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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. 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. 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.
    2. Stacey Wilson-Forsberg, 2015. "“We Don’t Integrate; We Adapt:” Latin American Immigrants Interpret Their Canadian Employment Experiences in Southwestern Ontario," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 469-489, August.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Samit Dipon Bordoloi, 2015. "“I Am Standing Still”: The Impact of Immigration Regulations on the Career Aspirations of Wives of International Students in the USA," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 607-624, August.
    12. 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.

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