What Really Contributes to the Employability of Chinese Returnees with Malaysian-Obtained PhDs in and beyond Academia?

Malaysia has positioned itself as an internationalized education hub, attracting growing numbers of international doctoral students from China. Yet PhD degrees from Malaysian higher education providers (HEPs) are often perceived as inferior in China’s labor market, raising questions about how returnees construct their employability. This exploratory qualitative study examined how Chinese returnees with Malaysian-obtained PhDs perceive the attributes and PhD program resources that shape their employment prospects in Chinese higher education. Using snowball sampling, we interviewed 18 returnees through in-depth biographical interviews supplemented by a scroll-back approach drawing on their social media traces. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis informed by graduate capital and multiple-stakeholder perspectives. Findings indicate that human capital (PhD credentials, research skills, publications), social capital ( guanxi and academic networks), psychological capital (resilience and adaptability), and agentic capital (self-awareness and strategic action) are central to employability. Participants also emphasized curriculum and research training, supervisor support, and opportunities to connect with academia as key resources, though supervision quality and academic networking were frequently perceived as insufficient in Malaysian HEPs. The study suggests that HEPs and policymakers should strengthen these resources and adopt integrated capital-based and multiple-stakeholder approaches to more effectively support international PhD students’ employability.