DEL CONTROL Y MANTENIMIENTO VEHICULAR

The importance of networking, (otherwise referred to as connections in interviews, and status demonstrate that along with family background they influence employment. Participant FG 02 confirmed that, “networking is very important here. If you want to

get something done here, you get a lot of knowledge through connections with people.

Significantly given the scarcity of jobs in Nepal for graduates FG 02 stated, “You can get jobs easily by networking”.

The importance of family as a reference point for employment, in preference to that of the last employer, is explained by an employer, participant EMP 03, who confirms the special relationship between family and employment stating, “It’s not just connections

but also family background. It matters a lot. I would know the family; the family would know someone else’s family and that is how the network works. He further suggested

181 that to obtain work in some high-profile job which had some recognition, “You may

need some references from your father or relatives. This person is my nephew”.

From the analysis of the online IAP questionnaires, there was evidence (Table 7, p. 170) of the cultural dimension of ‘Ascription’ where power, title, and position matter and ensuing roles define behaviour. A doctor in one of the context interviews, participant CON 03, offered the view that status was previously attributed to different sectors of society. Today, money and’ wealth created by entrepreneurs conferred status and that some professional occupations, including being a teacher, no longer did so.

“Years ago, a teacher was in a high-status position, highly regarded. Now that’s no longer the case. Now some people think entrepreneurs, people who have made the money who had no social standing before, but now because they made the money. They are about selfishness, individualism, although you might give some back to society.”

In reviewing this associate theme, trust was synonymous to status. Participant CON 03 gives a specific example of the permanency of Nepalese status and culture, suggesting that Nepal was different to the UK. They developed a scenario illustrating the differences in outcomes between the UK and Nepal.

“We were walking one day in the UK and there was a convenience store close by to where he lived. I asked: If you forgot your wallet one day, would the shop keeper give you something on credit, pay him tomorrow? No, I have to pay if I buy something.

I said in my country (Nepal), if I forget my wallet, I can go around buy anything I want, I can eat in a good restaurant, come back home. No one is going to ask me for money. That’s why I don’t want to live there (overseas). That’s the kind of status, culture we have here in this country.”

5.5.3 Summary of Theme 4

In this theme of Intrinsic Influences, there is evidence that Nepal is still operating within the traditions and influences of a caste society. Business is essentially built around

182 family loyalty. Although a new constitution was promulgated in 2015, at the time this primary research was carried out, there was no finalisation of the new constitution and any changes to the structure of Nepalese society are likely to be met with some resistance.

A conclusion reached from the interviews is that whilst there is some evidence of changing attitudes, especially amongst younger people, this was mainly discussed in the context of inter-caste marriages and, for some, the way a person approaches their life should be respected. The findings attributed to this theme show all three associate themes address influences on educational decision-making as well as confirming that culture and caste, and especially the authority of the family, have an important part to play in a graduate’s decision to return home for employment after studying in the UK. 5.6 Theme 5: Extrinsic Influences

5.6.1 Overview

The four previous themes of Family, the UK and Nepalese Curriculum and Employment, Expectations and Intrinsic Influences such as culture and class have explored the influence on educational decision-making. Two concerns emerged from the findings and are analysed through the two associate themes of this final theme. These include the UK Government’s withdrawal of the two-year post-study work visa from April 2012 (UK Visa Bureau 2017) and the introduction of the Highly-Trusted Sponsor status (HTS) licence from November 2013 (Gov.uk, 2017). All graduates had obtained study visas under a previous system before the introduction of the HTS scheme.

183 Whilst it had been possible for five of the twenty-three graduates interviewed to apply for the, now cancelled two-year post-study work visa, none had taken advantage of scheme. All graduates interviewed had made the decision to return home before they had started studying in the UK. No graduate had considered or taken advantage of the less advantageous one-year Tier 1 (Gov.uk, 2017b) or Tier 2 post-study work visa (Gov.uk, 2017c). Comments from graduates therefore relate to their assessment of the likely implications of changes to post-study visa rules. As seen through the associate themes, educational consultancies and employers are already reacting negatively to the new UK Government post-study visa policy

Although education consultancies had no direct responsibility for assisting graduates in finding jobs should they return to Nepal, they were acutely aware that both parents and graduates wished to maximise career opportunities and often linked this to the availability of internships and/or post- graduation work experience. These extrinsic influences area also explored through the two associate themes of UK Government policy including visa policy and British Council Chevening scholarships (2015) and secondly, of Advisory Services offered by private education consultancies and through the British Council in Nepal. Figure 14 shows the number of instances graduates cited these associate themes in interviews.

184 Figure 14: Theme 5: Comparison of Undergraduate and Postgraduate citations

Number of respondents = 23. Source: Interview Data

The results in Chart C shows that the percentages of mentions by undergraduates and postgraduates for this theme were similar their assessment of the two associate themes.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 UK Government Policy Advisory Services P er ce n tgage % A (UG) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 UK Government Policy Advisory Services P er ce n tage % B (PG) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 1 2 P er ce ntage % C (UG and PG

)

185 5.6.2 Analysis of Associate Themes