Ukrainian refugees who came to Vienna because of the Russian war of aggression are better able to imagine staying for a long time and have higher formal education than those in Krakow (Poland). However, entry into employment in this country is slow, said migration researcher Judith Kohlenberger from the WU Vienna to the APA. The results of their study, in which researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) were also involved, appeared in the journal “Plos One”.
Almost two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than nine million people are on the run – almost six million of whom have found protection in European countries. In order to better understand this group, the researchers conducted around 1,500 interviews on socio-demographic background, economic opportunities and expectations in arrival centers in Vienna and Krakow in spring 2022.
“During the survey, we had the great advantage that all refugees who wanted to stay in Vienna in spring 2022 had to complete official procedures at the Austria Center Vienna,” said study co-author Isabella Buber-Ennser from the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID). ÖAW to APA. Such a one-stop shop is a rare opportunity in migration research. There was a high level of willingness to answer the questionnaires on site, also because of the help of Ukrainian students and researchers. For these reasons, there is great confidence in having a good cross-section of the group that has arrived at this point, Buber-Ennser continued.
The result: The predominantly female refugees are highly educated. In the general Ukrainian population, around 30 percent of 25- to 64-year-olds have a tertiary educational qualification; in the Krakow sample the proportion is 66 percent and in Vienna it is 83 percent, according to the study. It is already known in migration research that people with higher education have higher mobility. In addition, these results are a further building block to demonstrate the “self-selection effect” among refugees: “Self-selection means that refugees are a selective, i.e. a selected group – the people who belong to it were able to choose themselves for it, so to speak “because they have the appropriate capital, financial and social, to escape,” explained lead author Kohlenberger.
What was politically unique about the refugee movement from Ukraine was the activation of the “mass influx directive”. This gave Ukrainians a legal opportunity to flee and choose their destination country. The many reasons why Austria was chosen were surprising to the researchers: “Answers were given that one would not generally associate with escape, but with regular migration of well-educated expats,” continued Kohlenberger.
Familiarity and knowledge of German are crucial
Accordingly, familiarity with Austria, for example through previous stays in the context of tourism, study and work, as well as previous knowledge of German played a major role. The high quality of life and friends, relatives or acquaintances who have already been to Vienna were also crucial. “This makes it clear that even for people who are forced to flee, the decision to leave and the choice of destination country is multi-causal – it’s not about social benefits, as is often rumored, but mostly about existing social networks in the destination country,” said Kohlenberger. At this point in time, it can be seen that it was often these social networks that helped with integration afterwards.
In contrast to Austria, the neighboring country Poland was often chosen because of its geographical proximity to Ukraine. Accordingly, the willingness to stay in Krakow is significantly lower than in Vienna. However, unlike in Poland, employment in this country is slow, as current labor market figures show. The researchers attest to a paradoxical effect with regard to better training: “People with higher education often want to invest more and longer in learning German before they look for a job that is as appropriate to their training as possible,” explained Buber-Ennser.
In addition, almost 20 percent of those surveyed stated that they had worked in health and education professions, i.e. regulated industries, in their home country. There is a high demand for skilled workers in Austria in particular in these areas: “This is also why there is a need for rapid recognition of qualifications acquired abroad and unbureaucratic solutions,” said Kohlenberger.
“Since dequalification, i.e. the fact of working in the labor market below the respective qualifications, is demonstrably more pronounced among women, the predominantly female refugee population from Ukraine should be supported with low-threshold child care, in-service training and flexible working hours,” appealed Kohlenberger. Those Ukrainian people who have since managed to gain a foothold in the labor market are usually overqualified. “This is of course not optimal for those affected, but it is also bad for the host country because a lot of human capital is lost in this way,” the researcher summarized.
2023-12-20 19:18:16
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