Belt and Road Initiatives: tracing the life and career transformations of international scholarship postgraduate returnees from China

Purpose This study explores the post-return experiences of international postgraduate students who received Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) scholarships in China. It investigates their motivations for returning to Southeast/South Asian home countries, challenges in readjustment and the relevance of their Chinese academic training to professional/personal development. The research aims to understand how overseas education shapes returnees’ identities and skills application in local contexts, ultimately assessing BRI scholarships’ socio-cultural impact on higher education internationalization. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative narrative inquiry was employed, conducting in-depth interviews with eight BRI scholarship returnees from Southeast Asia and South Asia. Data collection focused on motivations for return, reverse culture shock, identity negotiation and skill utilization. Thematic analysis was applied to identify patterns in readjustment experiences and intercultural identity formation, using the conceptual lens of intercultural identity to interpret the transcultural self-perceptions emerging from their cross-border educational journeys. Findings Key findings reveal significant reverse culture shock and complex identity negotiation among returnees. Participants developed hybrid intercultural identities transcending traditional cultural frameworks, enabling adaptive application of globally acquired skills in local professional contexts. Challenges included workplace reintegration and reconciling Chinese educational values with home-country norms. Crucially, returnees leveraged linguistic competencies, technical knowledge and cross-cultural networks gained in China for career advancement, demonstrating BRI education’s transformative role in fostering glocalized human capital. Originality/value This study pioneers the application of intercultural identity theory to BRI scholarship returnees, revealing how China-educated graduates reconstruct self-perception beyond national paradigms. It offers novel empirical insights into BRI education’s long-term socio-professional impacts – a critically understudied area. Findings provide policymakers with evidence to optimize BRI programs’ cultural reintegration support and curriculum design. The research repositions China’s higher education internationalization as an identity-transformative process, highlighting its potential to cultivate transcultural agents who bridge Chinese expertise with Global South development needs.