The Comparison of Expected Benefits and Reality for Working Holiday Programs

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Running Head: The Comparison of Expected Benefits and Reality for Working Holiday Programs

The Comparison of Expected Benefits and Reality for Working Holiday Programs

Submitted by

Kelly Sung

1098200164

Submitted to

Dr. Aiden Yeh

Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages

April 19, 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ………………………………………………………………. 1-3

Background:………………………………………………………………. 4-6

Theoretical Framework: ………………………………………………….7-9

Methodology: ………………………………………………………………. 10-11

References: ………………………………………………………………. 12

Appendix

Consent/Cover Letter ……………………………………………………13-17

Questionnaire/Interview Questions ………………………………………18-21

Introduction

Many people have gone on a working holiday program and returned with some regret regarding where they went or what kind of job they chose. I want to write this paper to provide information for people interested in participating in a working holiday program to help them make the best decision and, in the end, achieve the most benefits for themselves. This research can help people, who would like to join a working holiday program, evaluate the benefits and see if the program fits their needs and also differentiate the expectations from the reality experienced by previous working holiday participants. From the results of the study I compared the different benefits to completing a working holiday in each of the countries. Currently, there are some papers that already exist which only discuss the advantages of working holidays. Such as Chia-Fen Wu (2010) “A Study on the Experiential Learning Process of the Working Holiday Makers” it mentioned some motivations and advantages from working holiday instead of compare the expected benefits to reality for working holiday program. For my paper, I compared what individuals expected to gain from their working holiday, prior to going, with what they actually experienced.

In this study, I focused on three countries (Australia, Canada and U.S.A.) that possess working holiday programs for Taiwanese. In the first part of the background section, I discussed the history of Australia’s working holiday program along with recent developments and requirements. In the second part, contains the history of Canada’s working holiday program with Taiwan and the application requirements. It also includes the latest enrollment numbers for 2013.

For my theoretical framework, I took the example of means-end chain theory to discuss the evolution of attributes to consequences to values for the point of view of people who went on working holidays. The means-end chain can help the study to identify the real reason and benefits to joining a working holiday program.

I spent my winter vacation researching my topic. I utilized a questionnaire to help me obtain the data to analyze and determine the working holiday benefits.

The questionnaire was also available online for a month for people to fill out, with the goal of having 30 usable questionnaires returned. The results of the questionnaire provided a comparison of their expectations for the working holiday program prior to going with what they actually realized upon completion. The online questionnaire, which took about 3 minutes to accomplish, was assigned to the participants in March and asked to respond before April by the author. The data analysis was undertaken at the time and the result was composed.

By reading this study, former and current working holiday participants will be provided a baseline for comparing their experiences with others who have participated while future participants. It will also give insight to potential participants into the gap that may exist between their expectations and what might actually be experienced on a working holiday, thus helping them to make a more informed decision.

Background:

In my research I focused on three main different countries have working holiday with Taiwanese, Australia, Canada and U. S. A.

The background of Australia Working Holiday Program:

Working holiday program between Taiwan and Australia start from 1975. There are 19 countries are available to apply for the working holiday visa to Australia. Taiwan is one of them. The requirements for applying the working holiday visa to Australia are as follows, first, be aged 18-30 at time of application, second, hold a passport from an eligible partner country and last person who apply cannot be accompanied by dependent children during the stay in Australia.

While working in Australia, all working holidaymakers can only stay with the working holiday visa for 12 months and each job cannot be hired over 6 months.

For Australia, Taiwanese people can apply for second working holiday visa as long as they undertake 88 days ‘specified work’ in Australia while they have their first working holiday visa. From 2010- 11 Taiwan working holiday visas to Australia increased 43.1%. At 31 December 2011, there were 130612 Working Holiday visa holders in Australia. In 2011, Taiwan Working Holiday visa holders to Australia are 8.6% of all Working Holiday visa holders to Australia. In 2010 there were 6007 Working Holiday visa granted to Taiwanese who applied for it. In 2011 there were 9112 Working Holiday visa granted to Taiwanese who applied for it. From 2010 to 2011 there was 51.7% increase of the Working holiday visa holders. (Australia Department of Immigration and Citizenship [ADIC], 2011)

