Abstract
In recent years, an increasingly international competition for highly-skilled professionals has become apparent. Many countries try to attract highly-skilled migrants and to keep them for the long term. These countries also allow the immigration of close family members, who are expected to play an important role in the decision to migrate and to stay in a country. However, accompanying partners often face significant difficulties when entering the foreign labour market.The paper is based on 26 qualitative interviews with the accompanying partners of highly-skilled migrants in the United Kingdom [UK]. It explores the challenges that they face when trying to take up work after migration, elaborates on their strategies of finding work and examines the conditions for their labour market integration. The paper draws on Bourdieu’s concept of capital accumulation and conversion and asks how partners negotiate the value of their cultural capital after migration. In order to better understand their professional integration, accompanying partners’ positions after migration are related to their career plans before migration. Consequently, the paper differentiates between family migrants who use their expatriation as an occasion for a career change, family migrants who continue their career abroad and family migrants who wish to continue their career, but do not succeed.
Highlights
In recent years, an increasingly international competition for highly-skilled professionals has become apparent
Many countries try to attract highly-skilled migrants and to keep them for the long term. These countries allow the immigration of close family members, who are expected to play an important role in the decision to migrate and to stay in a country
Given the importance attached to the labour market integration of accompanying partners and the difficulties of family migrants in continuing their career abroad, this paper explores the following questions: What challenges do accompanying partners of highly-skilled migrants face when trying to enter the labour market after migration? What strategies do they develop against the backdrop of these challenges and their personal objectives? In order to answer the latter question, I will draw on Bourdieu’s concept of capital and pay particular attention to how partners negotiate the value of their cultural capital in the process of positioning themselves in the labour market
Summary
An increasingly international competition for highly-skilled professionals has become apparent. In recent years, increased competition on an international level for highly-skilled staff has become apparent (Salt, 2009), because they are expected to ensure the international competitiveness of national economies (European Council, 2009) In this context, the possibility of accompanying partners of working in the host country is portrayed as an important influencing factor in attracting highly-skilled migrants (Migration Advisory Committee [MAC], 2009). Given the importance attached to the labour market integration of accompanying partners and the difficulties of family migrants in continuing their career abroad, this paper explores the following questions: What challenges do accompanying partners of highly-skilled migrants face when trying to enter the labour market after migration? The following section briefly summarises some aspects of the role of economic, social and (2019) 7:6
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