Davide Calenda

This article examines the role of institutional factors in shaping the integration paths of migrant health professionals. For this purpose, it draws on two studies focusing on Filipino and Indian nurses working in the UK, which rely on quantitative and qualitative methods, including a web survey and semi-structured interviews. The analysis shows that inequalities have arisen from differentiation processes induced by changes in the institutional settings. Furthermore, inequalities are often reflected in poor working conditions. The authors have identified restrictive rules on immigration and access to the profession as a source of uncertainty and reveal the differentiation of entry paths, with those arriving through an international recruitment agency more frequently disappointed with their working conditions.

The Learning Dialogues are intended to explore and deepen the results of case study analysis and to emulate knowledge exchange by engaging a wider spectrum of stakeholders that in the WP2 stage to validate project outputs. The concept of was first tested at the Plymouth e‐ Learning Conference (PeLC) 2011. The first ‘real’ Learning Dialogue was transformed into a model Learning Dialogue event with international experts at the EDEN 2010 Annual Conference. Based on the experiences of the model event, the second Learning Dialogue event involving case study representatives and took place in Austria, in the framework of the EduMedia Conference at the end of June 2010. Based on the positive feedback from participants of the first two events, it was proposed to record interviews and short videostatements with stakeholders and to publish them as part of the Innovation Laboratory online. This idea was implemented during the Third Learning Dialogue with 5 experts, and the videos were published...

Il dibattito politico attuale circa l'evoluzione della Rete, ed di Internet in particolare, si incentra prevalentemente sulla necessità e possibilità di regolarla, viste le implicazioni sociali conseguenti alle accresciute capacità che la Telematica e la Rete offrono, in quanto a strumenti, ...

This article examines the transformations in the banking sector, focusing on their implications for worker representation. It also presents the results of a case study on FISAC Tuscany, with the aim of understanding how trade unions deal with the problem of internal change.

... | Ayuda. Democrazia partecipativa-Internet, giovani e politica. Spunti di dibattito da un'indagine su un gruppo di studenti europei. Autores: Davide Calenda; Localización: Democrazia e diritto, ISSN 0416-9565, Nº 4, 2006 , pags. 95-110. ...

The Cross-Regional Information System (CRIS) on the Reintegration of Migrants in their Countries of Origin is part of the Return Migration and Development Platform (RDP) hosted by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence.

The Cross-Regional Information System (CRIS) on the Reintegration of Migrants in their Countries of Origin is part of the Return Migration and Development Platform (RDP) hosted by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence.

Il rapporto qui presentato e il frutto di una ricerca che la Direzione Sviluppo Economico e Programmazione della Provincia di Firenze ha affidato a ESOC-Lab (Economic and Social Choesion Laboratory) della LSE (The London School of Economics and Political Science). L'oggetto della ricerca sono gli investimenti diretti esteri (IDE) nel contesto della provincia di Firenze. Il fenomeno e stato analizzato intervistando sia un gruppo di imprese multinazionali presenti nel territorio, sia attori istituzionali e altri testimoni qualificati, coinvolti, a vario titolo, nel governo del territorio, delle politiche di sviluppo e del lavoro, nella ricerca e nel sistema dell'internazionalizzazione. Si e anche proceduto ad un confronto con le esperienze di altri paesi europei (Regno Unito, Irlanda e in certa misura con la Spagna), grazie a seminari di scambio di buone pratiche realizzati in collaborazione con la Provincia di Firenze. L'obiettivo della ricerca e mettere in luce i punti d...

We thank all the reviewers for their expertise, insight and dedication in providing high quality reviews for article submissions to JEMS over the last year. The editorial team is frequently taken aback by the extremely high quality of critique provided by reviewers. Many authors also express their gratitude for this engagement and claim with justification that it has helped to advance their research. Once again many thanks, the quality of the journal is underpinned by your continued support.

This article examines the role of institutional factors in shaping the integration paths of migrant health professionals. For this purpose, it draws on two studies focusing on Filipino and Indian nurses working in the UK which rely on quantitative and qualitative methods, including a web survey and semi-structured interviews. The analysis shows that inequalities have arisen from differentiation processes induced by changes in the institutional settings. Furthermore, inequalities are often reflected in poor working conditions. The authors have identified restrictive rules on immigration and access to the profession as a source of uncertainty, and reveal the differentiation of entry paths, with those arriving through an international recruitment agency more frequently disappointed with their working conditions.

Interest in the Internet's impact on political participation has grown over the last five years. The main claim of most social scientists is to consider the Internet as a new resource for political engagement. However, this claim has not always been backed up by empirical analysis. ...

