Doctoral thesis of philosophy the jobseeking experiences of skilled migrants in australia an exploration of occupational mobility outcomes

The jobseeking experiences of skilled migrants in Australia: An exploration of occupational mobility outcomes A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Don Asanka Sanjeewa Livera Tennakoon Master of Manufacturing Management – University of Colombo Bachelor of Science – University of Kelaniya School of Management College of Business RMIT University September 2018 Declaration I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed Further, I acknowledge the support I have received for my research through the provision of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship Don Asanka Sanjeewa Livera Tennakoon 17 September 2018 i Acknowledgements First of all, I am eternally grateful to the participants of this research for their generosity in sharing the lived experience of being skilled migrants to Australia The way they have navigated through the obstacles of life was truly inspiring I hope that this thesis has delivered the value and the recognition that their experience has well deserved I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my senior supervisor Associate Professor Darryn Snell and associate supervisor Dr Margaret Heffernan OAM Without their mentoring, invaluable comments, constructive criticism and collegiality my journey of doing this thesis would have been a lot more difficult Much appreciation should also be given to Dr Keith Toh for the invaluable insights on critical realism led research and generous support in formatting the thesis Further, my thankfulness should also be extended to all of my colleagues at RMIT for the joyful and pleasant moments throughout this journey Special thanks should also be extended to Lucy Gatto and her team in the Melbourne based career counselling service from which the qualitative phase participants of the research were sourced Her generous support in hosting focus group discussions, research interviews and sharing a wealth of information and insights has enriched the qualitative phase of the research Similarly, many thanks should also be given to Terry O’Reilly for letting me benefit from his extensive experience in the career counselling industry and sharing his webinar series with skilled migrant jobseekers Finally, I would like to extend my heartfelt indebtedness to my parents for their selflessness in raising me to who I am today and instilling the value of education Similarly, I owe my wife Vishani, and children Akein and Kiara, for their love and unwavering support throughout many endeavours in life including this thesis ii Table of Contents DECLARATION I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II TABLE OF CONTENTS III LIST OF TABLES VIII LIST OF FIGURES IX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS X ABSTRACT XI CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 The context of the study 1.1.1 The change of policy orientation 1.1.2 Divisions in the migration literature 1.2 The importance of the occupational mobility perspective 1.3 Research objectives 1.4 Research questions 10 1.5 The researcher’s position in the research: An attempt to understand reflexivity 10 1.6 Thesis structure 13 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 16 2.1 Introduction 16 2.2 The terminological complexity of international mobility 17 2.2.1 Terminology to demarcate skilled migrants 18 2.3 Key themes highlighted in the migration literature 21 2.4 Downward occupational mobility as a global issue: Evidence from countries around the world 21 2.5 Skilled migrants’ employment outcomes in Australia: Some quantitative findings 25 2.5.1 Official findings and mobility explanations from the DIBP 25 2.5.2 Alternative perspectives on skilled migrants’ employment outcomes 27 2.6 Occupational mobility barriers for skilled migrants in Australia 28 2.6.1 The challenges in qualification recognition 29 2.6.2 The role of professional bodies, recruiters and other forms of labour market ‘gatekeepers’ 30 2.6.3 Australian policies and regulations for equal employment opportunity (EEO) 32 iii 2.7 Structure–agency interplay in migrant employment 33 2.8 Chapter summary 35 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 37 3.1 Introduction 37 3.2 Rejecting methodological individualism: Ontological, analytical and methodological dualism 37 3.3 Structure–agency interplay: Ontological assumptions and epistemological orientation 38 3.4 The critical realists’ pathway: Ontological realism, epistemological relativism and judgemental rationality 41 3.5 Methodological options for critical realist research 42 3.6 Adoption of mixed research methodology 44 3.7 Defining research participants 45 3.8 Research design 46 3.8.1 Phase 1: Quantitative phase 48 3.8.2 Phase 2: Qualitative phase 50 3.9 Reliability and validity 55 3.10 Ethics consideration of the research 56 3.11 Chapter summary 56 CHAPTER QUANTITATIVE FINDINGS 57 4.1 Introduction 57 4.2 Background to the CSAM dataset 57 4.2.1 CSAM sample selection 59 4.2.2 Outliers, weighting and data coding 60 4.2.3 The sample used in