Tracing the footprints of returning international students in Pakistani context: A capability approach analysis

Abstract

The internationalization of higher education has been attracting a large number of students from the South to the North. Though no consolidated data is available, one can safely say that the trend is on the rise with fast-paced globalization, increased information flows, and the availability of international scholarships. While several international students settle abroad after the completion of their studies, a large number also return home for one reason or the other. This is a pertinent moment then to explore the societal implications of returning international students, given the slim literature available in this area, especially in South Asian contexts. This paper shares some findings from a study involving 22 returning international students to understand the societal impacts of their return to Pakistan. The study was qualitative, with in-depth interviews as the main instruments. Drawing on Amartya Sen's capability approach, the aim was to capture the nature of individual capability expansion following international educational experience and implications for the home country when they return. The findings revealed that individuals made valuable tangible and intangible contributions to their home country in multiple dimensions. However, the individual agency freedoms and achievements of the returnees were interlinked with the expansion of collective agency and achievements. This in turn set off another cycle of individual and collective capability expansion. These agency achievements were, nevertheless, filtered by social-cultural factors of class, social capital, institutional structures, and the symbolic value attributed to Western knowledge; the latter resulting also in some capability deprivation.