One characteristic of globalization is its impact on higher education as reflected in an increasing flow of international students across borders. With the rise in the total number of international students globally, the gap between male and female representation in the international student body has been steadily narrowing. Despite the rise in the number of female international students, however, little has been written on gender issues in relation to international students in U.S. higher education institutions. Furthermore, limited cross-national research has been conducted on study abroad returnees.
This research examines two neglected issues related to study abroad; female study abroad participants and their post-study abroad experiences. Specifically, it explores the post study abroad decisions and reentry experiences of Japanese and Thai women through multiple data collection methods including surveys and interviews.
The research first addresses the factors that influence Japanese and Thai female students' post-study abroad destinations. It then explores the re-adaptation of the Japanese and Thai female returnees to family, friends, jobs, in particular, and to daily life in general. The quantitative analysis reveals Thais' strong intention to return home while indicating Japanese' ambiguous attitudes about post study abroad destinations.
The findings further identify some common themes shared by both Japanese and Thai female returnees, despite social, economic, and cultural differences between the two nations. One of the most powerful themes discovered from both survey and interview data was the power of family; indicating its considerable impact on the mobility decision of both Japanese and Thais. However, further examination reveals that this parental influence was more powerful for Thais than Japanese.
Other common themes for the two groups are; female-specific reentry, transformation through study abroad experiences, and the importance of workplace in terms of determining the magnitude of reverse culture shock. Also, the combined etic-emic process of data analysis identifies some country-specific themes, such as the self-segregation of Thai students on the U.S. campus, and differences in job-hunting strategies and processes.
