Enduring Professional Dislocation: Migrant Social Workers' Perceptions of Their Professional Roles

Fouché, Christa; Beddoe, Liz; Bartley, Allen; Haan, Irene de

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bct054

Cited by 28 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Though respondents were generally positive about their personal circumstances, including their employment and adjustment to life in NZ, they were considerably less positive in their assessment of the state of the social work profession more generally. This supports the experience of professional dislocation reported elsewhere (Fouché, Beddoe, Bartley, & De Haan, 2013). Analysis of data regarding migrant social workers' reflections on their experiences of orientation and induction into local practice culture and their experiences of mistreatment and discrimination in the NZ workforce can illuminate some aspect of this assessment.…”

Section: Findings General Impressions and Overall Satisfactionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Strengths And Struggles: Overseas Qualified Social Workers' Experiences In Aotearoa New Zealand

Fouché

Beddoe

Bartley

et al. 2013

Australian Social Work

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A growing number of professionals practise in a country other than the one where they obtained their professional qualification. A mixed-methods study explored the experiences of one group of such professionals, overseas-qualified social workers practicing in New Zealand. This article reports findings from four key informant group interviews and an online survey (N 0294), including this population's satisfaction with their employment, their introduction to local practice, and experiences of mistreatment and discrimination. The study highlights migrant social workers' desire for better access to information and induction opportunities to orient them to the local practice environment and notes their experience of discrimination in the workplace. Such findings require a thoughtful response from practitioners and professional bodies and is worthy of further research and discussion. We argue that migrant social workers in New Zealand require orientation activities tailored to meet their needs and a more welcoming system of recognition of the skills and experience they bring.

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Section: Findings General Impressions and Overall Satisfactionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Strengths And Struggles: Overseas Qualified Social Workers' Experiences In Aotearoa New Zealand

Fouché

Beddoe

Bartley

et al. 2013

Australian Social Work

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“…Research on the professional migration and adaptation of social workers has been increasing in volume internationally over the past decade Beddoe & Fouche, 2014;Brown et al, 2015;Fouche, Beddoe, Bartley, & de Haan, 2014a;Fouche, Beddoe, Bartley, & Brenton, 2014b;Hussein, Manthorpe, & Stevens, 2010;Hussein, Manthorpe, & Stevens, 2011a;Hussein, Stevens, Manthorpe, & Moriarty, 2011b;Hussein, 2014;Moriarty, Hussein, Manthorpe, & Stevens, 2012;Pullen-Sansfaçon, Spolander, & Engelbrecht, 2011;Pullen-Sansfaçon et al, 2012;Pullen-Sansfaçon et al, 2014a;Pullen-Sansfaçon et al, 2014b;Simpson, 2009;Sims, 2012;Walsh, Wilson, & O'Connor, 2010;Welbourne et al, 2007). The existing Canadian literature reveals that the transnational mobility of social workers interfaces with the Canadian labour market at several critical junctures including pursuing credential recognition, engaging in the job seeking process, and adapting to daily realities and required tasks within the new practice context once employment has been secured (Brown et al, 2015;Fang, 2012;Pullen-Sansfaçon et al, 2012).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because they're scared they have to go through the association." Indeed, for some migrant social workers the concept of being part of a regulated profession is entirely new due to the fact that, in many countries, social work is unregulated (Fouche et al, 2014a). As a migrant social worker from France remarked:…”

Section: Recognition Of Foreign Credentialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migrant Social Workers, Foreign Credential Recognition and Securing Employment in Canada

Fulton¹,

Pullen-Sansfaçon²,

Brown³

et al. 2016

cswr

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Canada is a culturally diverse receiving country for transnational migration, and social workers are among the professional migrants who arrive in Canada each year. This article draws on findings from a four-year, grounded theory study on the professional adaptation processes and experiences of migrant social workers (n = 66) in the Canadian context. Study findings highlight a range of internal (personal) attributes and external (contextual) elements that interact to serve as either protective or vulnerabilizing factors during the pre-employment phase of professional adaptation. The focus of this article is to describe the interactions of protective and vulnerabilizing factors associated with the experience of obtaining recognition of foreign credentials and securing employment as a social worker in Canada. The findings demonstrate that migrant social workers in Canada face significant barriers in these two pre-employment phases of professional adaptation. A range of research and policy implications is identified. In particular, we highlight the disconnect that exists between Canada’s migration-friendly policies, and the lack of organizational and governmental supports and services to facilitate successful labour market integration of migrant social workers.

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“…Social work is essentially a 'local activity', rooted in the historical development and current manifestations of national welfare systems and the cultural norms of a given society. However, in the 21 st century 'age of migration', and notwithstanding that the majority of people remain in the countries of their birth (Castles and Millar, 2003), labour mobility is a worldwide phenomenon evident in a wide range of occupations and professions including social work (Bartley et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘London calling’: The Experiences of International Social Work Recruits Working in London: Table 1

Hanna

Lyons

2016

Br J Soc Work

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This recruitment of International social workers (ISWs) in England has been primarily aimed at 'plugging the gaps' in the child protection services. This paper reports on one aspect of a qualitative research project investigating the post-arrival integration, professional practice and development of 'international social workers' i.e. SWs trained and qualified outside of the UK working in London and the Home Counties. Findings demonstrate that as well as being a challenging professional and work experience this form of labour mobility is a profound life event for most ISWs and, as with human migration in other fields and countries, entails a complex social, emotional and cultural transition. KEY WORDS: International Social Worker, Labour mobility, child protection, England INTRODUCTION:Social work is essentially a 'local activity', rooted in the historical development and current manifestations of national welfare systems and the cultural norms of a given society. However, in the 21 st century 'age of migration', and notwithstanding that the majority of people remain in the countries of their birth (Castles and Millar, 2003), labour mobility is a worldwide phenomenon evident in a wide range of occupations and professions including social work (Bartley et al, 2013).The study reported here was a qualitative research project funded by of the Nuffield Foundation and carried out in South East England from 2011 to2012. The inquiry's aim was to investigate the postarrival integration, professional practice and development of International social workers (ISWs) from the perspectives of both international recruits (28) and social work managers (SWMs) (15) with experience of managing this group of social workers. This paper details the findings from the international social workers in this study i.e. SWs trained and qualified outside the UK and argues that the experience of professional adaptation, acculturation and professional dislocation reported on in other social work focussed cross-national studies (e.g. Fouche et al, 2013), should not be seen independently from the social and emotional dimensions associated with the experience of immigration. The reason for this is that a combination of professional and complex personal factors often forms the motivation for coming to the UK in the first instance, and thereafter provides the reference point through which social workers assess and reflect on their experience of professional practice in the UK, both as a new home (or at least one for now) and as a receiving country. Following is a summary of relevant theory and literature; the findings are then presented and discussed before drawing some conclusions.

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Enduring Professional Dislocation: Migrant Social Workers' Perceptions of Their Professional Roles

Cited by 28 publications

References 13 publications

Strengths And Struggles: Overseas Qualified Social Workers' Experiences In Aotearoa New Zealand

Strengths And Struggles: Overseas Qualified Social Workers' Experiences In Aotearoa New Zealand

Migrant Social Workers, Foreign Credential Recognition and Securing Employment in Canada

‘London calling’: The Experiences of International Social Work Recruits Working in London: Table 1

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