Occupational experiences of high‐skilled intra‐EU immigrants in a transnational space? How European physicians in Germany perceive their career prospects

Abstract

AbstractThis paper investigates subjective labour market incorporation of European physicians in Germany as high‐skilled intra‐EU immigrants by analysing their perceived career advancement. Applying reference frames as an analytical tool, understood as comparisons with as significant perceived social others, my approach not only scrutinises immigrants' career assessments but also disentangles the differentiation mechanisms that the physicians interviewed deem responsible for their career advancement, whilst accounting for transnational comparisons as a possible compensatory strategy. Building on an original mixed‐methods study, this paper distinguishes based on survey data (N = 963) between those who perceive themselves as disadvantaged towards German peers and those who do not. The analysis rests on 19 semi‐structured interviews. The results emphasise migrant physicians' framing focussing on the country of arrival rather than a transnational perspective. Gender more than migrant status seems to account for career obstacles for some, whereas for Eastern Europeans especially both dimensions appear to reinforce one another.