Conceptualising refugees’ pathways into work: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Employment of refugees is high on the agenda of researchers and policy makers alike. Research has shown that employment is a key factor towards successful participation in society. Given the importance of employment for refugees, there is surprisingly little knowledge regarding the pathways into work for these at the organisational level. While several aspects at the individual and macro level may affect refugees’ employment, their pathways into work occur in a specific organisational context with several actors involved in this process. In this study, we aim to analyse how refugees’ pathways into work are conceptualised in the relevant literature and what can be learnt from these for research about refugees in organisations, and what are the implications for managerial practice. To address these points, we carried out a systematic literature review of publications in four major databases (Business Source Premier, EconLIT, SocIndex and PsycInfo) published up to the end of June 2020. The search resulted in 259 publications, addressing refugees’ pathways into work. In our analysis, we followed a three-step iterative process, conducting both descriptive statistical as well as qualitative thematic analysis of full-texts addressing refugees in organisations. Proposing a so-called ‘Toblerone model’ of refugees’ pathways into work, we aim to provide a more coherent representation of the pathways emphasising 1) the co-construction of such pathways, 2) the heterogeneity between actors and factors impacting these pathways, 3) the interrelatedness between actors involved at the macro, organisational as well as individual level and 4) dynamic development over time.