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Skilled Migrants and Their Encounters with Care and Employment Regimes: Childcaring among Highly Skilled Female Migrants from Korea in Germany

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  • Jaok Kwon

    (Centre for East Asian Studies, Heidelberg University, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany)

Abstract

By analysing the childcaring experiences of female skilled workers from South Korea (hereafter, Korea) in Germany, this paper maintains that the challenges in labour market participation for highly skilled women, and especially those with children, should be understood in the context of their encounters with similar and different care and employment regimes between their home and host countries. On the theoretical level, this research confirms the argument that the migration of highly skilled workers should be contextualized not from a neoclassical perspective in which the maximization of economic profits takes priority, but from an institutional point of view in which social and cultural norms, practices, and policies in both the home and host societies are taken into consideration. Specifically, through a series of in-depth interviews conducted with skilled female migrants from Korea, this paper highlights the significance of taking the function of similar and different caring and employment regimes into account in explaining the challenges faced by highly skilled migrant women in labour market participation. On the empirical level, this paper sheds light on the migration experiences of skilled women from Asia as well as the (dis)integration processes of newcomers from third-national countries in Germany, with a focus on female migrants from Korea.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaok Kwon, 2023. "Skilled Migrants and Their Encounters with Care and Employment Regimes: Childcaring among Highly Skilled Female Migrants from Korea in Germany," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2023:i:9:p:477-:d:1227283
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ruth Pearson & Kyoko Kusakabe, 2012. "Who Cares? Gender, Reproduction, and Care Chains of Burmese Migrant Workers in Thailand," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 149-175, April.
    2. Pei-Chun Ko & Karsten Hank, 2014. "Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren in China and Korea: Findings From CHARLS and KLoSA," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 69(4), pages 646-651.
    3. Jaok Kwon, 2019. "Globalization and Business Masculinities in South Korea: Top Managers in the Industrial Sector," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-17, November.
    4. Jennifer Hook, 2015. "Incorporating ‘Class’ into Work-Family Arrangements: Insights from and for Three Worlds," LIS Working papers 639, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
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