Dear all,
We would like to bring you attention to the following call for papers in the Journal of Vocational Behavior for a special issue on the vocational behaviour of refugees.
Best regards,
Alex Newman and colleagues.
(Sorry for cross posting).
Call for Papers
Special Issue in Journal of Vocational Behavior
Vocational Behavior of Refugees: How do Refugees Seek Employment, Overcome Work-Related Challenges, and Navigate their Careers?
Guest co-editors:
Alex Newman, Deakin University (a.newman@deakin.edu.au)
Jenny Bimrose, Warwick University (jenny.bimrose@warwick.ac.uk)
Ingrid Nielsen, Deakin University (ingrid.nielsen@deakin.edu.au)
Hannes Zacher, Queensland University of Technology (hannes.zacher@qut.edu.au)
Scope of the Topic
Over the last two years we have witnessed the largest migration of refugees in history. As of early 2016 over 4.7 million people have fled the civil war in Syria and the terror regime of the so-called "Islamic State" in both Syria and Iraq, and a significant number presently live in refugee camps in the Middle East (UNHCR, 2016). The effects of this crisis have been immense, not only in neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, but also in countries such as Greece, Germany, Hungary, and Austria, which are the final destinations for many refugees, and countries which have agreed to resettle smaller numbers of refugees from the conflict zones including Canada and Australia. The government authorities in these countries are in the process of developing policies to deal with the immediate influx of refugees, but also have to think of ways in which to integrate refugees into the mainstream society in the medium to long term.
Integration into mainstream society is an extremely challenging process for many refugees (Yakushko, Backhaus, Watson, Ngaruiya and Gonzalez, 2008). In addition to applying for asylum status and refugee resettlement and seeking family reunification, and learning the culture and language of the host country, refugees also have to seek employment to support the immediate needs of their families and re-establish a livelihood (Colic-Peisker and Tilbury, 2006). Policy makers have begun to recognize the importance of assisting refugees to obtain employment quickly, as stable employment amongst refugees has been found to reduce welfare dependency and to enhance the educational and health outcomes amongst the children of refugee families (Khoo, 2005; Pernice and Brook, 1996). However, current knowledge of how refugees, practitioners, organizations, and policy makers negotiate these issues is very limited (Morrice, 2011). Very few studies have examined refugees' vocational behavior, including seeking employment, overcoming work-related challenges and traumata, and navigating careers after leaving their home country. In addition, we have limited understanding as to how organizations, practitioners, and policy makers can best assist refugees in the adaptation process.
In order to improve our understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by refugees in seeking work, overcoming challenges and traumata, and adapting their careers, this special issue invites articles that answer the following or related questions:
- What are the effects of human, social, and psychological capital in predicting the success of refugees in obtaining and maintaining employment and succeeding in their career?
- What factors influence the career adaptability and career success of refugees, in the post resettlement phase?
- How do refugees navigate their careers (including the identification and exploitation of career opportunities and overcoming career challenges and traumata) after leaving their home countries?
- How do refugees deal with the fact that they cannot always utilize their knowledge, skills, or qualifications post resettlement?
- How does skill under-utilization impact on the psychological wellbeing of refugees at work, and, in turn, how does this influence their relationship with family members and their colleagues?
- How can organizations, leaders, and policy makers assist refugees to find work and maintain employment?
- What factors influence the organizational commitment and job satisfaction of refugees at work?
- What forms of support assist refugees to deal with the challenges they face at work?
- What is the role of volunteers and professionals who support refugees in finding work and navigating their careers?
- Which professional approaches and training programs show most promise?
We encourage authors to utilize a diversity of methodological approaches (e.g., interview, survey, experience sampling) and theoretical perspectives (e.g., career construction theory, social cognitive career theory, social capital theory, conservation of resources theory, cumulative advantage/disadvantage theory) when developing manuscripts for this special issue. We encourage both the use of quantitative and qualitative methods for empirical papers.
References
Colic-Peisker, V., & Tilbury, F. (2006). Employment niches for recent refugees: Segmented labour market in twenty-first century Australia. Journal of Refugee Studies, 19, 203-229.
Khoo, S.E. (1994). Correlates of welfare dependency among immigrants in Australia. The International Migration Review, 28, 1, 68-92.
Morrice, L. (2011). Being a refugee: learning and identity: A longitudinal study of refugees in the UK: Staffordshire Sterling, VA: Trentham Books.
Pernice, R., & Brook, J. (1996). Refugees' and immigrants' mental health: Association of demographic and post-immigration factors. Journal of Social Psychology, 136, 4, 511-519.
UNHCR (2016). Syria Regional Refugee Response, Retrieved 23 February, 2015, from http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php
Yakushko, O., Backhaus, A., Watson, M., Ngaruiya, K., & Gonzalez, J. (2008). Career development concerns of recent immigrants and refugees. Journal of Career Development, 34, 4, 362-396.
Timeline and Submission/Review Process
Interested authors should submit a short proposal (1,000 words maximum) that describes the paper they intend to write. Proposals are due by July 31, 2016. Please send you proposal to Alex Newman (a.newman@deakin.edu.au).
Proposals will be reviewed by the guest co-editors and evaluated using the following criteria:
(a) responsiveness to the call, (b) degree of potential to enhance our understanding of vocational behaviour of refugees, (c) scientific merit, (d) likelihood of successful completion within timeline,
(e) fit with other submissions, and (f) applicability to journal mission.
Should your proposal be invited to be submitted as a full paper, authors should submit their full paper online to the Journal of Vocational Behavior via ees.elsevier.com/jvb, selecting the special issue portal. All manuscripts will go through full peer review. Please refer to the Guide for Authors before submission (also see below).
July 31, 2016 Initial manuscript proposals due
August 31, 2016 Proposals evaluated, invitations for full manuscript submission sent to authors
February 28, 2017 Full manuscript submission deadline