Call for Chapters on Refugees in the Workforce
We are organizing a book proposal on The Career and Work Experiences of Refugees: We would like to include potential chapter descriptions in our proposal. This book will examine the career and work experiences of refugees and displaced people across diverse ethnicities and countries. We would like to include all regions of the world. Potential chapters may focus empirically and theoretically about the scope of the issue, the employment needs and experiences of refugees, and efforts by stakeholders to positively impact refugees' career experiences.
Statistics from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on the numbers of refugees and displaced people suggest a worldwide humanitarian crisis that will define the first quarter of the 21st century. The UNHCR (2019) estimates that there are 70.8 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, with 41.3 million being internally displaced people, 25.9 million being refugees, and 3.5 million being asylum seekers. The UNHCR (2019) further reports that approximately 80% of refugees live in countries that share borders with their country of origin; that 57% of UNHCR refugees come from three countries (6.7 million from Syria, 2.7 million from Afghanistan, and 2.3 million from South Sudan); and that the greatest number of new asylum seekers in 2018 was from Venezuela (341,800). These numbers are staggering and point to the diversity of ethnicities that refugees represent, as well as the diverse range of countries across the globe from which refugees are fleeing, and to which they are seeking to settle and integrate.
Ager and Strang's (2008) framework of integration indicates that employment is extremely important for refugee integration. The importance of work cannot be overstated as gainful employment influences many other factors such as self-esteem, self-reliance, economic independence, and the ability to plan for the future. The UNHCR (2019) helps "people forced to flee to support themselves and their families by offering them training, and helping them find a market for their skills and goods. … Through safe work, people forced to flee can provide for their families' basic needs, maintain their dignity and contribute to society, which is what they want. They often enrich their communities with their experience and skills, while preparing for a better future."
Despite its importance, little is known about the career and work experiences of refugees and displaced people, and the ways that companies, not for profit agencies, NGOs, and governmental policy makers can assist them in finding work, maintaining employment, and integrating into their host country. This suggests a gap in the literature and a need for research on this topic. The aim of this book is to fill that gap by synthesizing the work of researchers who are developing and studying refugees across the globe. Understanding the career and work experiences of refugees and displaced people is a timely and important issue focusing on an under researched, but growing segment of the world's population.
Interested contributors should send us a 150-word description of their proposed chapter as soon as possible-but no later than January 15, 2020. The first draft of accepted chapters would be due by April 30, 2020, so it is important that the project would be completed by that time. We look forward to receiving your proposals.
Thank you,
Sharon L. Segrest, USF
Amy Hurley-Hanson & Cris Giannantonio, Chapman University
Potential chapter abstracts should be emailed to:
Dr. Sharon Segrest (Sharon Larisa Segrest de Canizares, Ph. D.)
Associate Professor of Management
Kate Tiedemann College of Business
University of South Florida St. Petersburg
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Email: ssegrest@mail.usf.edu
Phone: (727) 873-4747; Fax: (727) 873-4571
http://www.usfsp.edu/kate-tiedemann-college-of-business/portfolio-item/dr-sharon-segrest/
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Sharon L. Segrest,
ssegrest@mail.usf.eduAssociate Professor
University of South Florida St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg FL
(727) 873-4747
http://www.usfsp.edu/kate-tiedemann-college-of-business/portfolio-item/dr-sharon-segrest/------------------------------