Narratives of Nepali Education Return Migrants and their Reintegration

Abstract

This dissertation presents the experiences of education migrants who returned to their home country and adapted to life after return. The majority of the studies on migration in Nepal have mainly focused on labour migration and its reintegration. Furthermore, studies related to education migrants have been centered on understanding the reasons for students’ international mobility and the pervasiveness of brain drain in the country. However, there is a paucity of research related to the return and reintegration of education migrants. Using narrative inquiry to research, this study presents and discusses narratives of eight return migrants who had initially moved overseas in pursuit of higher education and, after completing their studies, gained several years of work experience before returning home. These stories narrate participants’ lived experiences of hope, despair, struggle, as well as successes and challenges faced in both the host and home countries. Drawing on Cassarino’s Social Network Theory and Anthony Giddens’ Structuration Theory, this study explores how social structures in both the host and home countries influence the education migrant’s decision￾making regarding return and the strategic choices they make during reintegration. Participants’ narratives reveal that they faced challenges in the host country and upon return, encountered further difficulties in adapting to life back home; however, in both cases, they used their agency to make decisions. This research describes the original motivations of education migrants when they left their home country, including their hopes and plans for living abroad. With time, these intentions gradually evolved when their expectations were not met as anticipated. Participants’ narratives show that unfulfilled expectations related to financial and socio-cultural adjustment played a key role in shaping their decisions to return home. The study further explores how social structures of the home country challenged participants’ dreams and hopes after their return but they actively used their agency to navigate these constraints, which played a major role in adjusting to the society. Participants’ narratives illustrate that by exercising their agency, in many cases, they were able to turn constraints into opportunities. This study challenges the tendency to understand return and reintegration simply in binary terms of success or failure. Rather, based on participants’ narratives, the study suggests that reintegration is relational and contextual, and its meaning differs according to each individual’s experiences and personal interpretations. Participants’ stories of struggle and strategies they adopted to create space for themselves may offer insight and motivation to other education migrants as they navigate structural barriers and utilize skills, experiences, and knowledge they gained abroad. Finally, the study also highlights the need for policies that acknowledge and support education return migrants as they rebuild their lives after return.