The background of Canada Working Holiday Program:

Canada call the working holiday program “International Experience Canada”. They use IEC program to present working holiday program. Canada have entered into an arrangement to Youth Mobility Program with Taiwan in order to promote close co-operation between Taiwan and Canada; to facilitate access to cultural exchanges that enable youth to gain a better understanding of the other’s languages(s), culture and society through a travel, work and life experience abroad. Canada and Taiwan signed the agreement on 16th April 2010. The agreement was started into effect on July 1 2010, with the initial quota of multiple entry visas being 200. (Canada Immigration Official Website-

(http://www.visaplace.com/blog-immigration-law/canada-visa-news/canada-creates-working-holiday-visa-with-taiwan/) There are 940 quota for working holiday on 2013. It has been full applied by Jan. 1st 2013. The requirements to apply IEC program are as follows. First, you must be a holder of Taiwanese passport that includes your personal identification number. Second, you must be between the ages of 18 and 35 (inclusive). Third, you must have the equivalent of C$2,500 to help cover your expenses at the beginning of your stay. Forth, you must be prepared to take out health-care insurance for the duration of your stay – you may have to present evidence of this insurance when you enter Canada. Fifth, you must pay a participation fee that is the equivalent to CA$150 in New Taiwan Dollar funds. And last, you must have not participated in the IEC initiative before. Working permit, Everyone who enters Canada as a temporary resident must meet general requirements for temporary entry as set out by Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations. Retrieved from

(http://www.canada.org.tw/taiwan/experience_canada_experience/working_holiday-vacances_travail.aspx?lang=eng&view=d)

Theoretical Framework:

1.  Snowball sampling is a method of sampling in which existing study subjects recruit future subjects from among their acquaintances. Hence the recruits grow in snowball fashion. The technique is often used with hidden populations of people, such as drug users or prostitutes, who are otherwise difficult for researchers to access. The results can be less subject to selection bias than one might suppose. It is similar to respondent-driven sampling. However, whereas in snowball sampling the names of the contacts are handed over to the researcher and they initiate the invitation, in respondent-driven sampling, the participant does not hand over the names but instead passes on the invitation personally - leaving the researcher blind as to who has been contacted. In my research, I use this type of sampling to do my survey. The definition is provided from Dictionary Central.com.

2. Means-end chain theory is means to discuss the flow of attributes to their consequences then values. ( 1999, 中華管理評論 Vol.2, No.6, pp.107～128)

3. Previous Research on Backpacker Tourism

According to the studies reported in the backpacker tourism and associated tourist behavior literature in the past, the backpacker’s personal identity such as individual character has received the most attention from the researchers (e.g., Scheyvens, 2002; Noy, 2004; White & White, 2004; O’Reilly, 2006). Other issues from the article that have been discussed include backpackers are portrayed (Loker-Murphy & Pearce, 1995; Riely, 1988; Uriely, Yonay and Simchai, 2002), needs and motivation (Loker-Murphy, 1996; Maoz, 2007), culture (Sørensen, 2003; Muzaini, 2006; Teo and Leong, 2006), social interaction (Murphy, 2001), risk taking and creation (Elsrud, 2001) and learning (Pearce & Foster, 2007). As for the specific study, however, the research findings reveal or confirm the effectiveness of backpacker tourism in providing beneficial outcomes to participants. Table 1 concluded the major characteristics and benefits typically associated with backpacker tourism.

The approaches used to explore backpackers’ behavior in the past include open-ended qualitative methods that rely on observation and in-depth interview techniques (White & White, 2004). The qualitative approaches have focused on using the respondents’ perspective and language to identify and develop a better understanding of the key outcomes. The means-end approach employed in the present study is similar in emphasis to the above qualitative approach in that the goal is to uncover outcomes and develop a better understanding of them. However, the difference between the two is that the means-end approach seeks to obtain an understanding by examining the relationship among outcomes and other particular types of meanings; that is, the meanings at different levels of abstraction. (Shu-Chin Huang ad Pi-Yueh Lin)

