Some international graduates who return to China after their studies abroad are considering themselves “wastes,” write Xing Xu and Ly Tran in an article for The Pie. While these individuals were once viewed favourably in the local labour market, Xu and Tran write that Chinese students now face significant barriers to their future employment, relationships, and home ownership after returning home. The authors discuss the “Haifei” (“overseas returning wastes”) discourse and how graduates are resisting unwanted pressure and supporting others by establishing a subculture of self-protective self-deprecation. Xu and Tran write that policy changes in host countries have made international students more vulnerable and recommend that host institutions provide international students with targeted support programs that help them prepare to move back to their home country.
