Practices in field: Multi-perspective analysis of the job-hunting dilemma of overseas returned students through the lens of Bourdieu’s theory of practice

In light of Bourdieusian theory of practice and the concepts of field, doxa, habitus, and capital and using interview data of 33 returnee students and 73 employers, this study analyzed the job-hunting dilemma of overseas returnee students from the perspective of human geography. The analysis shows that the returnees and employers are situated in the field of international education and the field of local employment respectively. The international education field is mainly characterized by the rankings of global universities released by Western institutions, and is rooted in the Western-led global higher education hierarchy. Therefore, returnee students often believe that the capital acquired by studying abroad is convertible in the local field of professional employment, which is conducive to the upward social mobility of students and families. Employers' recruitment practices are regulated by the localized employment field. Hence, the demand for and recognition of overseas capital has gradually decreased, and more emphasis has been placed on local cultural capital and embodied experience rooted in the local field in recent years. Taking local realities, global educational structures, and individual agency into account together, this study provided a theoretical explanation for the asymmetric perceptions and related practices regarding overseas capital value between returnees and employers, revealed the process of cross-border transfer of capital in the context of socio-geographical mobility and globalization, and underlined the place embeddedness of capital, common knowledge, and habitus in the context of immigration research.