Protesting Employability: Conditions that Shape International Students’ Transitions from US, UK, and Germany Universities to Employment

• In Event: Student Agency and Multiple Voices in Student Mobility

Proposal

Background
From a critical realist and postcolonial angle, my paper explores the underlying socio-cultural mechanisms driving international students' decisions and actions when transitioning from university to employment. For international students coming from the Global South (Asia, Africa, and Latin America), studying in a university in the Global North (US/UK/Germany) requires not only multiple steps of actions involving a lot of money, effort, and time, it places them in a consistent state of uncertainty and identity struggle from systemic racism, insecurity, and structural integration. This research utilizes Homi Bhabha's (2004) concept of 'third space' or 'hybridity' and Roy Bhaskar's (1989) critical realist 'stratified ontology' to rethink international students' employability and provide an alternative perspective to understand the realities of international student path to employment. The findings present the conditions that enabled students to transition to the workplace and the underlying narratives behind the complex structure-agency interplays in their transitions.

While initiatives have been implemented to support student employment, the focus on graduate employability has neglected international students' challenges in benefiting equally from their higher education. These challenges include obtaining work authorizations, paying immigration fees (Gopal, 2022), reintegrating into their home country's structures (Li, 2012), and adapting to a job market with shifting requirements (Clarke, 2008; Bridgestock, 2017). The uncertainties surrounding international students' transition experiences have prompted this research. This paper is written based on my doctoral dissertation research that explores the internal conversations of international students during this phase and proposes alternative paths to facilitate their career transitions.

Theoretical Framework
By merging social realist theory, a critical realist perspective, and post-colonial theories, in this study, I offer an alternative path to disrupt dominant power structures that have overemphasized ways of thinking about employability, particularly one that overemphasizes what students can or cannot achieve through their skills, but more towards the underlying barriers that they need to navigate. This study draws on how the international education experience limits or influences their transition as they negotiate their culture and identity in the space of in-betweenness (Bhabha, 1994). Using Archer's Morphogenetic Approach (1995), I consider structuralist and individualistic perspectives on social change in higher education. Incorporating student agency in the study of higher education is not a new approach, as it has previously been conducted by researchers, such as Case (2013), who has previously followed the morphogenetic cycle to research student learning in higher education. This research similarly uses a similar approach but more specifically to explore international students' reflexive narratives in their transition to work.

Methods
This paper combines a comprehensive literature review, critical theories, and empirical qualitative data. It reflects on semi-structured interviews of 23 international students collected from participants from various Asian, African, and Latin American countries who have previously transitioned to full-time employment after studying in the Global North, either by staying in the host country of their university or returning to their home country. After the recorded interviews were transcribed and uploaded to Atlas.ti, a coding system was built to systematically assign codes to specific portions of the text, ensuring consistency and traceability throughout the analysis. This uncovers underlying themes associated with the phenomena. Using both Abductive and Retroductive analysis with Atlas.ti, the research explores alternative explanations and the generation of new hypotheses. Reliability and validity were ensured through member-checking and follow-ups post-interviews to ensure the accuracy and improve the richness of the narratives. These narratives were also triangulated with other documents collected throughout the fieldwork, such as recruitment postings, university documents, news articles, researchers' fieldnotes, and resources shared by participants.

Emerging Findings
Analysis revealed that international students felt disadvantaged and segregated by the recruitment and work authorization system after graduation. Challenges included employers' reluctance to hire international students due to additional administrative work and universities' limited support in navigating work authorization processes. The authorization process was described as complex and emotionally draining, leading to feelings of career entrapment. Many students were reluctant to return to their home countries due to the transformative impact of their university experiences. Themes such as compromising qualifications for income, code-switching, questioning a sense of belonging, and negotiating one's identity emerged from the narratives. Those who decided to return home do so to give back to their communities, but the narratives show that their degrees abroad can work both ways. It can give them opportunities, but it can also draw them back. The complexity of the transitions shows that their career paths become less manageable than those who took the beaten path and studied in their home countries.

Practical Implications and Discussions
A highlighted theory that has emerged and is currently being developed suggests that the preparation for international students' career transitions does not begin during their final two years of university. Instead, the starting point is right from the moment they choose their field of study and career direction, as these decisions directly impact the type of work authorization they will receive. In the US, limited time forces students to apply to any available opportunity rather than choosing a career based on their degree. In the UK, stability is uncertain even after finding a job due to the lack of guarantee for permanent placement sponsorship and the risk of being let go in budget cuts. These circumstances threaten equality and justice for opportunities. Moreover, students who decided to return home present how their 'hybridity' are constantly activated as their academic training has not always translated effectively to their work. They agree that their experience was meaningful, but they often needed to 'step back' and reassess their methods to be successful in the culture that they were raised in.

Conclusion
The research highlights the struggle for stability among international students and emphasizes the need for an alternative career path that goes beyond job fitness. It proposes hybridity and reflexivity as critical elements for international students to solidify their career identities. Rethinking the role of universities can potentially liberate students in their career paths and provide equal opportunities for success and belonging.

Author

• Rizqarossaa Darni, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge