Two visiting research fellows, Nur Üstündağ and Juliana Fornasier join the Department for Migration and Globalisation from October 2021 to January 2022 for preparatory research for potential PhD projects.
Nur Üstündağ research focuses on the integration of highly educated Syrian refugees, while Juliana Fornasier’s examines the role of knowledge transfer for cities’ integration policies.
Abstract by Juliana Fornasier
The role of knowledge transfer for cities’ integration policies
Cities are places where people come together to live, work and find opportunities. Therefore, they are also the places where migration manifests itself most clearly, being the first destinations for migrants, and where they search for housing and jobs, access services, interact with others and build life expectations. This imposes challenges to local actors with regards to migrants’ integration. Over the last decades, more relevance has been given to the role of city authorities and other local actors in migration policymaking, however, the level of communication and knowledge exchange among these various local stakeholders and its impact on the making, implementation and effectiveness of policies remains to be further explored. This exposé proposes initial research ideas to broaden the knowledge on these matters within the European scope.
Abstract by Nur Üstündağ
Highly Educated Syrian Migrants in Turkey and Germany:
Labor, Skill-Mismatch and Deskilling
My research will focus on highly educated Syrian migrants which are rarely discussed as a matter of deskilling, mainly fled to Turkey and Germany. With this purpose, I analyze the working conditions of these Syrian professionals, who have the same country of origin and migrated during the same period. I analyze how they are treated, and how they had different lived experiences due to the varying policy of their host countries. Furthermore, I try to compare the labor market based on problematizing job skill level, job satisfaction, working conditions, and socio-economic cohesion related to migrants’ capitals, which may be acquired differently. I analyze the views of these migrants on labor policies to find out their impacts and whether or not these are implemented in practice.