Work experiences of qualified immigrants: a review of theoretical progress

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-01-2019-0046
• Published date: 23 June 2021
• Date: 23 June 2021
• Pages: 1063-1090
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion
• Author: Ali Dehghanpour Farashah,Tomas Blomquist

Work experiences of qualified

immigrants: a review of

theoretical progress

Ali Dehghanpour Farashah

School of Business, Society and Engineering, M€

alardalen University,

V€

aster



as, Sweden, and

Tomas Blomquist

Ume



a School of Business, Economics and Statistics, Ume



a University, Ume



a, Sweden

Abstract

Purpose –Qualified immigrants (QIs) and their work experiences have been studied using a wide variety of

theoretical approaches with divergent characteristics. This paper reviews theoretical progress and proposes

directions for future research and practice.

Design/methodology/approach –Using relevant keywords, articles indexed by Web of Science in

management, business, industrial relations and applied psychology were systematically searched for and

analysed. In total, 60 theoretical articles published during 2008–2018 were included. The theoretical progress and

future theoretical and practical challenges were organised based on the notions of equality, diversity and inclusion.

Findings –Eight theoretical approaches utilised to study QIs’work experiences were recognised: (1) human

capital theory, (2) career capital theory, (3) theory of practice, (4) intersectionality, (5) social identity theory, (6)

sensemaking, (7) cultural identity transition and (8) the career-centred approach. The contributions and

limitations of each theoretical lens were then scrutinised. Overall, research on QIs still lacks a comprehensive

theoretical framework. As a step towards that, the paper proposes considering the role of organisations and

labour market intermediaries, strategic view over the immigrant workforce, agency–institution play, identity–

capital play and host–immigrant play.

Research limitations/implications –The focus is on theory development and empirical papers with no

clear theoretical foundation are excluded.

Originality/value –This review is the first attempt to summarise and direct the divergent research on the

topic. The main contribution is setting an agenda for future research, particularly by proposing the elements of

a comprehensive theoretical framework for studying QIs in the workplace.

Keywords Immigration, Qualified immigrant, Employment, Equality, Diversity, Theoretical review

Paper type Literature review

Introduction

Immigrant workers contribute significantly to global social and economic development.

However, migration is a complex issue that presents challenges for immigrants, in terms of

access to the labour market and career development, and for organisations and host societies,

in terms of increased diversity (Burke and Ng, 2006). With a recent rise in research on

immigrant workers, academics and practitioners have documented several key, permeating

issues regarding migration and global careers (Cohen et al., 2011). However, there has been no

systematic review devoted solely to immigrant workers, similar to reviews regarding

expatriate workers (e.g. Baruch et al., 2016;Shaffer et al., 2012).

Theories for

studying

qualified

immigrants

1063

© Ali Dehghanpour Farashah and Tomas Blomquist. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This

article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may

reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-

commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of

this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

This research was supported by Swedish Research Council for Health, Working life and Welfare

(FORTE) under grant Dnr: 2017-00285.

Received 31 January 2019

Revised 13 November 2019

29 June 2020

Accepted 6 November 2020

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 41 No. 7, 2022

pp. 1063-1090

Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-01-2019-0046

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

International migrant workers are a diverse group. The literature mainly identifies three

types of immigrant workers: assigned expatriates, self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) and

immigrant workers (Farcas and Goncalves, 2017). An expatriate is a migrant worker

relocated by a corporate to a foreign subsidiary for a specific mission; they receive full

support from the corporate during their temporary stay abroad (McNulty and Brewster,

2017). By contrast, SIEs decide to move and work abroad of their own volition but, like

expatriates, their stay is temporary (Farcas and Goncalves, 2017). Like SIEs, immigrant

workers are not supported by a corporation at the time of arrival; unlike SIEs, however, they

intend to permanently reside in the host country and eventually acquire citizenship (Przytuła,

2015). These groups of immigrants differ significantly in their motives, needs and attitudes

regarding the work and integration context (Baruch et al., 2013;Haines et al., 2008).

This paper focusses primarily on qualified immigrants (QIs). Among developed countries,

there is a trend towards policies that aim to control migration flows by selectively attracting

highly QIs (Emilsson, 2015). However, QIs mostly remain a “forgotten minority”, especially in

management and organisation research (Binggeli et al., 2013). Focussing on QIs is vital from

the perspectives of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI): despite the efforts of QIs and host

societies, matching their employment to their skill level remains challenging (Elrick, 2016;

Ette et al., 2016). Researchers and policymakers have recently recognised that QIs as a group

require independent labour markets initiatives and treatment, and the number of studies on

this group has increased sharply in recent years (Hajro et al., 2019). This review attempts to

demonstrate the breadth of research on QIs’work experiences and understand the theoretical

insights of existing literature. This review tackles two research questions:

RQ1. Theoretical progress: Which theories have been used to study qualified

immigrants’work experiences? What is our state-of-the-art understanding of

qualified immigrants’EDI experiences in the workplace, as illuminated by

theories?

RQ2. Challenges ahead: From a theoretical perspective, what relevant constructs and

areas of research are lacking and what are the main theoretical gaps? Subsequently,

which directions should future research take to offer new insights on qualified

immigrants’EDI experiences in the workplace? From a practical perspective, what

should immigrants, employers and other social actors do to enhance EDI in the

workplace for qualified immigrants?

By addressing these research questions, we contribute to QI research by organising the

fragmented and rapidly growing literature, providing an in-depth picture of recent progress.

We also expand on prior enquiries by proposing new directions for both research and practice

regarding EDI in the workplace for QIs.

The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. We first define the concept of QI and

clarify the process of identifying relevant research. Then, we detail the eight identified

theoretical approaches, discussing the contributions and limitations of each approach, as well

as their main empirical findings. To show the commitment of the research to creating positive

change, we also discuss practical initiatives and mechanisms to enhance EDI in the

workplace. We also propose a future research agenda.

Defining QIs and work experiences

QIs have diverse attributes in terms of reasons for migrating, level of human capital or social

connections, degree of cultural closeness to the host culture and level of motivation to

integrate. They are also diverse with respect to the traditional diversity dimensions of race,

age, ethnic and national origin, gender and disability (Binggeli et al., 2013). However, QIs are

EDI

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