The re-entry adjustment of Thai students in the transition from graduation in Australia to the return home

Many studies on the cross-cultural adjustment of international students focus on the experience in a host country, rather than re-entry adjustment into the home country. Reentry adjustment presents a range of problems, possibly even more severe than adjustment in a host country. The study investigates the transition of Thai international students over an eight-month period from graduation in Australia to their return home to Thailand. The nature of the transition experience and the factors influencing crosscultural adjustment are examined using a mixed methods approach. Specifically, patterns of adjustment over transition periods, based on self-report measures of psychological well-being and life satisfaction, were examined amongst 119 Thai international students and 211 of their Thai counterparts in Thailand. Qualitative interviews explored the transition experience in-depth. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed to test hypothesized models of cross-cultural adjustment. Self-efficacy, loneliness, and social difficulty were found to predict socio-cultural adjustment which, in turn, influenced life satisfaction and psychological well-being in both groups. For the international student group, value change predicted socio-cultural readjustment and life satisfaction six months after reentry. Life satisfaction was also significantly predicted by expectation discrepancy at this time. Importantly, host country adjustment was found to influence re-entry adjustment, in particular, socio-cultural adjustment and life satisfaction. Furthermore, longitudinal patterns of cross-cultural adjustment for Thai international students over three time periods found partial support for the U-curve hypothesis, while, as expected, this pattern was not the case for those who studied in Thailand. In-depth data about the re-entry experience emerged from the qualitative phase. Thai students reported difficulties in readjusting to their home culture. Such difficulties arose from a sense of loss of the familiar overseas context as well as a loss of freedom and privacy. The study also found that the degree of readjustment difficulties was related to the gap between the home and host culture, and the differences between initial expectations and the reality of the transition experience. The research contributes to the literature related to the process of re-entry adjustment and, in particular, the reverse culture shock experience. It contributes to understandings of the re-entry adjustment phenomenon of Thai international students. Recommendations for practice include the development of re-entry adjustment programs to assist international students to successfully readjust into their home country, as well as the improvement of service delivery of organizations working with international students.