Brain drain, or human capital flight, is a phenomenon which represents a society-wide problem in the post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). At present, more than half of the people claiming BiH nationality live abroad, out of which a significant part possesses tertiary education. Loss of human capital carries negative socio-economic consequences which hinder the country's development. On the other hand, brain gain, i.e. return of highly skilled migrants to their country of origin, might reverse some of the unfavourable effects. Nevertheless, the phenomenon of the return of highly skilled migrants remains under researched not only within the region of the Western Balkans, but also on a global scale. Although this type of migration has increasingly attracted the attention of many scholars from various academic and non- academic fields, contemporary literature on this topic suffers from limitations and tends to oversimplify the returnees' motivations to purely economic incentives. This study attempts to describe the complex factors leading the highly skilled migrants to return to BiH. Based on the 33 respondents' subjective preferences from the spheres of career, family and lifestyle, this work provides an insight into the decisions of returnees in the context of the developing Western Balkan country.

This thesis entitled "Impact of Collective Action in Controlling Migratory Flows: Understanding Migratory Flows within the European Union" analyses the various factors which impact upon migration decision-making and remigration potential among Slovak migrants who entered the Czech Republic after the country acceded to the European Union. The thesis utilizes a meta- theoretical approach which provides wide latitude for the inclusion of theoretical approaches which transcend disciplinary boundaries. Through a discussion of various policy approaches the work demonstrates that attempts to limit flows via legislative changes or the implementation of European Union directives has had little impact on aggregate flows in the specific case of the Czech Republic. Data from a survey conducted by the author is analysed and discussed from various perspectives in the form of a descriptive case study. The case study determines that employment, personal choice and family reunification are significant rationales for mobility related decision making and that long term settlement among this particular group is likely to occur.

The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to a better understanding of highly skilled (re-)migrants as labour force in multinational enterprises (MNEs) and their role in cross-border knowledge transfers. To achieve this goal, an actor-centred research perspective will be adopted, which allows for a detailed examination of both individual employees and strategies of MNEs. The basic conceptual understanding of this work is based on the relational economic-geographical approach (Bathelt and Glückler 2002), on the basis of which research strands and theories of economic geography, international business studies and migration studies were intertwined. The empirical study is based on the example of highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin who work for German companies in Turkey. The study focuses on (re-)migrants of Turkish origin who have obtained a university degree in Germany. The study follows a qualitative research design based on 95 semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with highly skilled (re-)migrants as well as with company internal and external experts. In addition to the semi-structured interviews, a netnographic collection of data from an online group for (re-)migrants of Turkish origin is conducted. The findings of this thesis show that highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin who have obtained a university degree in Germany are not to be regarded as a homogeneous group but rather have diverse educational and career paths. In addition to their high level of education, they have excellent language skills (mostly Turkish, German and English). They are also mostly familiar with the cultural and institutional contexts in Germany and Turkey, which, according to Hess (2004), is referred to as dual societal embeddedness. Highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin are important transnational experts for German companies in Turkey. They are particularly in demand if the companies 1) have a strong orientation towards German-speaking markets and/or 2) are dependent on close cooperation with German company locations. In these companies, highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin are strategically deployed in central areas of the company, where they often work at interfaces due to their transnational abilities, which require close contact with local employees and employees of German company locations. The empirical results also show that highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin make a significant contribution to the cross-border knowledge transfers in German companies in Turkey. Highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin are primarily involved in intra-organisational knowledge transfer with employees of German company locations. Due to their dual societal embeddedness and their profound language skills, highly skilled (re-)migrants are able to bridge the institutional distance between German and Turkish company locations. This is particularly important for the transfer of implicit knowledge, which is based on know-how and experience and is therefore difficult to transfer between different cultural and institutional contexts. In concrete terms, highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin facilitate cross-border knowledge transfers through three main activities: building knowledge networks, mediating frictions, transmitting knowledge. The results of a case study also show that highly skilled (re-)migrants can play a decisive role in the offshoring of knowledge intensive business services within global production networks Thereby, highly skilled (re-)migrants help to mitigate resistance and facilitate the dis- and re-embedding of knowledge within the offshoring process. Overall, this thesis contributes to the geographical (re-)migration research, to research on the geography of knowledge in MNEs, and to global production network research.

