The use of migration-related competencies in continuing education: individual strategies, social and institutional conditions

4. Understandings of the Natural World from a Generational Perspective

“…The workshops were part of a transdisciplinary research project (2012)(2013)(2014), which analysed the representation and access of people with migrant biographies to professions in the field of adult/continuing education in Austria. The findings from other segments of the project have already been presented in earlier publications (Kukovetz, Sadjed & Sprung, 2014;Sadjed, Sprung & Kukovetz, 2015).…”

“…What is described in theory and numerous studies had also been confirmed in our empirical findings: adult educators with migrant biographies often have to struggle with ethnic/ racist ascriptions or simply a general 'otherness' (Bhabha, 1994;Said, 1991). The diverse ways of dealing with ascriptions and discrimination range from total denial of one's origin up to creative ways for using migration-related experiences and embodied knowledge for career advancement (Sadjed, Sprung & Kukovetz, 2015).…”

Transnational Contract Work and the Remaking of Class among Polish Workers in Construction and Shipyards: Between Collective Subjugation and Stratified Empowerment

“…In terms of power and prestige, the biggest "losers" on a contract are those with a higher education who work as blue collar workers, experiencing the downgrade of prestige or even having a sense that they should hide their education. The mismatch between education and workplace power regards particularly workers with a humanist education as contract work in technical sectors privileges technical skills, and humanistic education is known to be difficult to translate across borders (Sadjed, Sprung, Kukovetz 2015). Zarycki (2008) argues that Polish social structure bears a mix of class and stratification hierarchy, due to a high value of legitimate cultural capital; at the same time, it becomes clear that if this cultural capital does not get an appropriate articulation at the labour market, it is still a source of distinction recognized by less educated workers, but it does lose much of its value and practical impact as a class power.…”

Questioning Power Relations

“…We name just a few examples here: Many migrants face discrimination in different 2017). They often work in low-paid jobs with poor working conditions, and the labour market position, we can see that there are also a lot of skilled or highly skilled problem of deskilling of migrants in Austria is rather pronounced compared to other OECD countries (Sadjed, Sprung, & Kukovetz, 2015).…”