Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: education systems and inequalities
- one Theorising the impact of education systems on inequalities
- two Comparing education policies in a globalising world: methodological reflections
- three Education systems and intersectionality
- four Measuring educational institutional diversity: tracking, vocational orientation and standardisation
- five Sorting and (much) more: prior ability, school effects and the impact of ability tracking on educational inequalities in achievement
- six Data analysis techniques to model the effects of education systems on educational inequalities
- seven Education systems and inequality based on social origins: the impact of school expansion and design
- eight Education systems and gender inequalities in educational attainment
- nine Tracking, school entrance requirements and the educational performance of migrant students
- ten From exclusion and segregation to inclusion? Dis/ability-based inequalities in the education systems of Germany and Nigeria
- eleven Education systems and meritocracy: social origin, educational and status attainment
- twelve Education systems and gender inequalities in educational returns
- thirteen Education systems and migrant-specific labour market returns
- fourteen Health returns on education and educational systems
- fifteen Good and bad education systems: is there an ideal?
- Conclusions and summary
- Index
thirteen - Education systems and migrant-specific labour market returns
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: education systems and inequalities
- one Theorising the impact of education systems on inequalities
- two Comparing education policies in a globalising world: methodological reflections
- three Education systems and intersectionality
- four Measuring educational institutional diversity: tracking, vocational orientation and standardisation
- five Sorting and (much) more: prior ability, school effects and the impact of ability tracking on educational inequalities in achievement
- six Data analysis techniques to model the effects of education systems on educational inequalities
- seven Education systems and inequality based on social origins: the impact of school expansion and design
- eight Education systems and gender inequalities in educational attainment
- nine Tracking, school entrance requirements and the educational performance of migrant students
- ten From exclusion and segregation to inclusion? Dis/ability-based inequalities in the education systems of Germany and Nigeria
- eleven Education systems and meritocracy: social origin, educational and status attainment
- twelve Education systems and gender inequalities in educational returns
- thirteen Education systems and migrant-specific labour market returns
- fourteen Health returns on education and educational systems
- fifteen Good and bad education systems: is there an ideal?
- Conclusions and summary
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Industrialised countries have increasingly competed for the best and the brightest immigrants in recent decades (Iredale, 1999; Mahroum, 2001; Quaked, 2002; Hugo 2005; Asis and Piper, 2008). By adjusting admission policies in order to attract highly skilled immigrants, immigrant-receiving countries try to balance their country's economic needs and humanitarian obligations; they also go to considerable efforts to ensure that newcomers assimilate smoothly into the labour market. Despite these efforts, concerns are often heard about the waste of newcomer potential in reference to their failure to adequately integrate into host-country labour markets. Across many European Union (EU) countries, there is a glaring gap in employment rates between third-country nationals and EU nationals or native-born populations (van Tubergen et al, 2004; Kogan, 2006, 2007; Fleischmann and Dronkers, 2010). When employed, immigrants – especially those originating from outside the EU – are more likely to be overqualified and to occupy jobs at the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder. One of the obvious reasons for immigrant integration problems in general, and for the underutilisation of their skills in particular, is related to the difficulties in transferring immigrant human capital from their origin to destination countries.
Migration scholars have long recognised this problem, relating immigrant (initial) difficulties to the loss of value associated with their foreign credentials or skill devaluation (Chiswick, 1978; Borjas, 1994; Friedberg, 2000). As credentials are normally used to screen candidates for job openings (Spence, 1973), individuals with foreign qualifications are likely to be disadvantaged during this process. Cain (1986) characterises the problem as ‘informational discrimination’, since immigrants are penalised for the uncertainty of employers about their educational credentials.
One way to overcome employer uncertainties is to increase the amount of information that can be relied on in recruitment decision making, for example by providing employers with credible ways to assess foreign diplomas. This procedure is appropriate because it provides immigrants with guidance about the value of their qualifications in the new setting, and matches their diplomas to the needs of the host country's economy. It also helps them decide whether additional training or retraining might be worthwhile.
This process of assessment and recognition involves multiple actors, including educational authorities, professional bodies, specialised recognition bodies and employer associations (OECD, 2014).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Education Systems and InequalitiesInternational Comparisons, pp. 279 - 300Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2016
- 1
- Cited by