Foreign Qualification Recognition Regimes for Internationally Trained Professionals: the Case of Pharmacists

The paper aims to bridge the literatures on “immigration policy” and “sociology of professions” by offering an institutionalist perspective that focuses on the nature of foreign qualification recognition (FQR) processes and their impact on internationally trained workers’ access to employment in 11 immigrant-receiving countries—France, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. It analyzes professional regulations and immigrant selection systems and puts forward four FQR regimes—“readily accessible,” “segmented,” “moderately restrictive,” and “highly restrictive.” The central focus of the article is on FQR regimes for pharmacists since professional regulations are not uniform across all professions and jurisdictions. It would thus be more suitable to clarify country clusters for each profession. This conceptual tool, however, can also be utilized to enhance our understanding about other professions.