Labour market aspirations and experiences of highly educated refugees in Oslo, Malmö and Munich
Author: Katarina Mozetic, katarina.mozetic@sosgeo.uio.no
Department: Department of Sociology and Human Geography
University: University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisor: Prof. Anniken Hagelund
Year of completion: In progress
Language of dissertation: English
Keywords:
refugee
, integration
, Bourdieu
, aspirations
Areas of Research:
Migration
, Work
, labour market
Abstract
The PhD research project explores labour market experiences and aspirations of highly educated refugees. By probing into highly educated refugees' labour market goals and trajectories in Oslo, Malmö and Munich as narrated by the individuals themselves, the study aims to tease out the intricate processes and dynamics that lay within labour market participation of highly educated refugees and to offer a bottom-up perspective on the issue of refugee labour market integration. Thereby, the study’s primary material gathered through semi-structured interviews with highly educated refugees in the three cities is explored against the background of national and local projects, programmes and regulations pertaining to refugee labour market participation. Taken the high number of individuals who sought asylum in Europe in the past years as well as the centrality of political and public debates concerning refugees' labour market participation, the study is topical and highly relevant. It is, moreover, innovative as it employs a professional lens on refugee labour market integration processes, reconciling the distinction between refugees and highly skilled migrants.
