Conference Programme (PDF, 1019KB) - Trinity College Dublin

abstracts by stream and session
Europe, who experienced a less gender-segregated labor market in their home countries, react to norms, values, and attitudes in the
German labor market regarding gender and professional identity? What mechanisms of allocation of migrant women into the German
labor market contribute to the reproduction of gender and ethnic inequality?
Based on narrative oriented interviews with women migrants, and other qualitative research methods, professional careers of women are
reconstructed and mechanisms of (dis)integration are analyzed. This reconstruction and analysis of highly-skilled, women migrants on
the German labor market provides new data on how to better integrate highly-skilled, women workers into Germany’s technology sector.
What is good for highly-skilled immigrants and what are highly-skilled immigrants good for? The case of Lithuania.
Liutauras Labanauskas, Lithuanian Social Research Centre, Lithuania
Highly-skilled migration has been an object of much policy discussion in the global context for many years; however, in Lithuania,
compared with other research topics, it has a very short history. Still in 20 years of independent statehood, there can be seen a subtle
shift from “brain drain” and emigration discourse, (which began as early as 1996 with a publication of a study “Mobility of scientists in
Lithuania: internal and external brain drain”) to immigration and development discourse.
This paper argues whether this new interest in immigration and development is more balanced and more concrete and whether the quest
for the formulation of selective immigrant admission policies designed to attract and retain highly skilled non-EU researchers is relevant
to political, economic and social transformations within Lithuanian labour market.
The paper is based on the study (commissioned by The Lithuanian Ministry of Education and Science and carried out by the Lithuanian
Social Research Centre in 2009), which focused on the immigration policies and practices relevant to non-EU researchers and highlyskilled
employees in Lithuania. The main aim of this research was to prepare recommendations on the implementation of the EU
Directive 2005/71/EC aimed at facilitating non-EU researchers’ participation in EU science.
The following issues were looked at: whether skilled immigration can stimulate economic growth of the country and whether highlyskilled
immigration brings added value to Lithuanian science. Based on in-depth interviews with non-EU researchers in Lithuania the
possible typology of skilled immigrants was developed to assist policymakers in strategically matching human resources to labour market
conditions.
The Experiences of Skilled Immigrants in the Irish Labour Market
Eithne Heffernan, University of Limerick, Ireland
The current paper was an examination of the experiences of skilled immigrants in the Irish labour market. Firstly, the impact of talent
waste, or the tendency of skilled immigrants to become underemployed or unemployed in their host country, was examined (Yoshida &
Smith, 2005). Secondly, the actions immigrants take in response to the experience of talent waste were assessed. In order to examine
these issues, a series of semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted with ten skilled immigrants, who were working, or looking
for work, in Ireland. They varied in terms of qualifications, occupations, gender, race, nationality and age. It was found that the majority of
interviewees became underemployed or unemployed when they first arrived in Ireland. This had a profound and largely negative effect on
their lives, particularly their sense of identity and their wellbeing. Immigrants took numerous actions in order to overcome these adverse
experiences, including a return to education, entrepreneurship, voluntary work, the adoption of a domestic role and the utilisation of their
immigrant identity to carve niche roles in the labour market. The majority of interviewees subsequently secured skilled employment,
which had a restorative effect on their sense of identity and their wellbeing. However, it should be noted that some immigrants chose to
remain underemployed rather than attempt to seek skilled employment. This finding is relatively unexpected, as past research has
demonstrated that underemployment can harm one’s psychological and physical health (Friedland & Price, 2003; Winefield, 2002). It is
recommended that future research examine in greater depth the factors which influence this choice.
SESSION 2c The Labour Market Performance of Old and New Immigrants
Evidence from Denmark - Job-to-Skill Match among Highly-Educated Immigrant Women
Helle Bendix Lauritzen, AKF Danish Institute of Governmental Research, Denmark
Acquiring a job with a good job-to-skill match is often difficult for immigrants. This paper addresses the difficulties met by highlyeducated
immigrant women in Denmark, who try to obtain a job that corresponds to their skill level. The main question in the analysis is
whether or not a suitable job-to-skil match occurs during their first five years in Denmark. The results presented come from a study on
highly-educated immigrant women who immigrated to Denmark during the period 1990-2001.
The question is investigated using sequence analysis on a large dataset obtained through administrative records. In total 8.435 immigrant
women are included in the analysis and each is followed during the first five years of her stay in Denmark. By applying sequence analysis
we are able to identify groupings of immigrant women expressing the same characteristics regarding labour market entry. In the analysis
we distinguish between arrival-cohorts and arrival-age-cohorts.
The results show that among highly-educated immigrant women, holding a position outside the labour market is very common – in fact it
is the dominant position. However, among recent cohorts the share of highly-educated women taking up this position is slightly reduced.
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