a long time, gaining thousands of unique experiences and memories there, getting friends and even lovers, coming back to Vietnam- a real home of many graduates have been considered as a long goodbye with another home The psychological process is not the same for everyone

Talking about emotional constraints, some returned graduates have showed their sorrow when they have to leave the place where they used to live About one fourth of graduates do not miss the US when they left that country, but the others still miss the life that they have been familiar with after a period of time adapting with that life The emotions and feelings are spent for every experience they have gained, but not only “a place” As it is emotions, it is hard to describe, to understand and to point out exactly what it is, but it still exists Many of them missed the days of being students with few responsibilities, too much passion, too many ambitions and beautiful dreams Coming back home, going to work, they think they missed the US, but in fact, they missed their life in US – a life of a student

“This evening, I watched TV, after a long time watching no TV at all It was a program about tourism, they introduced Madrid, Athens After watching it, I cried terribly Two years passed by since I came back to Vietnam, only 3 or 4 times to ask myself whether my choice to come back was right The rest of my time, I was blown by the rollercoaster of the life and I have almost no time for thinking… And like tonight, I miss those days (study aborad) That was the time of shopping, traveling, and full of happiness there Now, all I have to think about is to earn money for a house, for a car, then more money for a better house, a better car… What is called “stable life”! (female, 33y/o)

The nostalgia feeling of returners is not only about a place, but their life in the US They were students with little worries and responsibilities and were free in a place that they had only a few relationships Coming back to Vietnam, they are in more positions with different roles The role constraints and pressure of expectations made them overwrought with the life in Vietnam Remember the life they got in the US in some situations can relief them from problems of daily life

Normally, the intensity of feeling does not occur strongly at the first six months after returning The nostalgia feeling in them was created at the next 3-6 months, when the “honeymoon” finishes, and the need of integration developed to maximum That is when many graduates stop the period of relaxing after studying abroad, enjoying the happiness of coming back with families, old friends and many of them even spend time for travelling as a reward for their hard job they have done In this study, I divided into some time group, but through qualitative data, it was found that 6 months is a long time that consist a lot of big change 3 months can be seen as a better point to show the change After 3 months, graduates started to miss the days they had in the US

Some returners connected the emotion of nostalgia with the feeling of lost They felt they were strangers at their homes, and think about the host country more than home country To some people, the feeling of lost can be strengthened or reduced

by other factors, not excluding the way people response to life events To be busy

with a new job, a new life situation can be a motivation for returners to concentrate on their new roles and forget the life they used to have when they were in foreign countries, while some others feel frustrated and would want to leave Vietnam In other words, it is the ability of integration created different emotions to returners

At first, I really miss the place where I lived in the US, but then everything became just fine Finally, we are Vietnamese and we have been living here for a long time,

it is not logistic if you said you cannot get familiar with it You need some time, but then it is just fine Do not over expect, that is the most important advice I would give to all of you (male, 34y/o)

People who have got married have less psychological problems than single people

It is expressed through the indicator of emotion of nostalgia Unmarried group of returners assessed their nostalgia feeling more serious than the married ones While married people scored the item “Missing the US” as 1.2 (likely to be “slight serious”), unmarried people scored it as 2.1 (average) This can be caused by two reasons Firstly, they often belong to the older age group, so they can manage their emotions better Secondly, they have more stable emotions, with greater family support While single people have more choices, such as staying in foreign countries (for further study), travelling, or keep the chances open to leave or stay

in Vietnam, married people tend not to change Married people tend to delineate, explain by words their positions and even their emotions Therefore, they are not

as much confused with the return as others Unexpectedly, the year staying in the

US is not directly proportional with the feelings of missing to host country

The data showed that psychological problems are not well-recognized by returners Through qualitative data, the main reason is that the returners are too busy with so many events that lead them to have less time for feelings On the other hand, people who come back to Vietnam still have the idea of coming home They come back with families, friends, with their language and their communities Before recognizing the differences, their feelings are pretty good and positive As

time passed by, feelings and emotions are created more by social events, their new job, and their new situations Psychological problems have a broader view than the idea of missing a “home far-away from home”1 It is the combination of the wonders, worries, disappointment or loss of connection to the community they have come back This problem often occurs in a period of time, and returners would rather think of it as an element of outside situations rather than their own psychology Therefore, it will be continued to analyze in the following parts when

we talk about cultural shock or the wonders about careers of returners arise

3 Students abroad - Stranger at home

“One night before coming back to Vietnam, I surprisingly realized that the time I spent in Vietnam is less than in the US I said I came home, but where should be called home?” (male, 35y/o) Many people like this person feel confused about the

identity after a long time living in the US They usually have shortage of awareness about Vietnam society and culture, especially when they did not maintain frequent contact with people in Vietnam At that time, we can call their problems both reverse cultural shock and cultural shock

