Portrayal of Skilled Migrants' Careers in Business and Management Studies: A Review of the Literature and Future Research Agenda

Abstract

A systematic literature review in business and management studies was conducted, which paints a portrait of the existing literature on skilled migrants' host country career experiences. Core themes arising from this review are presented, including labeling inconsistency concerning the population (with researchers using terminology such as ‘skilled migrants,’ ‘immigrant professionals’ and ‘qualified immigrants’ interchangeably); the need for including skilled migrant managers and business professionals in research (rather than concentrating on lower‐level employment categories only); and a more relational, holistic realization of skilled migrants' careers (rather than the current literature's negative portrayal, propounding the image of migrants as exploited or under‐utilized). In underlining the gaps in the literature and research in this area, a research agenda is proposed. The review is relevant for individuals following careers in a foreign country; for organizations employing and developing the careers of internationally mobile employees; and for human resource management professionals supporting international employees.

Do Italians Really Do It Better? Evidence of Migrant Pay Disparities in the Top Italian Football League

“…Overall, our results point to a complex picture of migrant pay discrimination. A recent review of the literature on discrimination against skilled migrants in business and management studies have observed that a negative image has been prevalent; migrants are portrayed as underutilized or exploited, and there have been calls for a more relational and holistic appraisal of issues (Crowley‐Henry et al ., ). Our results inform and advance the literature in the direction of further research in this area by showing that straight forward claims of discrimination do not capture the complexities of other underlying issues.…”

Unveiling the Canvas Ceiling: A Multidisciplinary Literature Review of Refugee Employment and Workforce Integration

“…2017; Crowley‐Henry et al . 2018; Fossland 2013) and map our findings across three levels of analysis: institutional, organizational and individual (see Figure 1). We recognize that our partition of findings across levels is arbitrary at times, due to the compound and interrelated effects of various constructs on refugee employment outcomes.…”

Linking Talent Management to Traditional and Boundaryless Career Orientations: Research Propositions and Future Directions

“…Themes that emerged include, but are not limited to, the role of culture, history, and more broadly social factors in understanding careers globally, and the impact of international HRM policies and employment relations (Ollier‐Malaterre and Foucreault, ). Another theme is the international mobility of workers (Crowley‐Henry et al, ). These topics are discussed below.…”

“…The boundaryless career concept (DeFillippi and Arthur, ) has been used to theorize international careers as boundary crossing endeavors (Shaffer et al, ; Dickmann and Cerdin, ). Careers scholars have recognized that international mobility is an important topic for understanding contemporary careers (Selmer and Lauring, ; Crowley‐Henry et al, ). Various forms of international mobility have been studied.…”