Table 1 Tour Characteristics and Benefits of Backpackers

Tour characteristics / Tour benefits
Low levels of advance planning
No fixed timetable
Openness to change of itinerary
Long-term international low-budget
travel
Multiple-destination journey
Recreational activities focusing around
nature, culture and adventure / A sense of freedom
Personal development & fulfillment
Fun & enjoyment in life
Being dependent
Self-confidence
Experiencing a new and different culture
Linguistic skills
Self-growth and maturity
Willingness to take risk
Self-change
A new self-identity Escaping fro
m daily routine Accomplishment
Excitement

The theory of means-end chain is using one-on-one in-depth interviews. From “An Investigation of Working Holiday Experiences: A Means-End Analysis Approach”(,Chaang-Iuan Ho, Shu-Chin Huang, Pi-Yueh Lin, (n.d.))it came out with some result that define the tour benefits from the working holiday experiences. By using means-end analysis to have connection between individuals to products or services they choose with attributes then the benefits or consequences.

Methodology:

Research Question

The purpose of this study is to investigate the reality of working holidays by comparing people’s expectation prior to partaking, with their actual experiences.

1.  What were the expectations before joining the working holiday program?

Many people want to join working holiday program do so to gain some expected benefits.

2.  What did they actually gain?

Individuals who have already completed the program are asked to provide the details of their experienced benefits of the program.

3. Comparing both questions above can have a simple result to determine if the working holiday program fulfilled people’s expectation.

Method

Participants

The eligible survey participants included only individuals who have joined a working holiday program. The survey sample consisted of 30 participants who responded to the online version of the questionnaire. The response rate was 24(80%)female and 6(20% )male. 97% of the participants were between 20 to 29 years old. 23% went to Australia, 63% went to U.S.A, 14 % went to Canada and 0% went to other countries.

Instruments

This is a self-developed questionnaire. The online version questionnaire, which took about 3 minutes to accomplish, was assigned to the participants in March and asked to respond before April by the author. The data analysis was undertaken at the time and the result was composed. For this study, participants were asked to provide answers to 11 multiple- choice questions, consisting of a 10 items of using a 5-point Liker scale, and 3 yes-or-no questions. The questionnaire was provided online.After they finished the questionnaire they clicked send to submit it. The cover letter of the questionnaire appears in Appendix 1 and questionnaire appears in Appendix 2. The results of the questionnaire provided the reality of working holiday benefits and the comparison of the expectation of what they thought with what they actually gained.

Data Collection

The online version of the questionnaire was sent via Facebook to friends and friends of friends who have participated in a working holiday program. This type of sampling is called “snowball sampling.” The result of the questionnaire provided the subjective perspective of the experiences from most of the people who have joined the working holiday program.The sample statistics were run in Excel and the results are analyzed in the next section.

References:

CTOT, (2011). The Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT) Working holiday visa program report

Chin-Feng Lin, Ming-Yih Yeh, Chao-Min Chiu, (1999, Sep). 中華管理評論Vol.2, No.6, pp.107～128 Applying Means-end chains analysis to establishing marketing research variables and marketing strategies.

Chaang-Iuan Ho, Pi-Yueh Lin, Shu-Chin Huang (2010,Oct.). Exploring Taiwanses Working Holiday-Markers’ Motivations: An Analysis of Mean-End Hierarchies

Gutman, J. (1982). A means-end chain model based on consumer categorization processes. Journal of Marketing, 46(2), 60-71.

Michael Niren,(2010). Niren and Associates Immigration Lawyers

Retrieved from DC-Dictionary Central.com

TECOC, (2011). Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Canada

Taiwan Immigration Office, (2010). Edu-fair news website

Appendix

Appendix 1: Consent/Cover Letter

Consent for Participation in Research

The benefits of join a working holiday program

Introduction

The purpose of this form is to provide you information that may affect your decision as to whether or not to participate in this research study. The person performing the research will answer any of your questions. Read the information below and ask any questions you might have before deciding whether or not to take part. If you decide to be involved in this study, this form will be used to record your consent.

Purpose of the Study

You have been asked to participate in a research study about working holiday experiences. The purpose of this study is to research on the benefits of join a working holiday program and what were they expected to gain before they go.

What will you to be asked to do?

If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to give personal experiences about working holiday program. This study will take 3 minutes and will include approximately only 1 study participant.