Abstract

This article offers empirically based analytical scrutiny of what deskilling looks like and means for migrant nurses. We draw on 30 interviews with Filipino and Polish nurse migrants in Oslo, Norway, which we analyze comparatively. Through empirical attention to nurse migrants’ professional experiences, we address the analytically oriented question of what constitutes deskilling in their experience. Concerns over deskilling, in relation to nurse migration and beyond, prompt attention to instances of human capital not being employed in meaningful and productive ways. We argue that attention to migrants’ professional identities provides analytical opportunity to better unpack what deskilling entails. Borrowing from theorization of identities, deskilling as linked to migrants’ professional identities is understood as dynamic, processual, and situated. We propose that deskilling should be understood as part of the multi-dimensional and interacting processes of de-, re-, and upskilling. We find cases of obvious and wasteful deskilling related to authorization procedures for non-EU-trained nurses, but also instances where it may be disputable whether human resources are used well, or not, and cases of upskilling and reskilling over time. Our findings uncover three core insights. First, our approach to deskilling reveals both the scope for and the salience of migrants’ agency, despite structural constraints. Second, the importance of time and of capturing change over time in migration research becomes apparent. Third, we argue that improved conceptualizations of deskilling, linked to migrants’ professional identities, could inform policies that make better use of migrants’ human capital, and through this also contribute to migrants’ well-being.

中文翻译：

---

开箱即用的办公桌：比较菲律宾和波兰移民护士在挪威的专业经验

摘要

本文提供了基于经验的分析检查，以了解移民护理的外观和含义。我们对挪威奥斯陆的菲律宾和波兰护士移民进行了30次访谈，并进行了比较分析。通过对护士移徙者的专业经历的实证研究，我们解决了分析性取向问题，即什么构成了移民经历。与护士移徙及其他相关的对办公桌的担忧，迅速引起人们注意人力资本没有以有意义和富有成效的方式被利用的情况。我们认为，关注移民的职业身份提供了分析机会，可以更好地挖掘出动荡带来的后果。由于身份的理论化而产生的借口，与移民的专业身份相关联的办公桌改造被理解为是动态的，过程性的和处境性的。我们建议应将去马赛克理解为去技能，再技能和提高技能的多维和相互作用过程的一部分。我们发现明显的案例浪费了与未经欧盟培训的护士的授权程序有关的浪费账目的案例，但同时也发现了一些案例，在这些案例中，是否正确使用人力资源可能会引起争议，并且随着时间的推移会出现技能提升和再技能提升的情况。我们的发现揭示了三个核心见解。首先，尽管有结构上的限制，但我们采用的简化方法揭示了移民代理的范围和重要性。其次，时间和捕获随时间变化的变化在迁移研究中的重要性变得显而易见。第三，我们认为，与移民的专业身份相关的改进的书面化概念可以为更好地利用移民的人力资本的政策提供依据，