The study sought to understand the labour-market experiences of Kenyan women living in Swedenfrom a precarity standpoint. Specifically, from the point of view of uncertainty and vulnerability ofAfrican migrants workers in the labor market. The research explored how individual, structural, andcultural factors influenced the choice of profession and the labour market participation of Kenyanmigrant women in Sweden. Intersectionality, Precarity and the Dual Labor Market theory were thetheories picked to make sense of the particular vulnerabilities experienced, and strategies adoptedby Kenya migrant women in the Swedish labour market. A qualitative approach was adopted by thestudy and a case-study specifically used. Semi -structured interviews were used as the tool for datacollection and the data coded and analyses thematically. The research found out that African wokenfaced challenges in the Swedish labour market despite their academic qualifications, workexperience or Swedish language skills. Gender and ethnicity were found to be contributing factorsto these women being embedded mostly in the secondary segments of the labour market. Dualismor the labor market segmentation theory- divided into two sections; the primary and the secondaryjobs proved useful as it enabled the research make sense of the participants embeddedness in thesecondary labour markets. The concept of precarity was helpful in analysing various precariouswork undertaken by the participants from the beginning of their migration to Sweden and aftermany years of being in the country. The combination of the dual labor market theory with theintersectionality approach was significant to the study as it highlighted the dichotomy and thecomplexity of interactions between race, gender and ethnicity in the labor market. The findings ofthe research generally confirmed previous studies that show that highly skilled migrant women aremostly situated in the secondary segments of the labour market or face discrimination whenpositioned in primary jobs due to their different ethnicity and different culture. The studyrecommends that further research be done with a a larger sample and the same study done in otherEuropean countries for comparison purposes.

This thesis explores the Visit Friends and Relatives (VFR) tourism experiences of highly skilled first-generation Italians and Chinese in Sweden. It focuses on personal networks influence on migrant hosts’ interaction and participation in the place and how the Covid-19 global immobility has changed the dynamics and the feelings towards the place. Data are collected through semi-structured interviews with a participative target sociogram as memory recollection and visualization tool. Results showed that VFR is mainly a within network experience and the interaction with the place and the society is marginal and influenced by hosts’ mediation, their local network structure and composition. The VFR aspect of sharing quality time emerges as central element. The local dimension shapes place interaction and participation dynamics: the migrant host personal relation to the local place, their local network structure and composition, and the difference of having a native member in the network are crucial elements.

This thesis is at the intersection of migration and labour in tourism and the hospitality sector. Empirically, this study explores the experiences of well-trained migrant dishwashing employees (DE) in restaurants in Copenhagen, Denmark and aims to understand their motivation for migration. They, while acquiring hospitality sector experience, struggle beyond the workplace to fulfill their intentions of long term settlement. The study explores how they face resistance to labour market access and participation based on their skills and experience. The focus of this qualitative study is on the highly skilled Green card Holders (GCH) of Denmark, majority of who are stuck as DE in the restaurant industry. This master thesis argues about the challenges of employability, underutilization of foreign education credentials and work-life struggle. A sizable proportion of GCH have managed to find jobs and are working as DE. Qualified professionals like IT specialists, teachers, accountants, and engineers face unanticipated challenges that are explained through open-ended unstructured interviews with GCH. These professionals are still working as DE or have left the Danish labour market. Further, this thesis explores how these DE are struggling to lead the routine life of an expat. I have discussed the significance of job satisfaction as blue- collar employees in the host country and compared it with white-collar job experience from their respective home countries. GCH migrants from Asian countries in Denmark have come under the spotlight during this study. This study provides unique insights from their experience as a DE, exploitation of human capital flight, feelings of humiliation and discrimination of GCH despite being well trained employed back home. Highlighting some of the challenges as a migrant DE, it makes a strong case for reviewing national policy towards them. / <p>2022-01-22</p>

