Speakers
Description
Abstract
Organizational commitment plays an important role in lecturers’ professional engagement, retention, and contribution to higher education institutions. However, little is known about how Vietnamese returnee EFL lecturers perceive their organizational commitment after returning from overseas postgraduate study. This multiple case study investigates the varying levels of organizational commitment perceived by Vietnamese returnee EFL lecturers at four (4) different universities in Ho Chi Minh City. Drawing on the three-component model of organizational commitment proposed by Meyer and Allen (1991), the study specifically examined participants’ affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with four (4) Vietnamese returnee EFL lecturers and analyzed thematically to identify participants’ varying levels of commitment across the three dimensions. The findings revealed that participants generally reported moderate to high affective commitment through emotional attachment to students, colleagues, and supportive departmental environments. Continuance commitment was perceived at varying degrees depending on participants’ views toward career stability, institutional opportunities, workload, and professional development conditions. Normative commitment was reflected in participants’ varying levels of responsibility toward contributing to their institutions and supporting students as returnee lecturers. However, the findings also revealed tensions between participants’ overseas-informed professional expectations and the institutional realities of Vietnamese higher education, particularly regarding workload, research demands, and institutional support. These tensions shaped how participants sustained and negotiated their organizational commitment over time. The study offers implications and recommendations for relevant stakeholders in supporting returnee lecturers’ professional engagement and commitment in higher education contexts.
Keywords: Organizational commitment; Returnee EFL lecturers; Vietnamese higher education
Biography
Pham Van Khanh is an EFL lecturer working at the undergraduate level in Vietnam. He is currently affiliated with the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Engineering. He holds an MA in TESOL from the University of Southern Queensland. His research interests include language teacher identity, teacher agency, and professional development in English language teaching and teacher education contexts.
| Affiliate type | University |
|---|