Abstract

Underemployment (i.e. a skilled worker in a low-skill job) has a negative impact on life satisfaction, and college-educated refugees often experience underemployment in the countries where they are resettled. Using interviews, this small-scale study explores college-educated Iraqi refugees’ experiences of employment in the US, and how employment experiences impact their resettlement and life satisfaction. Our participants share a complex picture of gratitude and loss, and a common framework for making short-term and long-term employment and education decisions post-resettlement. Our findings support the hypothesis that employment is one of the most influential areas of a refugee’s resettlement experience.

中文翻译：

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“我们知道的远不止这些”：生活在美国的受过大学教育的伊拉克难民的就业不足经历

摘要

就业不足（即技术工人从事低技能工作）对生活满意度有负面影响，受过大学教育的难民在他们重新安置的国家经常遇到就业不足的情况。通过访谈，这项小规模研究探讨了受过大学教育的伊拉克难民在美国的就业经历，以及就业经历如何影响他们的重新安置和生活满意度。我们的参与者分享了感恩和失去的复杂图景，以及在重新安置后做出短期和长期就业和教育决策的共同框架。我们的研究结果支持这样一种假设，即就业是难民重新安置经历中最有影响力的领域之一。