ABSTRACT

We investigate ‘employment incongruity’ among skilled migrants from Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries – that is, whether the jobs they achieve in Australia match the jobs they expect to be doing after they arrive or not – along with the factors that shape outcomes and the gendered dimensions of these outcomes. We analyse data collected from qualitative interviews with 15 females and eight male skilled MENA migrants, a median of seven years after arrival and apply an intersectionality lens and consider influences at the macro, meso and micro level that affect the power of female MENA migrants and shape their employment outcomes. We identify that what appears to shape employment incongruity are: organisational practices regarding recognition of overseas qualifications and demands for ‘local experience’; norms supporting discriminatory behaviour; the difficulties skilled MENA migrants have with accessing networks; and intra-family cultural norms. These findings are significant for current and future skilled MENA migrants, with the employment outcomes of most of the participants in this study revealing a mismatch between government immigration policies and organisational practices.

摘要

我们调查了来自中东和北非（MENA）国家的技术移民中的“就业不一致性”，即他们在澳大利亚获得的工作是否与他们到达后是否期望的工作相符，以及形成这些因素的因素结果以及这些结果的性别维度。我们分析了从15名女性和8名男性MENA移民的定性访谈中收集的数据（中位数为抵达后的7年），并应用了一个交互镜头，并考虑了在宏观，中观和微观层面上影响女性MENA移民的力量和形态的影响他们的就业成果。我们发现，似乎导致就业不协调的因素有：有关承认海外资格和对“本地经验”的要求的组织实践；支持歧视性行为的规范；中东和北非熟练移民在访问网络方面遇到的困难；以及家庭内部的文化规范。这些发现对于当前和未来熟练的中东和北非地区移民具有重要意义，该研究的大多数参与者的就业结果表明，政府移民政策与组织惯例之间存在不匹配。