Downward Mobility: Loss of Career as a Post Migration Stressor for

Refugees

Dareen Basma, M.S. & Kevin Webster, B.S.

University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleJune 5th, 2015

Tennessee Career Development Association

Who Are ‘Refugees’?

• 1951 – UNHCR Convention• “Someone who owing to a well-founded fear of

being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a social group, or political opinion; is outside of the country of his/her nationality, and is unable, or owing to such fear unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country or unwilling to return to it.”

• Migrants vs. Refugees

Refugee Admissions

• In 2012, 58,238 refugees were admitted.

• In 2013, 69,500 refugees were admitted.

• In 2014, 70,000 were admitted.

• 2015 proposed ceiling: 70,000

• Estimates:• 17,000 from Africa• 13,000 from East

Asia• 33,000 from the

Middle East and South Asia

Case Example: Noor• Country: Somalia

• Education: Elementary School Training program

• Career: Elementary School Teacher (7 years)

• Personal Info: 27 years old; mother of two, widow

• Language: Arabic; some English

• Current Employment: Subway

Career Related Stressors

• Downward mobility

• 50% of immigrant (including refugees) experience downward mobility (Akresh, 2006)

• Refugee camp internment affects length of employment trouble (Codell et. al., 2011)

• Barriers to career and access to economic viability• Education level, English language ability, similar

culture, prior experiences, Information barriers to access career resources

Implications

• Psychosocial• Resignation• Role discrepancies

(Loss of role/downward family status)• Loss of role in

family/gender roles• Devalued Identity• Loss of social status

associated with career

• Mental Health• Feelings of

helplessness• Major Depression• Suicidal Ideation• Agoraphobia• Social Isolation

Credential Evaluation

“Field that employs applied comparative education to assess educational credentials from one country in terms of their equivalence, in level, scope, and intent, to the credentials of another country” (TAICEP)

• Employers

• Universities

• Professional Licensing Boards (Teachers, nurses, medical doctors, social workers, etc.)

• Governments (military, immigration)

• Private NFP organizations (19 Accredited in U.S.)

WHO?

Why Credential Evaluation?

“Ensures the proper recognition of foreign

credentials for purposes of further education, professional

licensure, employment and other circumstances where educational credentials are

required” (TAICEP)

“Our job is to make sure cab drivers don’t come to our country and end up working as doctors, and that doctors don’t come to our country and end up working as cab drivers.” (TAICEP Evaluator)

• Provides a method of recognition of credentials and experiences from the heterogeneous education systems of the world

• Quality Assurance of higher education in the U.S.

• For guidance by employers, universities, licensing boards (Andersson & Guo, 2009)

Credential Evaluation & Downward Mobility

• Political situation in home country makes it impossible to determine veracity of documents

• Documents are abandoned, lost, destroyed, or withheld

• If communication is viable, it may take months years to produce them

• Number of years or scope of training does not correlate with U.S. standard for profession

• Education level attainment that grants access to profession is different than host country

• Entrance qualifications is different from home country

What it might look like…

Length…

Entry point

Lack of uniformity between education

systems

There is discrepancy in access to

professions and careers for refugees

B’s degree

M.D.

Downward Mobility

Doctors

Teachers

Lawyers

Accountants

Degree holders/Graduates

Med. techs

Asst. teachers

Paralegals

Bookkeepers/Assistants

Students

Coping (Gans, 2009)

1. Returning to the country of origin

2. Retaining past non-occupational status (social status)

3. Moving forward

4. Transnationalizing

5. Postponing Mobility

Noor - Continued

• Noor met with career counselor through her resettlement agency

• It was determined that her qualifications only allow her to be a teacher’s assistant, her language barriers may present as a struggle in getting hired as one.

• Options?

Conclusions

• Counselors should inquire and learn about the past career, learning/educational benchmarks, and professional and future goals

• Navigating bureaucracy may be problematic and time consuming for both counselor and refugee• Counselors should learn about immigration processes/systems

• Identifying the individual’s coping mechanism may be important to understanding their reaction to downward mobility, loss of career, liminal status

• Regaining previous career or accessing meaningful employment may take years or may be impossible without further education and monetary investment

Resources• Bridge Refugee Services (East TN resettlement)

• http://www.bridgerefugees.org/

• Catholic Charities of Tennessee, Tennessee Office For Refugees

• http://www.cctenn.org/servicesdetails.cfm?id=9/

• U.S. Refugee Processing Center

• https://www.wrapsnet.org/

• United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees

• http://www.unrefugees.org/

• National Association for Credential Evaluation Services (Accrediting body for C.E.)

• http://www.naces.org/

References• Abel, C.F., Sementelli, A.J. (2002). Academic background and admissions to American universities.

New Direction for Higher Education, 117, 53-56.• Akresh, I.R. (2006). Occupational mobility among legal immigrants in the United States.

International Migration Review, 40, 854-884. • Andersson, P. & Guo, Shibao (2009). Governing through non/recognition: The mission “R” in the

PLAR for immigrant professionals in Canada and Sweden. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 28, 423-437.

• Carlson, C.A. (1991) International medical education: Common elements in divergent systems. Journal of the American Medical Association, 266, 921-923.

• Codell, J.D., Hill, R.D., Woltz, D.J., & Gore Jr., P.A. (2011). Predicting meaningful employment for refugees: The influence of personal characteristics and developmental factors on employment status and hourly wages. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 33, 216-224.

• Gans, H.J. (2009). First generation decline: Downward mobility among refugees and immigrants. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32, 1658-1670.

• Morrice, L. (2013). Refugees in higher education: Boundaries of belonging and recognition, stigma, and exclusion. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 32, 652-668. Doi: 10.1080/02601370.2012.761288

• Shakya, Y.B., Guruge, S., Hynie, M., Akbari, A., Malik, M., Htoo, S., Khogali, A., Mona, S.A., Murtaza, R., Alley, S. (2010). Aspirations for higher education among newcomer refugee youth in Toronto: Expectations, challenges, and strategies. Refuge, 27, 65-77

• Skjerven, S.A. & Malgina, M. (2014). Recognising qualifications of refugees: A Norweigen approach. European Association for International Education

• Warfa, N., Curtis, S., Watters, C., Carswell, K., Ingleby, D., & Bhui, K. (2012). Migration experiences, employment status and psychological distress among Somali immigrants: A mixed-method international study. BMC Public Health, 12.