this research: Skill stream primary applicants 60 4.3 Characteristics of migrants skills and educational qualifications 62 4.3.1 The extent of home country educational qualifications and skills 62 4.3.2 Skilled migrants’ attainments of Australian qualifications 64 4.3.3 Skilled migrants’ visa reporting categories 64 4.4 Skilled migrants’ employment outcomes: A deeper examination 66 4.5 The extent of employment among skilled migrants 70 4.6 The quantity of work secured by the skilled migrants 72 4.7 Mapping skilled migrants’ occupational mobility 73 iv 4.7.1 Occupational mobility in terms of language background 73 4.7.2 Occupational mobility in terms of visa sponsorship status 76 4.7.3 Occupational mobility in terms of gender 79 4.8 Benefits of using CSAM data 81 4.9 Limitations of using CSAM data 83 4.10 Chapter summary 84 CHAPTER QUALITATIVE FINDINGS 85 5.1 Introduction 85 5.2 Focus group findings: Occupation specific mobility barriers 88 5.2.1 Common occupational mobility barriers for accountancy and finance sector workers 88 5.2.2 Common occupational mobility barriers for administrative and office assistance workers 90 5.2.3 Common occupational mobility barriers for education and scientific industry workers 91 5.2.4 Common occupational mobility barriers for engineers and other technical sector workers 91 5.3 Pre-arrival experience and occupational mobility 93 5.3.1 Selected 10 individuals: More detailed personal accounts of the skilled migrant experience 93 5.3.2 Preparation strategies and participants perceptions on Australian labour market in the pre-arrival stage 110 5.3.3 Skill assessment process: Participants’ understanding of the complicated sourcing process 112 5.4 Post-arrival jobseeking experience and occupational mobility barriers 116 5.4.1 The similarities and differences between skilled migrants’ previous jobs and comparable Australian jobs 117 5.4.2 The need for Australian context-specific knowledge as a mobility barrier 119 5.4.3 The lack of local work experience as an occupational mobility barrier 120 5.4.4 Recognition of foreign qualifications and work experience 121 5.4.5 Availability of jobs: Participants’ experiences in low job growth industries 123 5.4.6 Participants’ experiences with recruitment services and labour market intermediaries 125 5.4.7 English language proficiency and cultural distance as an occupational mobility barrier 127 v 5.4.8 Skill atrophy and outdated skills as an occupational mobility barrier 129 5.4.9 Knowledge of local job searching techniques, local referees, social networks and supportive career counselling programs 130 5.4.10 Job searching strategies 132 5.5 Post-employment career progression and work experience 135 5.5.1 Use of previously developed skills in new jobs 136 5.5.2 Australian workplace culture, prospects of assimilation and direct or systemic discrimination in the workplace 137 5.5.3 Repatriation 140 5.6 Chapter summary 141 CHAPTER DISCUSSION 142 6.1 Introduction 142 6.2 Agents’ motivation and desire to contribute to Australia 143 6.3 Intersectionality and experience of dual/multiple disadvantage 144 6.4 Skilled migrants’ experiences through the morphogenetic perspective 146 6.5 The difference between the agential perception of social structures and real, causally efficacious emergent properties of social structures 150 6.6 Skill assessment process: The complicated skilled migration sourcing process 153 6.7 Skill transferability through structure–agency perspective 155 6.8 Skilled migrant employment through a skill transferability perspective 158 6.9 The problems associated with foreign work experience and educational qualification recognition: The subtlety of structural manifestations 162 6.10 The role of labour market intermediaries as occupational mobility barriers and facilitators 163 6.11 Theoretical framework to understand the interplay between structural and agential concerns of skilled migrants’ occupational mobility 165 6.12 Chapter summary 168 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 169 7.1 Introduction 169 7.2 Theoretical contribution 169 7.3 Policy implications 171 7.4 Research limitations 174 7.5 Directions for future research 175 7.6 Concluding remarks 176 vi REFERENCES 178 APPENDIX A: AN EXAMPLE OF QUALITATIVE CODE ARRANGEMENT (4 OF THE 30 SECOND-ORDER CODES) 193 APPENDIX B: PARTICIPANT INFORMATION AND CONSENT FORM 194 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL FOR THE QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION PHASE 198 APPENDIX D: ETHICS APPROVAL LETTER 200 APPENDIX E: THE GAP BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL CEILINGS AND ACTUAL VISA INVITATIONS 201 APPENDIX F: INDUSTRY PLACEMENT INTRODUCTION LETTER USED BY THE CAREER COUNSELLING PROGRAM 203 vii List of Tables Table 1: Key diversity descriptors 19 Table 2: Employment outcomes; after months of arrival or has been granted visa (cohorts to pooled); DIAC (2011) 25 Table 3: Summary of literature review (compiled by author) 36 Table 4: The properties of realists’ stratified ontology 42 Table 5: Cross-tabulated data variables: developed by the author based on CSAM codebook (DIBP, 2015c) 50 