Communication Competencies and International Graduates’ Employability Outcomes: Strategies to Navigate the Host Labour Market

• Published in: Journal of international migration and integration Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 733 - 749
• Main Author: Pham, Thanh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.06.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bourdieu, Pierre (1930-2002); Careers; College students; Colleges & universities; Communication; Competence; Demography; Employability; Foreign students; Fulfilment; Higher education; Labor market; Migration; Population Economics; Skills; Social behavior; Social factors; Social interaction; Social interactions; Social Sciences; Sociology; Strategies; Students; Verstehen; Bourdieu; International graduates; Agency; Higher education; Capitals; Employability
• ISSN: 1488-3473; 1874-6365
• DOI: 10.1007/s12134-021-00869-3

This study deployed a biographical interpretive method to explore how international graduates enhanced and navigated communication competencies in the target labour market. Twenty-five international graduates from various disciplines at Australian universities participated in in-depth interviews. The findings revealed that the graduates faced difficulties in building social interactions in the host country but could develop various forms of agency to both improve on and navigate perceived limitations. Their strategies included enhancing linguistic skills and ‘legitimate language’, using ethnic capital, and countering societal pressure. The graduates knew how to use these strategies separately and collectively to not only bring about employability outcomes but also achieve other types of fulfilment. The study’s results imply that international students should not be treated as a homogenous group who have similar aspirations and experience a similar linear post-study journey. Besides, the skills-based approach currently implemented by host institutions is inadequate to prepare international students for effective communication competencies and employability negotiation. Universities and industries should build closer relationships, and university programmes should embed diverse forms of capital so that international students have sufficient resources for various post-study pathways and short- and long-term career journeys.