The Combined Effect of Qualifications and Marriage on the Employment Trajectories of Peruvian Graduates in Switzerland

Abstract

Much research to date has shown that migrants from the Global South to the wealthier nations of the North often experience a devaluation of their educational credentials, notably because their initial qualifications are not recognised in their host countries. The limited validity of educational achievements is often identified as the main cause of the relatively unfavourable labour market outcomes of highly skilled migrants, who tend to be concentrated in the least prestigious employment sectors and to bare an unequal share of precarious jobs. In this article, we adopt a slightly different approach to this issue, by focussing on the professional and personal trajectories of migrants who acquired education credentials in their host country. Although previous research has stressed the difficulties faced by non-EU students in Swiss HE institutions, both in terms of successfully completing their educational programme and in finding qualified jobs afterwards, the aim of the article is to better understand the gender dynamics that are associated with post-graduation employment trajectories. By examining the employment outcomes of Peruvian graduates, from Swiss Higher Education (HE) institutions, we are able to reveal the influence of educational credentials on their subsequent life-course is mediated by events in other life spheres. Using a gender-sensitive approach, we analyse the effects of legal barriers and family dynamics on the employment trajectories of migrant graduates. We show that obtaining a Swiss HE qualification is rarely enough to guarantee access to the upper reaches of the Swiss labour market. In most cases, such qualifications need to be combined with marriage to a Swiss (or EU) citizen before these highly qualified migrants are able to settle legally in the host country and start a career that is congruent to their educational credentials. However, the family reunification route into legal residency is not without its own hazards. For women in particular, it may cancel out some of the advantages associated with having a Swiss qualification and lead to precarious or under-qualified positions on the labour market.