Labour market careers of immigrants in Germany and the United Kingdom

This article examines the employment careers of immigrants as compared with those of the native-born in Germany and the United Kingdom using existing longitudinal data from the German Socioeconomic Panel and the British Household Panel Study. Results of the sequence analysis show that in both countries employment career sequences of immigrants are similarly remote from those of native-born men. Further analysis reveals that long and frequent spells of unemployment are behind this dissimilarity in both countries. Results of the pairwise Optimal Matching analysis of the occupational career sequences, however, show that immigrants in the UK and Germany pursue largely different occupational paths, the former having occupational careers similar to those of the native-born, the latter being segmented in manual, mostly unskilled, jobs.     

An empirical study of occupational families in the youth labour market

This research aims at identifying job families for use in broadly based training for young people. A total of 455 job incumbents in the youth labour market were interviewed using the Job Components Inventory (JCI). The job sample was heterogeneous, reflecting a wide range of industries and job titles; some of these were skilled but mainly they were semi- and unskilled. The JCI covers the use of tools and equipment, physical and perceptual skills, mathematical requirements, communication, decision making and responsibility. Cluster analysis of items identified 36 skill components. These formed the basis for job-holder profiles, which in turn were grouped by hierarchical clustering. The optimal solution resulted in six clusters, the characteristics of which were described in terms of JCI component scores. The six clusters were labelled as clerical, skilled interpersonal, operative, unskilled manual, intermediate skilled technical and skilled technical. The stability of these six clusters was assessed using split-half replications. Results are discussed and evaluated in the context of contemporary youth training needs.     

Educated and underemployed: Refugee integration into the Canadian labour market

This study explores issues of access to high-status occupations in the Canadian labour market, with particular emphasis on refugees who were in professional or managerial positions prior to their arrival in Canada. The study is based on interviews with a sample of 525 adult refugees who were initially resettled in the province of Alberta between 1992 and 1997. About two thirds of the respondents came from former Yugoslavia, the remainder from countries in the Middle East, Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Despite the generally high educational attainment of these refugees, the results show that they experience, much higher rates of unemployment, part-time employment, and temporary employment than do Canadian-born individuals. A variety of structural factors operating in a segmented Canadian labour market help to explain the downward mobility of these highly qualified refugees. The policy implications of these results are examined in detail.     

Applying market principles to the delivery of careers guidance services: A critical review

Market principles can be applied to careers guidance services through the concept of guidance as market-maker or through the concept of a market in guidance. The notion of a market in guidance can take the form of a real market or of a quasi-market. A quasi-market can take the form of contracts or of vouchers. These three sets of options are explored in relation to current policy developments in the careers guidance field.     

Immigrant skill utilization in the Canadian labour market: Implications of human capital research

The quantitative significance of the underutilization of immigrant skills may be assessed, albeit imprecisely, in human-capital earnings analysis. Earnings deficits of immigrants may arise from: (a) lower immigrant skill quality, (b) underutilization of immigrant skills, and (c) pay inequities for immigrants doing the same work as native-born Canadians. Consistent with numerous studies, data from the 1996 census micro-data show that underutilization of immigrant skills is significant, though less so than unequal pay within occupations. In 1996 dollars, the total annual immigrant earnings deficit from all three sources was 15.0 billion, of which15.0 billion, of which 2.4 billion was related to skill underutilization, and 12.6 billion was related to pay inequity. Discussion considers adjustments to these estimates, taking account of difficulties measuring the skill levels of occupations and immigrant skill quality. < /div > < div class=Äbstract» < a name=Äbs2» < /a > La signification quantitative de la sous-utilisation des qualifications immigrées peut être évaluée, quoique sans précision, dans l￠analyse humain-capitale de revenus. Les déficits de revenus des immigrés peuvent surgir de: (a) la qualité immigrée inférieure de compétence, (b) sous-utilisation des qualifications immigrées, et (c) injustices de salaire pour des immigrés faisant la même chose fonctionnent les Canadiens indigènesoutenus. Conformé aux nombreuses études, données des micro-données 1996 de recensement prouvent que la sous-utilisation des qualifications immigrées est significative, cependant moins ainsi que le salaire 


 112.6 billion was related to pay inequity. Discussion considers adjustments to these estimates, taking account of difficulties measuring the skill levels of occupations and immigrant skill quality.     

Work motivation among high school students before and during the economic recession in the Swedish labour market

In 1990, 2349 high school pupils from 21 high schools in the Stockholm, Uppsala and Södertälje regions answered a questionnaire concerning how important different characteristics of work were in their future job. The questionnaire also included an open question, “How would you describe an ideal job?” In 1993 the same questionnaire was answered by 1171 high school students. The two measurement occasions were separated by economic changes leading, from a condition of economic security and full employment, to a condition characterised by economic insecurity and high unemployment especially among young people. Results showed that the economic insecurity of 1993 lowered the students' ratings of the importance of all characteristics of work with the exception of the security of work. A strong gender factor influenced the ratings. Thus, the female students rated the importance of the characteristics of work higher than the male students did. The only exception concerned “good pay”, which was rated higher by the male. In 1993 these effects were less pronounced, although still evident. The motivational structure seemed to be unaffected by the economic insecurity. The same four motivational factors, i.e. (1) the expressive work goals, (2) the working conditions, (3) the benefits of work and (4) the social aspects of work, appeared in the analyses of both measurement occasions.     

