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Article History

Received: 12 November 2024

Accepted: 28 July 2025

First Online: 7 August 2025

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: The study received ethical approval from the Mzuzu University Research Ethics Committee (MZUNIREC). All research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, Malawi’s National Research Ethics Guidelines, and other applicable regulatory standards governing research involving human participants. The committee issued approval number MZUNIREC/DOR/22/55 on June 2, 2022, formally authorising the commencement of the study. The scope of the approval permitted full implementation of the approved protocol, including a waiver of consent for minors, with the condition that any amendments to the protocol must be submitted for further approval prior to implementation. The approval was valid for 1 year and subject to renewal if the study was to be extended beyond that period. Since all data collection was finalised within the stipulated time, this study did not need any extension from the MZUNIREC.

: Informed consent for this study was obtained in both written and oral formats, depending on participant accessibility. Written consent was acquired during face-to-face interviews, while oral consent was used for participants engaged remotely. Oral consent was necessary to ensure ethical participation of hard-to-reach individuals. In these cases, participants were read a standardised consent script, and their verbal agreement was audio-recorded in the presence of at least one colleague as a witness. A copy of the script used for oral consent has been included in the submission materials. Consent was obtained between June 10, 2022 and September 3, 2022, by trained members of the research team affiliated with Mzuzu University and the Beijing Institute of Technology, from Malawian students who had returned home without completing their higher education abroad. The scope of the consent included agreement to participate in the research, permission for data collection and analysis, and consent to publish anonymised findings in academic and policy-related outputs. Although the study did not involve minors directly, the Research Ethics Committee formally waived the requirement for parental or guardian consent, confirming that all participants were legal adults or emancipated individuals under the criteria of the study. Given participants’ potential vulnerability—due to social stigma, mental health distress, and community judgement—special care was taken to ensure that consent was freely given, fully informed, and uncoerced. As a non-interventional study involving questionnaires and interviews, all participants were fully informed that: Their anonymity would be strictly maintained; The purpose of the study was to explore reintegration challenges after returning from international education without a degree; Their data would be used solely for research, academic publication, and policy formulation; There were minimal risks, primarily emotional discomfort, for which referrals to support services were available if needed.