Reverse cultural shock is one of the most significant problems of returners, which has been noted in many other studies in the world However, that idea has never been thrown out to reality As I have pointed out above, most returners do not worry about the reintegration process in terms of culture Every one thinks that they are Vietnamese and when they come back, it is just like “a fish in water”

In reality, when they come back, culture appears to be the most significant barrier for them to get along with Though 72% think that they received great love from the family and they appreciated it, the score for their problems in terms of culture

is quite high (2.4) The score is between the level of “average” and “serious” and higher than medium score of other group of problems Culture, therefore, can be considered to be relatively serious among problems of returners This number is also different among different groups and for at different specific problems

Cultural re-adaptation is the most significant issue that raised a lot of discussions

It should be noted the culture in the US is famous as a “melting pot” of various culture Given that our students often stay with other foreign groups including native people, their change in culture is impossible to guess There are few common characteristics of culture that can be applied for returners from the US The most noteworthy distinctiveness is that the American values the freedom, and individualism in their life Meanwhile, the Vietnamese are still affected by the idea

of community with high respect to group decision making All decisions of returners related to job, marriage, family, and social behaviours therefore created a lot of conflicts between returners and people at home

Problems with family life created by different values and daily life get the relatively low score – 1.5 This score shows that the difference in family values is likely to be slightly serious At the same time, the difference in daily life habit created more challenge in re-adaptation process of returners

Chart 4: Issues related to families of returned graduates

Returners have evaluated their problems in families is 1.8 It can be interpreted that the problems of returners in terms of family relationship is now serious Nevertheless, if we focus on the group of students who came abroad early for university degree, the score for this problem is much higher (2.9), which means

Different ideas about family life

Feel to be over controlled to live

in the family Does not accord with other family members on daily life

this is a very serious problem of returners The reason for that is they came abroad when they were very young and was eager to catch on new things, including new life style, family values What they got from it is the idea of freedom, and they even practice it by leading their own life for a long time It is noted that about one third of returners used to contact their family and friends several times a month (32%) Coming back home, returners receive a lot of care from their parents, while they were not getting used to it They have been familiar with solving every thing alone, and do not feel interested in having family members’ advices and exceeded care

- Why don‟t you work in HCMC, it seems that there are more chances for your jobs, and you can stay with your parents?

- Don‟t tell me that The reason why I left HCMC [to Hanoi to work] is that I want to leave my parents It is hard to get used to all the rules in the family

I have stayed there for 5 years and living with parents seems to create all kinds of troubles (laugh) (female, 23y/o)

Females seem to be more affected by the cultural norms than the males when they have scored the idea of “being controlled in the family” as 2.8, while males only score it as 1.2 Problems of women are likely to be much more serious than men’s The problems are much more serious if female graduates live with the parents when they came home

In the US, I live independently I take care of myself, and no matter how my parents care about me, it is just me there I am the one to take care of all the meals, all my schedules are built on my own and I decide everything Sometimes

my parents had some ideas but just for reference When I went home, it is not that Because I am a girl, I have to come home at 10 in the evening I have to get married soon, I have to pretend to be a weak person so that men can be attracted… It is just too much (female, 29y/o)

The reason why females are more affected by families should be recalled by the culture The difference in gender values between the US and Vietnam is

significant Although families of returners are more likely to be modern and easier

to accept new things, they are still strongly affected by Confucian According to that value system, women are expected to be weak, obedient, and family-oriented Many returners who have been familiar with being liberated in their life, deciding everything on their own and being strong in managing their life, cannot meet the demands of their parents when they come back Through in-depth interviews, it can be seen that men often get more sympathy and understanding from parents and people around Both men and women respondents confirmed that men can even get compliments from others for those characteristics, such as independent, strong and decisive

The data also point out that the change in family values is less with people who have got married before they went abroad Their score for this issue is 1.3, which means to be very vaguely serious It can be explained partly because marital people belong to the older group of returners, whose values hardly change Some people highly appreciate the family value of Vietnam and want to preserve it One couple who got married in Vietnam, then both of them came to study abroad said:

Vietnamese families are great We have learned to take care of each others, be faithful, and family is considered the most important thing in our life US families are different I appreciate the value of family in Vietnam, and we decide to come back home because we want our children to be raised in this culture (female, 33y/o)

The different ideas about family values have a big impact on people who have not got married Many of them, especially women find it hard to have a family with people who have not studied abroad

You can see that it is more and more popular for students who studied abroad to get married with a foreigner or a person who used to study abroad too They have the same value in the family Like me, I hardly accept a man who always wants me

to go home early for dinner every day, and he certainly hates a woman like me to

be so independent and strong You know what I mean! Of course, there are a lot of