Programa de Limpieza y Desinfección

Despite the growing scholarly interest in exploring factors that influence re-adjustment, a great deal of research has focused on the context of the USA (Gullahorn & Gullahorn, 1963; Martin, 1986; Stringham, 1993; Gaw, 2000; Sussman, 2001; Sussman, 2002b; Cox, 2004; Arouca, 2013; Kartoshkina, 2015; Pitts, 2016). For example, Kartoshkina, (2015) found that US university students articulated a balanced view towards re-entry, describing it as a bitter-sweet re-entry. However, while the aim was to provide a deeper understanding of the nature of the return, the study lacked the depth³⁹ required to fulfil this aim as the focus was on general tendencies and did not take into account the personal, cultural, or situational factors that may affect this experience such as gender and cultural distance. The present study aims to rectify this limitation.

In her qualitative study, Pitts (2016) used a grounded theory approach to elaborate on Kim’s (2001) model of the Integrative Theory of Communication and Cross-Cultural Adaptation (ITCCA) (see Section 2.4.3) and expanded its scope to include the experience of American returnees. Findings revealed that it is not the sojourn per se that is behind any experience of growth experience, but the difficulty of handling communication competence, personal and cultural identities, and interpersonal relationships upon return that contributed to this experience and led to ‘intercultural personhood’ (Kim, 2008). Although the study offered insight into the immediate and long-term entry experience with data collected once at re-entry and six years later, the six-year gap made it difficult to establish temporality. Thus, this study will benefit from more frequent intervals in terms of data collection.

39 For example, there was no ‘Why’ questions.

42 2.8.1 Studies in Arab and Islamic⁴⁰ Countries

Within the context of Arab and Islamic nations, Jaradat et al. (1984) investigated Jordanian returnees’ attitudes to family life and social relations, as well as their attitudes towards political and economic issues. The authors found that while returnees’ attitudes to family life and social relations were positively related to the length of time since the return, i.e. the longer the time since the return, the more positive views the returnees expressed, place of graduation was the main contributor for variability in attitudes towards political and economic issues. That is, the returnees were more likely to be influenced by the political ideology of the host country, especially if they had left the home country at an early age when their attitudes were not fully formed. Attitudes towards family life and social relations were positively influenced by religion. It is therefore not surprising that Jordanian Muslims expressed better adjustment to mainstream Jordanian Islamic society than did Christians, since the attitudes held by the latter may differ from the primary Jordanian norms (Jaradat, et al., 1984).

It would be interesting to see how similarities in these variables⁴¹ would affect re-adjustment, especially given that the context in which this study has been conducted differs financially and politically from KSA.

In her exploratory study, Şahin (1990) examined the psychological and educational problems of second-generation Turkish adolescents returning from Germany, taking into account variables that affected their adjustment including age, gender, time since return, and time spent abroad. The author concluded that re-entry was problematic for these students but that its psychological and educational challenges tended to decrease by time, supporting the findings of the above study. However, both studies were quantitative, and called for more in-depth studies to understand the relationship between these variables and re-adjustment.

Within the Gulf region, in a recent qualitative study, McDermott-Levy (2013) explored the re-entry experience of seven Omani female nurses who studied in the USA and returned to Oman.

It was found that their re-entry experience was influenced by the personal and professional transformation resulting from studying abroad. Some of the challenges they faced included trying to resume family responsibilities upon their return and readjustment to the simple, yet restricted, life in Oman. This is consistent with other studies in the literature (e.g. Brabant, et

40 The word “Arab” is a linguistic grouping of individuals whose primary language is Arabic, whereas the word

“Muslim” is a religious grouping of individuals who follow or practice the Islamic faith. Therefore, many Arabs are not Muslims just as many Muslims are not Arabs (Hastings, et al., 2011). Islamic countries have been classified according to the official religion of the country i.e. Islam. Another classification is related to the majority of the population being Muslim.

41 Length of time since the return, religion, and the host country from which the participants graduated.

43

al., 1990) who found that Muslim female students had difficulty adjusting to family and personal life upon return, especially when returning to countries that have prescribed gender roles (Ward, et al., 2001). However, one drawback of this study is that the participants had to respond in English while they are non-native English speakers. This could have had an impact on the quality and quantity of the data.

2.8.2 Studies in KSA

Empirical studies have been scarce within the context of KSA. In his large-scale study, Al-Mehawes (1984) touched upon the experience of 280 Saudi male returnees who spent a minimum of 2 years in the United States and studied different academic majors. By examining the degree to which various difficulties⁴² with re-entry were experienced using surveys, he found that the returnees identified the most difficult issues to be cultural, social, professional, interpersonal, health related and educational, ranking them by degree of difficulty from the most to the least. The study revealed that most Saudi returnees experienced re-adjustment problems, with younger returnees facing greater difficulties. However, the first six months after the return was a particularly volatile period for all. The author mentioned the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. However, qualitative findings could not be traced, leading to purely statistical conclusions. In an attempt to overcome this limitation, Alandejani (2013) examined the re-adaptation and re-adjustment experience of six Saudi female scholars upon their return to KSA from the USA and the UK. More specifically, in her narrative enquiry, she explored the challenges the returnees faced in the workplace in transferring their newly acquired knowledge to their institutions. She found that all participants went through reverse culture shock. While challenges to implementing knowledge varied among these females, they all agreed that patience and a positive attitude were the keys to overcoming any challenges. One limitation of this study, however, is that the time of the interview in relation to the participants’

return was not mentioned and this may have affected the responses. Relying on memories in a narrative enquiry may be unreliable in terms of retrieving accurate descriptions of specific moments and feelings. That said, both studies concluded that Saudi Arabian returnees experience re-adjustment problems to varying degrees (see Al-Mehawes, 1984; and Alandejani, 2013). It is, therefore, evident that this global, and growing, phenomenon deserves further investigation, especially since this cultural transition may be accompanied by identity transformation, which needs to be highlighted to understand, enhance, and support the re-entry process.

42 Based on a previous study by The National Association for Foreign Students Affairs (NAFSA) in 1974, six re-adjustment categories were developed: cultural, social, linguistic, national/political, educational and professional.

44 It is hoped that this study will contribute to the literature on repatriation in several ways. First, the qualitative nature of the study will rectify any limitation in previous quantitative studies which took only a single measure in viewing the experience of returning home. This research aims to provide a holistic understanding of the entire repatriation experience, including what returnees face and how they manage the transition. This compensates for the limitations of other studies which have focused on identification of re-adjustment problems and the outcome of sojourns rather than on the dynamics or process of re-entry. Second, approaching this study longitudinally enables a better exploration of the re-entry process and one that involves multiple dimensions and fluctuating moments (see Section 3.2). Consequently, this study will contribute to the knowledge of Saudi returnees which is currently lacking in published research. More specifically, gender comparison in re-adjustment is informative and this study can provide a better understanding of the repatriation experience that could benefit organisations, as well as individuals.