This study is situated within International Labour Organization’s (ILO) project Promoting Decent Work Across Borders (DWAB): A Project for Migrant Health Professionals and Skilled Workers in the Philippines, India and Viet Nam, with funding support from the European Union (EU). It aims to document and produce new knowledge on ethical recruitment from the perspective of private and/or public recruitment agencies (RAs), and wishes to highlight promising/good practices to build a business case for ethical recruitment. Skilled health professionals and nurses in particular are the target of this study. The analysis of the seven RAs documented during the fieldwork in the selected countries combines with an analysis of the institutional frameworks and an overview of the recruitment industries to complete this study.
At global level, the migration of skilled healthcare workers gained momentum in the mid- 2000s. By 2007, 11 per cent of nurses and 18 per cent of doctors working in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries were foreign-born. This makes the migration of professional health workers a matter of international concern. Issues of ethics and the impact of international recruitment of health professionals have raised several concerns. First, there are ethical concerns about causing skill shortages in origin countries. Second are concerns for the workers themselves, as the global finance and power imbalances between source and destination countries create a dynamic where workers, desperate to find employment overseas, are “willing” to accept migratory conditions that are below internationally recognized standards. Nurses appear to be particularly vulnerable to such imbalances.
From the early 2000s, more and more states as well as public and private organizations have been adopting codes of conduct for ethical recruitment, most of these inspired by international agreements and Conventions – e.g., the 2010 World Health Organization Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel and the ILO’s Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181). There is still evidence, however, that unfair practices experienced by nurses have continued.
Recruitment agencies have become the “primary source gateway” for nurses to enter the global market. Undoubtedly, many recruitment agencies and their clients – private and public health facilities – are doing business fairly and helping migrant workers to achieve significant improvements in their professional lives and economic conditions. Nonetheless there is evidence that some nurses are subject to fees for recruitment that in extreme circumstances can amount to creating an indentured employment relationship – i.e. withholding of wages and poor/unsafe working conditions, confiscation of documents, changes in conditions of employment when a contract has been signed. Many more are given inadequate or misleading information about their placements and face unexpected challenges upon arrival in destination countries.
This research was undertaken as case studies of recruitment agencies, primarily in the private sector, though there was consideration of the role of public recruitment agencies. We used the
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methodological design provided by the ILO – DWAB project and adapted it to India, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. The methodology comprised a list of areas to be considered when documenting promising practices; an interview grid to be used for interviews with managers of recruitment agencies; and a list of inclusion criteria to be followed for the identification of recruitment agencies – e.g., the agency does not charge fees to migrant workers for the recruitment process.
A snowball sampling procedure was used to identify potential promising/good practices. It was based on personal networks, peer recommendation of agencies, official datasets – e.g., lists of registered RAs held by national authorities – as well as documentary data. A total of seven private RAs were finally selected and documented: one in India, two in the United Kingdom, and four in the Philippines.
Promising practices for ethical recruitment documented in this study can rarely be ascribed to a single area of operation. The research demonstrates that ethical practice is usually diffused through the organization and is likely to emerge across the different stages of the recruitment process. The findings reveal that ethical practices extend to the post-recruitment stage as well as to the return process of migrant workers. The case study organizations included in this report are innovative and form partnerships with others to assist migrant workers. They utilize business agreements, cooperation with public authorities, and development of in-house products, as a result of which migrant workers do not have to pay for services or can access them at very competitive prices.
In all the cases documented although to different extents, developing innovative practices of pre-selection, screening, training, and pre-departure orientation as well as investing in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and human resource development are key aspects of governance practiced by the documented RAs. Innovation is primarily driven by two factors. Firstly, by demand; the documented RAs mainly focus their business on large and well-reputed public and private health facilities that demand high-quality candidates and compliance with ethical standards. This places a great deal of power in the hands of client organizations to set standards, though policing of those standards may be variable. The second key factor is the ability to adapt to change. The global recruitment industry is subject to rapid changes in terms of immigration rules, professional standards for doctors and nurses, and general demand. RAs have to be adaptive and flexible to changes if they want to continue their business and be competitive. We have documented several examples of situations in which an RA had to change strategies and practices in order to adapt to a new situation in a destination country. These two factors push RAs to adopt customer-oriented and problem- solving approaches, which are particularly suitable for innovation to emerge and develop.
Within this framework, ICTs emerged as particularly important for increasing efficiency, transparency, and direct participation of migrant workers in the governance process – in particular by providing feedback on their situation abroad. In addition, ICTs allow RAs to lower costs and remain competitive. They became an efficient way of delivering training and support to workers prior to placement, and of tracking workers through the recruitment process.
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The identification of relevant similarities in the actual recruitment practices across RAs with different characteristics suggests that such practices are replicable. The research demonstrates that: a) building business cases for ethical recruitment is possible and generates win-win situations; b) actual ethical recruitment practices ultimately lie in organizational commitment to continual improvement and a problem-solving approach, which stem from the willingness and capacity of the organization to deal with challenges brought by dynamic changes in the international market of health professionals.

The international migration – and recruitment- of health professionals has gained momentum in the last fifteen years, becoming a matter of international concern. Work-related issues – i.e. working conditions, integration and retention of foreign-educated health professionals - have emerged along with (old) issues of ethical recruitment. This paper focuses on the recruitment of foreign-educated nurses (FENs) and contributes to the current debate on approaches to international recruitment and labour market integration of health professionals by introducing the concept of ‘sustainable recruitment’, which binds together ethical recruitment and work-related issues. This study aims to investigate the ways these aspects actually or potentially shape current approaches of international recruitment. A qualitative approach is used to study the case of Finland, which is an emerging destination country of FNEs and that has started to recruit nurses both from within the European Union and in the Philippines. In particular the paper presents and discusses the results of an empirical investigation carried out in Finland in 2015 that was aimed at exploring whether and how private and public health care organizations and private recruitment agencies are responding to issues of ‘sustainable recruitment’ while recruiting FENs internationally.

Keywords
Foreign-educated nurses; international recruitment; Finland; professional integration; ethical issues.

This work package firstly functions as a data-gathering activity, to explore and deepen the results, and questions, raised by the earlier research activities and it provides knowledge exchange to engage a wider spectrum of stakeholders to further validate the LINKS-UP outputs. Two phases of the Learning Dialogues involve representatives of the 20 cases studied in WP2. In the first phase these events are considered to serve as data gathering in the host countries represented by the LINKS-UP consortium. The second phase will involve action research experiments and will be combined with the Workpackage focused on Validation.