Abstract
This chapter explores how Lao returnee graduates cope with transitions into the local labor market to attain employment opportunities and outcomes. Thirty-eight graduates who completed their studies abroad in Asia and returned to Laos were invited to participate in the current research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to capture their employment status, education-to-work transition experiences, and career-related challenges. Findings showed that international education had a positive influence on returnees’ transitions and employment outcomes, which was facilitated by social relationships. It was also found that the employability of returnees was shaped by Laos’s economic position and relations with individuals’ host country of study abroad. However, returnees tended to experience job mismatches due to limited prior work experience, deliberate mismatch, and socio-cultural influence. These results hold implications for graduates to make their study abroad sojourn more meaningful and for relevant stakeholders to facilitate and empower returnees to apply their expertise in home contexts effectively.
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Sisavath, S. (2023). Journey from Higher Education to Employment Among Returnee Graduates in Laos. In: Singh, J.K.N., Latiner Raby, R., Bista, K. (eds) International Student Employability. Knowledge Studies in Higher Education, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33254-8_4
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