Conquering the labour market: the socioeconomic enablement of refugee women in Austria

Abstract

Refugee women from the Near and Middle East face specific challenges when entering the Austrian labour market. Particularly gender-based factors, including care and reproductive work, exert pressure on these women and constitute major hurdles for successful entry into employment in Austria. Based on nine qualitative interviews with refugee women who swiftly gained entry to the labour market as well as ten qualitative interviews with experts from public and private support organisations, we investigate refugee women’s social and cultural capital as well as the individual agencies that foster paths into the labour market. We introduce the concept of enablement as the process of gathering the preconditions for overcoming the challenges that arise on that path. Finally, we illuminate the ways in which the three dimensions of individual, relational and institutional enablement interrelate and shape individual agency with regard to labour market integration.

The German Government Policy on the Integration and Deportation of African Migrants

“…The integration of some of these African migrants from the sub-Saharan African countries and West Africa in particular from countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, and many other countries has a significant impact on both the host country which is Germany and also the countries they came from. After some of these migrants and refugees entered the labor market, they start to help their families back in their home countries hence their purpose of traveling was basically to change their life and the economic status of their families (Schiestl et al, 2021b).…”

“…A statistic in the same report shows that the number of international migrants on the global scale has increased to almost 272 million globally (McAuliffe et al, n.d.). Migration is a significant tool in enhancing the sustainability of EU countries' welfare systems and their economies (Schiestl et al, 2021a). The phenomenon is said to have two forms, regular and irregular (legal & illegal) migration.…”