Co-organised by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the OECD Development Centre
April 3-4, 2014
4th Floor IOM Conference Room, Annex Building
17 Route des Morillons, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Follow this event live on Twitter @OECD_Centre with #MigrationDev
Background
The migration of women, either independently or to follow a family member, is a growing phenomenon in most countries. In fact, about half of all international migrants are women and, according to OECD data, highly skilled flows are gender balanced. However, and despite their high social and human capital, skilled migrant women remain under-represented among labour migrants. A combination of socioeconomic, institutional and personal factors leads highly skilled women to migrate, not for labour reasons, but rather for marriage, family reunification or for asylum-seeking reasons.
Over the years, the body of knowledge on the participation of highly skilled women to migration flows has increased, including research on topics such as the gender bias of migrant admissions systems, the unequal prioritization of careers within migrant couples and the disproportionate difficulties migrant women face on the labour market. Despite this growing knowledge, information on the links between highly skilled migration, gender equality, integration and development is scattered between several disciplines including those focused on migration, gender, socio-economic integration, human capital and development. The result is a low visibility of research findings for policy-makers, multilateral organizations and governments and a lack of awareness of the potential impact of the migration of highly skilled women on the development of home and host countries.
Objectives
- Review evidence on the nature, scope and impact of the migration of highly skilled women on countries of destination, transit and origin.
- Share good practice in terms of major conceptual frameworks, practical tools and resources to increase the quality and coverage of programs to maximize the potential of highly skilled migrant women.
- Examine policy monitoring, evaluation and implementation approaches to ensuring successful social and economic integration.
- Highlight challenges and barriers to the implementation and scale-up of promising/successful approaches to prevent brain waste and deskilling of migrant women.
- Identify practical solutions, entry points, catalysts and pathways to overcome identified challenges and barriers.
Agenda
DAY 1: THURSDAY, 3 APRIL
08h30-09h00 Registration
09h00-09h15 Welcome session - Objectives of the Expert Group Meeting
- Sylvia Lopez-Ekra, Head of the Gender Coordination Unit, IOM
- David Khoudour, Head of the Migration and Skills Unit, OECD Development Centre
9h15-10h45 Session 1: Setting the scene: number and profiles of highly skilled migrant women
Chair: Frank Laczko, Head of the Migration Research Division, IOM
Presenters
- Highly skilled migration within the global picture of women’s migration
Natalia Ribas Mateos, University of A Coruña
- OECD migration data disaggregated by sex and education level
Cansin Arslan, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD
- The migration patterns of highly skilled women
Eleonore Kofman, Middlesex University
10h45-11h00 Coffee break
11h15-12h30 Session 2: Determinants and conditions of the migration of highly skilled women
Chair: Christine Verschuur, Gender and Development Programme, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
Presenters
- Gender and the selection of highly skilled migrants
Anna Boucher, University of Sydney (via videoconference)
- South-South migration of women: the role of social institutions
Gaëlle Ferrant, Economist, Gender Team, OECD Development Centre
- Institutionalized inequality and female brain drain
Maryam Naghsh Nejad, Institute for Study of Labor (IZA)
- Dual career households, family considerations and gender roles
Yvonne Riaño, Bern University
12h30-14h00 Lunch
14h00-14h30 Session 2: Determinants and conditions of the migration of highly skilled women
(continued)
14h30-16h15 Session 3: Experiences of highly skilled migrant women in destination countries
Chair: Mariya Aleksynska, Economist, Conditions of Work and Equality Department, ILO
Presenters
- Evidence from the European Union
Mercedes Fernandez, Centre for Migration Studies, University of Madrid
- Gender-segregated labour markets
Parvati Raghuram, The Open University
- Brain waste and re-skilling strategies
Gillian Creese, University of British Columbia
- Psychosocial dimensions of deskilling
Blandine Mollard, Gender and Migration Officer, IOM
16h15-16h30 Coffee break
16h30-17h45 Session 4: Perspectives of home countries on the migration of highly skilled women
Chair: Jason Gagnon, OECD Development Centre
Presenters
- Mobility of health professionals
Barbara Rijks, Migration Health Programme Co-ordinator
- Return of highly skilled migrant women
Metka Hercog, Cooperation and Development Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
- Highly skilled women and the transfer of norms
Sara Salomone, Université Catholique de Louvain
DAY 2: FRIDAY, 4 APRIL
09h00-09h30
Presenters
- Wrap-up of Day 1
Anelise Gomes de Araujo, International Consultant
- Objectives for Day 2
Blandine Mollard, Gender and Migration Officer, IOM
9h30-10h30 Session 5: Knowledge gaps on the migration of highly skilled women
Facilitator: David Khoudour, Head of the Migration and Skills Unit, OECD Development Centre
Elements for discussion
- What are the knowledge gaps?
- What issues deserve more attention?
- New trends in the field of highly skilled migrant women
- New actors/partnerships to mobilize to improve the knowledge base
10h30-10h45 Coffee break
10h45-12h30 Session 6: Way forward for the governance of highly skilled migration
Facilitator: Sonia Santos de Melo, Adviser, OECD Development Centre
Presenters
- Improving labour migration governance
Lara White, Senior Labour Migration Specialist, IOM
- Canada’s experience in addressing gender aspects of highly skilled migration
Jennifer Irish, Minister-Counsellor, Head, Humanitarian Affairs and Migration Section, Permanent Mission of Canada
- What role of employers in promoting innovative practices?
Frederick Muia, Senior Adviser, International Organization of Employers
12h30-14h00 Lunch
14h00-15h00 Session 7: Working groups on policy recommendations
Working groups
- Reducing the impacts on inequality on women’s migration opportunities
- Fostering positive migration outcomes for highly skilled migrant women at destination
- Maximizing the development impacts for countries of origin
15h00-15h15 Coffee break
15h15-16h15 Debriefing from working groups’ rapporteurs
Facilitator: Blandine Mollard, Gender and Migration Officer, IOM
16h15-17h00 Closing session: What next?
- Sylvia Lopez-Ekra, Head of the Gender Coordination Unit, IOM
- David Khoudour, Head of the Migration and Skills Unit, OECD Development Centre
Related Documents
Overview of key findings from the Expert Group Meeting on the Migration of Highly Skilled Women (2014)
This document provides an overview of the forthcoming publication "Harnessing knowledge on the migration of highly skilled women" by the IOM and OECD Development Centre, following the Expert Group Meeting on the Migration of Highly Skilled Women, held in Geneva on 3-4 April 2014.
The role of discriminatory social institutions in female South-South migration (2014)
by Gaëlle Ferrant, Michele Tuccio, Estelle Loiseau and Keiko Nowacka
Findings from the OECD Development Centre’s Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) suggest that discriminatory social norms and institutions play a role in shaping female South-South migration decisions and destinations.
Links
Migration and gender
Gender and development
Migration and development
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