This thesis investigates the preconditions for a new type of migration among the highly skilled between Senegal and the EU, namely circular migration. The three most prominent actors in the shaping of the future migration pattern –the EU (administration), the Senegalese government and the future highly skilled migrants i.e. Senegalese university students –are studied by a combination of social constructivism and critical discourse analysis. The discourses are derived from official EU and Senegalese documents and from a survey as well as from semi-structured interviews with students at the two largest universities in Senegal. The analysis of the discourses shows three factors that point towards a change of the migration practice in favour of circular migration: first, an interdiscursivity between the migration, development and economic growth discourses; second, a resemblance between the three actors discourses on migration; and third, a willingness among all three actors to act for a mobility of knowledge and experience. Consequently, there are preconditions for circular migration between Senegal and the EU.

Cette thèse vise à comprendre et à caractériser l’expérience et le parcours migratoire et socioprofessionnel, ainsi que la dynamique des liens familiaux transnationaux, de couples brésiliens ayant migré à Montréal entre 2004 et 2013 et dont un des membres travaillait au Brésil comme professionnel en ingénierie ou dans le domaine des technologies de l’information et des communications (TIC). Trois raisons ont présidé au choix de ce sujet de recherche : (1) l’importance de la migration des travailleurs hautement qualifiés (THQ) dans le flux des migrations internationales, laquelle est insuffisamment étudiée ; (2) la formation d’une nouvelle vague migratoire de Brésiliens qualifiés arrivés à Montréal à partir du milieu des années 2000 et (3) une volonté de porter un nouveau regard sur la migration des THQ, afin de comprendre leur expérience et cheminement à partir de leur point de vue et de celui de leur famille. La décision de comparer les parcours migratoires des ingénieurs et des professionnels des TIC tient au fait que les ingénieurs font face à davantage d’obstacles socioprofessionnels (liés aux exigences de l’ordre professionnel des ingénieurs) et à une plus difficile reconnaissance des titres de compétence et de l’expérience acquise à l’étranger que les professionnels des technlogies de l’information et des communications (TIC), dont l’expertise est davantage reconnue internationalement et localement. Cette recherche vise à répondre au comment plutôt qu’au pourquoi. Comment devient-on émigrant dans la société de départ ? Comment, comme immigrant, s’adapte-t-on à la société de destination ? Comment s’y insère-t-on socioprofessionnellement ? Comment est maintenu le sentiment familial en dépit de la « tyrannie de la distance » ? Quel est, dans chaque cas, le rôle de l’agentivité des migrants, celui des contraintes et des opportunités, des ressources mobilisées dans la formation et la dynamique des parcours migratoires, professionnels et familiaux. J’ai choisi l’approche des parcours de vie car elle s’est avérée utile au double plan analytique et méthodologique. Sur le plan analytique, elle offre certains concepts, comme ceux de transition et de parcours, qui amènent à analyser la migration comme processus affectant des sphères de la vie des migrants. Sur le plan méthodologique, elle en fournit la méthode des récits de vie comme moyen de saisir, de façon diachronique, l’expérience des participants car les récits de vie aident à reconstruire « par en bas » le jeu des actions, des contraintes et opportunités dans la vie des migrants lors de certains contextes clés de leur existence. Cette approche biographique m’a permis d’identifier quatre transitions de vie significatives dans le parcours migratoire soit l’émigration du pays de départ, l’immigration dans le pays d’arrivée, l’incorporation socioprofessionnelle et la reconfiguration familiale, ce qui entraîne des changements de positions, de statuts ou de rôles dans divers espaces sociaux, professionnels et familiaux. Chacune de ces transitions constitue autant d’épreuves qui obligent à des engagements dans de nouveaux rôles et à des changements de positions sociales dont l’issue dépend autant des capacités stratégiques des migrants, de leur encastrement dans des liens sociaux et de l’ensemble des ressources et capitaux possédés qu’ils réussissent à reconvertir pour faire face aux épreuves rencontrées. J’ai été amenée, dans ce cadre, à identifier une pluralité de profils migratoires et d’incorporation professionnelle et une diversité de modes de gestion de la « tyrannie de la distance », pour continuer à faire famille. La thèse se divise en trois grandes parties, correspondant à chacune des thématiques de cette recherche, soit (1) la migration dans sa dimension émigration (chapitre 2) et immigration (chapitre 3), (2) l’incorporation socioprofessionnelle (chapitres 4 et 5) et (3) la famille transnationale (chapitre 6). Dans la conclusion générale, je rappelle les principaux résultats par rapport aux questionnements initiaux et identifie quelques limites de la