Lisa Salmonsson

Cultural demands on skilled immigrants, a devaluation of human capital : The case of immigrant physicians in Sweden

Abstract The difficulties immigrant doctors encounter can be considered as an impediment to accessing skilful work, and are thus an indication of ethnic bias. Therefore the term “devaluation of human capital” is here used to analyze one case where schooling and/or licensure from other countries are less recognized. This study focuses on the case of immigrant doctors in Sweden and their difficulties in achieving similar status positions there as their Swedish counterparts. The study is based on a qualitative study of the Swedish medical journal over time and the aim was to broaden the understanding about how the skills of immigrant doctors are described in this context. Results show that, immigrant doctors in Sweden are constructed as assets when their language-skills are helpful in relation with immigrant patients. In this case the human capital of immigrant doctors is not devaluated, but often they are also considered as a threat to the ‘trustworthiness’ of the profession of doctors. Cultural authorization is a concept presented in this article that can help describing a profession’s way of re-evaluating immigrant professionals.

Challenges in the Guardianship of Unaccompanied Minors Seeking Asylum

In this paper we explore the research literature relating to the guardianship of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. In particular, we seek to find out what type of dilemmas have been identified by research concerning the guardianship of unaccompanied minors, and the focus that the literature has therefore taken. A comprehensive search of identified databases was conducted. Ultimately, 38 publications were selected for analysis. The review was qualitative and inductive. The results of the review suggest that research has identified and focused on challenges in the form of diverging policy such as gaps and inconsistencies in guardianship institutions, as well as challenges in balancing different objectives concerning the guardianship role, such as conflicting interest in the guardianship assignment or between different actors involved in protecting the child’s interest.The conclusion is that different configurations of guardianship institutions, as well as the identified challenges for practice, appear to be related to the welfare state model. Therefore, future research concerning guardianship for unaccompanied minors needs to move beyond legal sources and policy documents by focusing on empirically informed research on the relationship between child care/protection, principles of assessing the best interest of the child and the welfare state systems.

Book review: Spjälorna i buren : En arbetsplatsstudie av ojämlikhet mellan kvinnor och män, invandrade och infödda by Boréus, Kristina a Mörkenstam, Ulf (2010)

Book review: Spjalorna i buren : En arbetsplatsstudie av ojamlikhet mellan kvinnor och man, invandrade och infodda by Boreus, Kristina & Morkenstam, Ulf (2010)