A Shift in Perspective

Refugee Voices and Agency in the Labor Market Entering and Workplace Integration Process

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6437451
AutoresVedran Omanović (0000-0002-4429-9679, University of Gothenburg), Gregg Bucken‐knapp (0000-0002-6901-1782, University of Gothenburg), Andrea Spehar (0000-0002-2770-0459, University of Gothenburg)
Año2025
Volumen3
Número3
Páginas489-505
Fecha de publicación2025-06-18
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Organizational Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2752-2997 • E-ISSN: 2752-2997
EditorialWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/joso-2024-0027
OpenAlexW4411400642
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas35

Labor market entering and workplace integration of marginalized migrant groups remain a pressing challenge for policymakers and one of the central topics in the research. Yet, as researchers with migrant backgrounds, we have become increasingly frustrated over dominant discourses, both in the research and in the public sphere that rarely center the voices of those who are the subjects of integration on an equal footing. In this essay, we call for a change of perspective, arguing on why refugee voices should be centered in studies of labor market entering and workplace integration in the management and organizational literature. In doing so, we highlight how their voices are prevailingly absent in this literature and how this omission prevents refugees from being understood analytically as actors with agency. We also suggest and illustrate how the use of biographical interviews and solicited diaries, while not commonly used in the organizational and management literature, have, despite some limitations, the potential for redressing this problematic shortcoming and give greater attention to the choices made by refugees, and their own voices

Agency (philosophy · Economics · Market integration · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Public relations · Public sphere · Refugee · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · International Student and Expatriate Challenges · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Socioeconomic Development in MENA