Parallel&#x2014;and distance&#x2014;alleys with moving points in the horizontal plane

Stimulus points were presented on the horizontal plane of eye level under both dark and illuminated homogeneous spaces. When two apparent movements towards the subject were generated and positions of points were so adjusted that the two movements appeared straight and parallel (P alley) or with a constant lateral distance (D alley), the D alley lay outside the P alley, as traditionally shown with stationary sets of points. The two alleys were constructed with various patterns and velocities of movement, and the Lüneburg formulas were used as experimental equations to describe the results. The equations have two parameters: K (curvature) and o (sensitivity in depth perception). Values of K and o obtained with stationary points in previous experiments are shown too. Predominantly, K < 0 (hyperbolic), and the same is true in the present study. No first-order effect of patterns and velocities of the movement upon K and o was found.     

Changes in anabolic and catabolic activity among women taking part in an alternative labour market programme

Thirty-two female participants in a mobilising labour market programme offering temporary, alternative employment in Sweden were followed longitudinally for one year, including a six month post participation follow-up period. It can be hypothesised that an important aspect of the physiological effects of unemployment is a change in the balance between anabolic and catabolic activities in the body and that re-employment should lead to a shift towards anabolism. An earlier study of a smaller subset of the data, however, including both men and women, showed increased prolactin and decreased dehydroepiadrosterone sulphate (DHEA-s) levels, contrary to the initial hypothesis. In the present analysis, intended to elucidate these results, psychophysiological data were summarised in two indices, one connected with anabolism (made up of testosterone and DHEA-s) and one with catabolism (prolactin, γ-glutamyl transferase, aspartate amino transferase, α levuline amino transferase, and body mass index). In addition, self-rated anxiety, depression, hopelessness and personal control were analysed. The results indicate that the effect of ‘better’ activities within the programme was a temporary increase in anabolism, possibly indicating lower stress levels, and the effect of ‘worse’ activities, on the one hand, a temporary decrease in the catabolic index, probably reflecting repressed alcohol consumption, and, on the other hand, impaired anabolism. There was also a general but transient decrease in depressiveness measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The results seem to imply that it is difficult to achieve lasting effects through a relatively short participation in a mobilising programme.     

The “coconut tree” model of careers: the case of French academia

This research note sets out to explain the main features of the French university academic career—the “coconut tree,” as it is colloquially known, setting it firmly within a social and cultural context; outlining the logic and functions of career stages, explaining its rituals and conventions, its rewards and pitfalls. These are narrated by two characteristic episodes and comparisons are drawn with Anglo-Saxon academic careers.     

The making of careers, the making of a discipline: Luck and chance in migrant careers in geriatric medicine

The geriatric specialty, unpopular among most UK born and trained medical graduates, provided an opportunity for career development and achievement for those doctors whose training had been non-standard for a variety of reasons. Migrant doctors who have played a substantive role in the UK National Health Service since its inception made an important contribution to the building of that specialty, at the same time building their own careers. This paper draws on oral history interviews with the UK trained pioneers of geriatric medicine and with South Asian overseas trained doctors who entered the geriatric specialty in the middle decades of the twentieth century. It critically reviews the literature of skilled migration, specifically in terms of ‘brain drain’ and ‘push–pull’, focusing on historical and socio-cognitive communities and emphasizes the contribution of individual narratives of career development in the lives of migrants. Focusing on the use of luck and chance in accounts it suggests that although such terms are indicative of chance upon opportunity, they also suggest a role for agency in career development in contexts which were not auspicious. The outcome, for those interviewed, was regarded positively in career terms, but also had a significant part to play in the development of the career of the specialty of geriatric medicine and in the lives of the marginalized people for whom they developed a service.     

Cognitive styles in the development of medical careers

Recent research has shown that academic choice and achievement may be partly a function of the student's standing on the field-dependence-independence cognitive-style dimension. The results of two longitudinal studies suggest that information about field dependence-independence may be of value for student guidance in the medical setting. The first, a study of college undergraduates who early expressed an interest in medicine, showed that these cognitive styles play a discernible role in determining who will eventually enter medical school. The second, a study of medical students, showed that field-dependent and field-independent students subsequently tend to choose different medical specialties. These results are consistent with cognitive-style theory, which proposes that field-independent people will choose vocations that require cognitive restructuring skills, whereas field-dependent people will choose vocations that require greater social-interpersonal involvement.     

A multivariate projection‐type analogue of the Wilcoxon — Mann — Whitney test

The problem of comparing two independent groups based on mulitivariate data is considered. Many such methods have been proposed, but it is difficult to gain a perspective on the extent to which the groups differ. The basic strategy here is to determine a robust measure of location for each group, project the data onto the line connecting these measures of location, and then compare the groups based on the ordering of the projected points. In the univariate case the method uses the same measure of effect size employed by the Wilcoxon — Mann — Whitney test. Under general conditions, the projected points are dependent, causing difficulties when testing hypotheses. Two methods are found to be effective when trying to avoid Type I error probabilities above the nominal level. The relative merits of the two methods are discussed. The projected data provide not only a useful (numerical) measure of effect size, but also a graphical indication of the extent to which groups differ.     

Theology in the Conflict of Interpretations—Before the Text

The aim of this essay is to reflect on the character of theology in general, understood as a hermeneutic theology, by way of reference to the work of Paul Ricoeur. The author endeavours to delineate a distinctively contemporary Lutheran hermeneutics, employing Ricoeur as his main partner in dialogue.