Malaysian PhD graduates coming home: adjustment and adaptation to the research ecosystem

ABSTRACT

Study abroad has a long-standing tradition in higher education. Apart from the pursuit of knowledge that cannot be confined by the boundaries of nation-state, sending local talents to study abroad has also been a strategy to build capacity in a developing/emerging nation like Malaysia. This article focuses on the stories and experiences of Malaysian in adjusting and adapting to the local situation as academic staff when they returned to Malaysian universities after their doctoral study abroad. Through thematic analysis and guided by Structuration Theory, this article illustrates structural constraints in the form of research governance, practices and cultures, as well as agency manifestations of these returnees to overcome and address these constraints and challenges. These stories and experiences are important to understand and to make recommendations to improve the governance, practices and culture of universities especially in developing/emerging systems globally.

KEYWORDS:

• Study abroad
• returnees
• adjustment
• research
• key performance indicators
• Structuration theory

Acknowledgments

The research team is grateful to the participants for their willingness to share their experiences and perspectives that enormously shaped this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2022.2098450

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Nazarbayev University Faculty Development Competitive Research Grant Program FDCRGP 2020-2022. The project title is: A comparative study of the transition of returning scholars to domestic research environments in Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Cambodia [240919FD3907].