Work in Transition : Cultural Capital and Highly Skilled Migrants' Passages Into the Labour Market

__Work in Transition__ shows how migrants develop their cultural capital in order to enter the workforce, as well as how failure to leverage that capital can lead to permanent exclusion from professional positions.

Despite the fact that many countries target highly skilled migrants for recruitment in the global labour market, few of those migrants are able to take full advantage of their educational and professional qualifications in their new homes. Work in Transition examines this paradox, using extended narrative interviews that focus on the role that cultural capital plays in the labour market.

Comparing the migrant experience in Germany, Canada, and Turkey, Work in Transition shows how migrants develop their cultural capital in order to enter the workforce, as well as how failure to leverage that capital can lead to permanent exclusion from professional positions. Exposing the mechanisms that drive inclusion and exclusion for migrants from a transatlantic comparative perspective, this book provides a unique analytical approach to an increasingly important global issue.

"Despite the fact that many countries target highly skilled migrants for recruitment in the global labour market, few of those migrants are able to take full advantage of their educational and professional qualifications in their new homes. Work in Transition examines this paradox, using extended narrative interviews that focus on the role that cultural capital plays in the labour market. Comparing the migrant experience in Germany, Canada, and Turkey, Work in Transition shows how migrants develop their cultural capital in order to enter the workforce, as well as how failure to leverage that capital can lead to permanent exclusion from professional positions. Exposing the mechanisms that drive inclusion and exclusion for migrants from a transatlantic comparative perspective, this book provides a unique analytical approach to an increasingly important global issue."-- Provided by publisher Contents 5 List of Tables 7 List of Figures 9 Acknowledgments 11 Rules of Transcription 13 1. Highly Skilled Migrants: A Puzzling Socioeconomic Reality and a Challenge to Migration Research 15 2. The Relational Character of Cultural Capital in Migration 37 3. Multidimensional Status Passages: Migration, Labour Market Inclusion, and Private Life Domains 64 4. Aspects of the Multidimensional Status Passage: Phases, Migration Motives, and Cultural Capital among Foreign-Trained Migrants in Germany 81 5. Migration Control and Migrants’ Agency 106 6. Symbolic Struggles over Cultural Capital: Racial Discrimination and Symbolic Exclusion 171 7. Up- and Downgrading Cultural Credit: A Cross-Country Comparison 218 8. Conclusions 256 Appendix 1 271 Appendix 2 282 Appendix 3 285 Notes 287 References 313 Index 355