To be or not to be: an identity salience career progression model of female returnees

Abstract

The global competition for talents with international exposure, knowledge and experiences has been intensified over the years. At the same time, talents who have obtained international qualifications by studying abroad constantly experience career progression difficulties after returning to home country when facing social and/or cultural challenges, especially for female returnees. Given such a dilemma, we explore the early career development of female returnees to answer how home country environment and re-entry experiences inform their career trajectories. Building on the identity literature, we tracked early career development of 31 female returnees in China by adopting a qualitative research approach. Our findings show that female returnees adapt to social/cultural challenges along with their career trajectories and undergo a personal identity verification and (re)formation process. Re-integration into the home country environment is generally complex and the identity (re)formation process varies among individuals. Subsequently, such a process leads to different career status, such as thriving, disengagement, and derailment. Based on our findings, we developed an identity salience career progression model and discussed its theoretical contributions and practical implications.

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