Table 6: Sample descriptive statistics 61 Table 7: Top pre-immigration educational qualifications 64 Table 8: Migrants’ visa reporting categories 65 Table 9: Labour force status of primary visa applicants, based on demographic characteristics 67 Table 10: Labour force status of primary visa applicants, based on visa grant location 68 Table 11: Labour force status of offshore primary visa applicants, based on demographic identities 69 Table 12: Labour force status of offshore primary visa applicants, based on gender identities 70 Table 13: Number of hours migrants have worked during the reference week in all jobs 72 Table 14: Skill stream primary applicants’ occupational mobility in terms of language background 75 Table 15: Skill stream primary applicants’ occupational mobility in terms of visa sponsorship 77 Table 16: Skill stream primary applicants’ occupational mobility in terms of gender 80 Table 17: Participant details of the qualitative phase 86 Table 18: Push and pull factors influencing Neha’s migration decision 94 Table 19: Push and pull factors influencing Farah’s migration decision 98 Table 20: Individual in-depth interview phase participants’ employment status 109 Table 21: Occupational mobility barriers/facilitators identified through the post- arrival jobseeking experience 116 Table 22: Participants’ reasons to anglicise their names 134 Table 23: The evolution of participants’ perceptions of Australian society with prolonged stay in Australia 137 Table 24: Comparison of employability skills 156 viii List of Figures Figure 1: Major migrant sourcing regions from 2007–08 to 2016–17; adapted from (DIBP, 2017a) Figure 2: Employment outcomes of degree-qualified migrants who arrived in Canada in 1996–2001, by country/region; Hawthorne (2008) 24 Figure 3: The critical realists’ stratified ontology; Bhaskar (2013) 41 Figure 4: An illustration of sequential mixed-method approach; adapted from (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009, p 154) 47 Figure 5: The research design 48 Figure 6: CSAM data collection waves; adapted from DIBP (2015b) 58 Figure 7: The DIBP’s statistical treatment of the population file 59 Figure 8: ANZSCO skill levels of migrants’ nominated occupations 63 Figure 9: Neha’s jobseeking process 94 Figure 10: Garry’s jobseeking process 96 Figure 11: Farah’s jobseeking process 97 Figure 12: Tashmiha’s jobseeking process 98 Figure 13: Felix’s jobseeking process 100 Figure 14: Tino’s jobseeking process 102 Figure 15: Gayan’s jobseeking process 104 Figure 16: Ahmed’s jobseeking process 106 Figure 17: Kevin’s jobseeking 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Employment status Participants’ current employment status; Employed, Underemployed, Unemployed or Not in the labour force Pre-arrival experience Participants’ knowledge of the Australia labour market prior to immigration Migration decision-making as a family unit The role of language proficiency Participants’ experience pertaining to English language proficiency The role of qualification Participants’ experience pertaining to their foreigngained qualifications 198 Appendix C The role of social networking, local labour market knowledge Participants’ experience pertaining to local labour market knowledge and knowledge in local job searching techniques Participants’ experience pertaining to the availability of local referees Participants’ experience pertaining to the importance of social networking The role of professional bodies, training providers, certification and accreditation services 10 Participants’ experience pertaining to the role of professional bodies and importance of memberships, licences and accreditations 11 Participants’ experience pertaining to the need for career guidance Skill transferability and skill atrophy The role of inclusion / exclusion Emerging new themes Conclusion 12 Participants’ experience of previously gained skills transferability challenges 13 Participants’ experience on skill deterioration due to non-use 14 Participants’ experience pertaining to the evidence of labour market discrimination 15 Any other concerns of participants’ interest Next step Thank you statement 199 Appendix D Appendix D: Ethics approval letter 200 Appendix E Appendix E: The gap between occupational ceilings and actual visa invitations 14 14 This extract was taken on 17/07/2018 from https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/Trav/Work/Skil 201 Appendix E 202 Appendix F Appendix F: Industry placement introduction letter used by the career counselling program 203 ... For instance, the Indian subcontinent and East Asia represented 30.2% and 16.9% of migrants respectively in the 2016–17 Australian migration program, making India and the Republic of China the. .. mobility of NESB skilled migrants in the Australian context Identify the structural and agential influences that condition skilled migrants? ?? jobseeking experiences and occupational mobility in Australia. .. According to network theory, the interpersonal ties between former migrants and new migrants in origin and destination increase the likelihood of international migration by reducing the cost and