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Vital conjunctures, shifting horizons: high-skilled female immigrants looking for work

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  • Anika Liversage

    (SFI - The Danish National Centre for Social Research, ani@sfi.dk)

Abstract

Focusing on the underdeveloped field of high-skilled female migration, this article relies on life story interviews with high-skilled women immigrating for reasons other than work.The article conceptualizes migration as a`vital conjuncture', a critical life period in which both different futures and different identities are at stake, and shows how some women — mostly with skills from the natural sciences — were able to retain former professional identities. Other women, facing the threat of becoming `just housewives', found work in the higher-skilled sectors of the labour market in different ways: through re-educating themselves; by becoming `cultural brokers' for other immigrants; or by returning to their home country. Women unable to follow through on one of these four options lost claims to being high-skilled. The analysis contributes to our understanding of both high-skilled female migration and the centrality of identity in constraining or enabling movement within social structures.

Suggested Citation

  • Anika Liversage, 2009. "Vital conjunctures, shifting horizons: high-skilled female immigrants looking for work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 23(1), pages 120-141, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:23:y:2009:i:1:p:120-141
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017008099781
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nielsen, Chantal Pohl, 2007. "Immigrant overeducation : evidence from Denmark," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4234, The World Bank.
    2. Friedberg, Rachel M, 2000. "You Can't Take It with You? Immigrant Assimilation and the Portability of Human Capital," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(2), pages 221-251, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dimitria Groutsis & Joana Vassilopoulou & Olivia Kyriakidou & Mustafa F Özbilgin, 2020. "The ‘New’ Migration for Work Phenomenon: The Pursuit of Emancipation and Recognition in the Context of Work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(5), pages 864-882, October.
    2. Kristyn Frank & Feng Hou, 2016. "Beyond culture: source country female labour force participation and the earnings of immigrant women," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 30(3), pages 410-435, June.
    3. Ana M González Ramos, 2020. "Digital Communication Tools for Fostering Career Advancement and Sustaining Interpersonal Relationships," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 25(2), pages 184-200, June.
    4. Evgeniya Polyakova & Larisa Smirnykh, 2015. "The Impact of Sectoral Segregation on the Earning Differential between Natives and Immigrants in Russia," HSE Working papers WP BRP 110/EC/2015, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    5. Thomas Turner, 2010. "The jobs immigrants do: issues of displacement and marginalisation in the Irish labour market," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 24(2), pages 318-336, June.
    6. Susan Ressia & Glenda Strachan & Janis Bailey, 2017. "Operationalizing Intersectionality: an Approach to Uncovering the Complexity of the Migrant Job Search in Australia," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 376-397, July.
    7. Boris Heizmann & Anne Busch-Heizmann & Elke Holst, 2017. "Immigrant Occupational Composition and the Earnings of Immigrants and Natives in Germany: Sorting or Devaluation?," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 475-505, June.
    8. Daniela Bolzani & Francesca Crivellaro & Rosa Grimaldi, 2021. "Highly skilled, yet invisible. The potential of migrant women with a STEMM background in Italy between intersectional barriers and resources," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 2132-2157, November.
    9. Anica Waldendorf, 2021. "Bridging the Gap: Making Sense of the Disaccord between Migrants’ Education and Occupation," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 130-139.
    10. Yvonne Riaño, 2011. "Drawing New Boundaries of Participation: Experiences and Strategies of Economic Citizenship among Skilled Migrant Women in Switzerland," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(7), pages 1530-1546, July.

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