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A Tale of Sea Turtles: Job-Seeking Experiences of Hai Gui (High-Skilled Returnees) in China

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Abstract

A key feature of contemporary globalization is the increasing mobility of high-skilled talent. While for many countries in the developing world the loss of such individuals represents a longstanding concern, countries such as China have now developed key policies to harness their overseas talent. The article examines the job-seeking experiences of a key group of high-skilled returnees, after taking advanced degrees in Australia, discussing the outcomes in terms of salaries and length of time to secure employment, as well as analysing their advantages and disadvantages relative to their domestic peers. On the basis of survey and interview data, the views of both returnees and employers are canvassed, as also issues of re-integration and Chinese networks and values.

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Notes

  1. ‘New Argonauts’ is a term used by Saxenian in her work in 2006 The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy to describe the people who travel overseas in order to gain advanced knowledge and skills, and then either return home to contribute to national development, or shuttle back and forth, making strategic investments and engaging in high-tech transfer.

  2. Hai Dai (seaweed) is a Chinese term developed in early 2000s that referred to overseas-educated graduates who could not find jobs after returning, particularly young returnees with limited overseas qualifications, often at second-tier HEIs) and with little professional experience, but who only (and unrealistically) eyed senior position jobs with very high salary and benefit packages.

  3. The measure of employment used in this study was the percentage of respondents who had confirmed their danwei (or work unit) at the time when students graduated (or left their HEI). Employment also included further study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 2006, NSW, Australia

    Jie Hao & Anthony Welch

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  1. Jie Hao
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Hao, J., Welch, A. A Tale of Sea Turtles: Job-Seeking Experiences of Hai Gui (High-Skilled Returnees) in China. High Educ Policy 25, 243–260 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2012.4

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