recherche. / This thesis aims to understand the migratory experience of Brazilian engineers and information and communications technology (ICT) professionals who migrated to Montreal between 2004 and 2013. It focuses on the dynamics of their socio-professional incorporation and transnational family changes. There were three reasons for choosing this research topic: (1) the importance of highly skilled workers’ (HSW) migration in the flow of international migration, which is insufficiently studied; (2) the arrival of a new migratory wave of skilled Brazilians in Montreal in the mid-2000s; and (3) a willingness to take a different look at HSW migration, in order to understand migrants’ experience and journey from their point of view and the one of their family members. I decided to compare engineers’ and ICT professionals’ migration paths because engineers face supplementary socio-professional barriers (related to the requirements of the engineers’ regulatory body (Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec) and the more difficult recognition of credentials and experience gained abroad faced by these migrants as compared to ICT professionals, whose expertise is more easily recognized internationally and locally. This research aims to answer to questions concerning “how,” rather than “why:” How does one become an emigrant before leaving the sending society? How, having migrated, does one adapt to the receiving society? How does one insert oneself professionally? How is the familyhood maintained despite the “tyranny of distance”? What is the role of the migrant’s agency, which are the constraints and the opportunities, and the resources mobilized in the migratory dynamics and changes concerning both migratory, professional and family changes? I chose the life course approach because it proved to be analytically and methodologically useful. It offers certain concepts, such as transition and pathways, which lead to the analysis of migration as a process affecting different spheres of migrants’ lives. Methodologically, the life history approach allows us to grasp the experience of the participants in a diachronic manner. Life stories help to reconstruct "from below" the dynamics of actions, constraints and opportunities in the lives of migrants in certain key contexts of their existence. This biographical approach allowed me to identify four significant life transitions in the migration pathways: emigration from the country of origin, immigration to the country of arrival, socio-occupational incorporation and family reconfiguration, resulting in changes of position, status or role in social, professional and family spaces. Each of these transitions involves hardships that lead to commitments into new roles and changes in social positions. Their outcome depends as much on migrants' strategic abilities as on their integration into social ties and on assets that they manage to convert to face the hardships encountered. In this context, I was led to identify a plurality of migratory profiles and professional incorporation paths and a variety of modes of management of the tyranny of distance, to continue to make family. The thesis is divided into three main parts, corresponding to each of the themes of this research, namely (1) emigration (chapter 2) and immigration (chapter 3), (2) socio-occupational incorporation (chapters 4 and 5) and (3) the transnational family (chapter 6). In the general conclusion, I recall the main results in relation to the initial research questions and identify some of the limits of the research.

The researcher of this study " Indian Migrants and Self-Initiated Expatriates in the host Countries: the Focus on Social Support" the whole study about the Indian expatriates who are living in the United Kingdom and the main goal of this research is to predict how successful the Indian expatriates in their settling process in the UK and the focus of social supports. The sample includes both Self-initiated expatriates ( SIE's) and Assigned Expatriates(AE's). SIE's expatriates are Indian students who are studying in the UK and the AE's expatriates are the company assigned Indian full-time employees. Social support includes briefly the overall host country support provided for Indian expatriates in the host country. Social support is measured in three broader dimensions pertinent to Waxin cross-cultural adjustment model (2006), likely perceived organizational support, individual self-motivation, and contextual support, includes family support and host country environment. (Navas et al, 2005) classified six relevant contexts of acculturation of expatriates in a foreign country, which emphasize, politics and government, organizational work-related adjustments, economic perspective, family relations; social relations and ideology, which includes religious belief and customs. The structure of the thesis covers extensive theoretical part based on the intense review of literature in the field of expatriation, cross-cultural studies, information on this context about the United Kingdom and India and final part includes practical data analysis, business cases and recommendation for the future research.