This article contributes to the understanding of skilled labor migration by exploring some of the differences in the economic behavior of three contrasting groups of returned skilled labor migrants from Slovakia to the United Kingdom: professionals and managers; students; and au pairs. Formal professional experiences and training provide only limited understanding of the value of working/studying abroad. Instead, there is a need to look at particular competences, such as interpersonal skills and self-confidence, as well as the role of social recognition. The empirical results also emphasize the importance of spatiality and temporality when analyzing skilled labor migration.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlexanderP. A., SchallertD. L., and HareV. C.1991“Coming to Terms: How Researchers in Learning and Literacy Talk about Knowledge,”Review of Educational Research, 61(3): 315–344.
2.
Anderson, B.2000Doing the Dirty Work: The Global Politics of Domestic Labour.London: Zed Books.
3.
Benson-ReaM., and RawlinsonS.2003“Highly Skilled and Business Migrants: Information Processes and Settlement Outcomes,”International Migration, 41(2): 59–79.
4.
ConstantA., and MasseyD. S.2002“Return Migration by German Guestworkers: Neoclassical versus New Economic Theories,”International Migration, 40(4): 5–38.
5.
DustmannC.1999“Temporary Migration, Human Capital and Language Fluency of Migrants,”Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 101(2): 297–314.
6.
DustmannC.1994“Speaking Fluency, Writing Fluency, and Earnings of Migrants,”Journal of Population Economics, 7: 133–156.
7.
EvansK.2002“The Challenges of ‘Making Learning Visible': Problems and Issues in Recognizing Tacit Skills and Key Competences.” In Working to Learn: Transformative Learning in the Workplace. Ed. EvansK., HodkinsonP., and UnwinL.London: Kogan Page. Pp. 7–28
8.
EvansK., and RainbirdH.2002“The Significance of Workplace Learning for a ‘Learning Society.’” In Working to Learn: Transformative Learning in the Workplace. Ed. EvansK., HodkinsonP., and UnwinL.London: Kogan Page. Pp. 79–94
9.
FindlayA., LiF., JowettA., and SkeldonR.1996“Skilled International Migration and the Global City: A Study of Expatriates in Hong Kong,”Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 21: 49–61.
10.
GhoshB. N.1985“Brain Migration from the Third World: An Implicative Analysis,”Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche en Commerciali, 34(1): 21–34.
11.
HawthorneL.2002“Qualifications Recognition Reform for Skilled Migration in Australia: Applying Competency-based Assessment to Overseas Qualified Nurses,”International Migration, 40(6): 55–91.
12.
Henshall MomsenJ.1999“Maids on the Move: Victim or Victor.” In Gender, Migration and Domestic Service. Ed. Hensall-MomsenJ.London: Routledge. Pp. 1–20
13.
HochschildA. R.2000“Global Care Chains and Emotional Surplus Value.” In On the Edge: Living with Global Capitalism. Ed. HuttonW., and GiddensA.London: Jonathan Cape. Pp. 130–146
14.
HodkinsonP., and BloomerM.2002“Learning Careers: Conceptualising Lifelong Work-based Learning.” In Working to Learn: Transforming Learning in the Workplace. Ed. EvansK., HodkinsonP., and UnwinL.London: Kogan Place. Pp. 29–43
15.
IglickaK.2001Poland's Post War Dynamic of Migration.Aldershot: Ashgate.
16.
JordanB., and DüvellF.2002Irregular Migration: The Dilemmas of Transnational Mobility.Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
17.
KhadriaB.2001“Shifting Paradigms of Globalization: The Twenty-First Century Transition towards Generics in Skilled Labour Migration from India,”International Migration, 39(5): 45–71.
18.
KingR.2002“Towards a New Map of European Migration,”International Journal of Population Geography, 8(2): 89–106.
19.
KingR.1986“Return Migration and Regional Economic Development: An Overview.” In Return Migration and Regional Economic Problems. Ed. KingR.London: Croom Helm. Pp. 1–37
20.
KofmanE.2000“The Invisibility of Skilled Female Migrants and Gender Relations in Studies of Skilled Migration in Europe,”International Journal of Population Geography, 6(1): 45–60.
21.
LiF. N. L., FindlayA. M., JowettA. J., and SkeldonR.1996“Migration to Learn and Learning to Migrate,”International Journal of Population Geography, 2: 51–67.
22.
LowellB. L., and FindlayA.2002Migration of Highly Skilled Persons from Developing Countries: Impact and Policy Responses.Geneva: International Labor Office.
23.
MahroumS.1999“Highly Skilled Globetrotters.” In Mobilising Human Resources for Innovation. Proceedings of the OECD Workshop on Science and Technology Labour Markets. Ed. OECD. Paris: OECD.
24.
PolanyiM.1958Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy.London: Routledge.
25.
RegetsM.1997“Migration of Foreign Scientists and Engineers to the U.S.” Sloan Foundation Workshop, May 21, 1997 (quoted in Mahroum, 1999).
26.
ReichR.1992The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism.New York: Vintage Books.
27.
SaltJ.1988“Highly Skilled International Migrants, Careers and Internal Labour Markets,”Geoforum, 19(4): 387–399.
28.
van der HeijdenB. I. J. M.2002“Individual Career Initiatives and Their Influence upon Professional Expertise Development throughout the Career,”International Journal of Training and Development, 6(2): 54–79.
29.
van ParijsP.2000“The Ground Floor of the World: on the Socio-Economic Consequences of Linguistic Globalization,”International Political Science Review, 21(2): 217–233.
30.
WallaceC., and StolaD., eds. 2001Patterns of Migration in Central Europe.Basingstoke: Palgrave.
31.
WilliamsA. M., and BalážV.2004“From Private to Public Sphere, The Commodification of the Au Pair Experience? Returned Migrants from Slovakia to the UK,”Environment and Planning A, 36: 1813–1833
32.
WilliamsA. M., BalážV., and KollarD.2001“Coming and Going in Slovakia: Labour Migration in the Central European ‘Buffer Zone,’”Environment and Planning A, 33: 1101–1123.
33.
WilliamsA. M., BalážV., and WallaceC.2004“International Labour Mobility and Uneven Regional Development in Europe: Human Capital, Knowledge and Entrepreneurship,”European Urban and Regional Studies, 11(1): 27–46.
34.
WilliamsA. M., BalážV., and ZujacS.1998“The EU and Central Europe: The Reinternationalization of Economic Relationships,”Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 89(2): 131–149.
