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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.

Sweden has a long tradition of refugee immigration to the country and with labor skillshortage that exists in the construction sector, larger construction company in Swedeninitiated to start recruitment and education program to integrate high skilled immigrantengineers into their company.The purpose of this study aims to investigate how immigrants’ engineers experienceintegration in the construction sector by examining two different construction companies'programs in Sweden.The study was conducted using a qualitative method. The literature used has highlightedconfirmation issue areas. Subsequently, interviews have been conducted in a semi-structuredway with immigrant engineers working within the companies to investigate how integrationhas taken place from their point of view, in what was good and what is perceived less good.The analysis and discussion of the results have been used to ascertain how the immigrantsexperienced the time during the program. A general conclusion is from the perspective of theimmigrants that the opportunities are enormous with the program created by the company tointegrate immigrant engineers into the construction industry. / Sverige har en lång tradition med relativt omfattande flyktinginvandring och år 2016 invandrade det in mest i landet, omkring 163 000 människor. Många av de flyktingar som invandrat till Sverige under denna period har en hög utbildningsnivå. Med den arbetskraftsoch kompetensbrist som existerar i byggsektorn idag i förhållande till den stora massa byggnader och andra projekt som uppförs så resultera det i att stora byggföretag i Sverige initierade för att starta rekrytering eller utbildningsprogram med anledning till att integrera nyanlända/utrikesfödda med kompetens- och erfarenhet inom byggsektorn. Tidigare forskning indikerar att svårigheter uppstår vid integration, kommunikation, kulturella skillnader och validering. Med anledning till utmaningarna inom området som uppstår, erhåller man förståelse och förbättringar med integration av nyanlända/utrikesfödda ingenjörer i byggsektorn genom denna studie. Detta är någonting som alla byggföretag kan ta del av för en bättre integration. Undersökningen syftar till att utreda hur nyanlända/utrikesfödda ingenjörer upplever att de integreras in i byggsektorn genom att undersöka två olika byggföretags program i Sverige där målet med programmen är att integrera dem i sina verksamheter. Genom att undersöka tidigare studier inom integrationen utav högutbildade ingenjörer från länder likt Sverige för att sedan undersöka hur nyanlända/utrikesfödda upplever att de erhållit stöd för att integreras i den svenska byggsektorn. Undersökningen har utförts med kvalitativ metod. Litteraturen som används har belyst styrkande problemområden. Därefter har intervjuerna utförts på semistrukturerade vis med nyanlända/utrikesfödda ingenjörer som arbetar inom företagen för att undersöka hur de upplever integrationen skett från deras synvinkel, de som varit bra och det som upplevs mindre bra. Analysen och diskussionen av resultatet har använts för att konstatera hur de nyanlända/utrikesfödda upplevt tiden under programmet samt även då de blivit anställda inom företagen gällande att integreras. En generell slutsats är att från de nyanländas/utrikesfödda perspektiv är möjligheterna enorma med program skapade av företag till att integrera ingenjörerna i byggsektorn. Eftersom den utbildning man erbjuds under programmen gällande svenska språket, värderingar och normer på arbetsplatsen resulterar i att man erbjuds en anställning inom sitt kunskapsområde. Genom att delta i programmen ökar kontaktnätet för de nyanlända/utrikesfödda som är till fördel för att söka jobb eller bli rekryterad i framtiden. Vidare möts det individer från olika kulturer på arbetsplatsen som resulterar i att man utvecklar förståelse kring kulturella skillnader och att det bidrar för de nyanlända/utrikesfödda att enklare integreras båda på arbetsplatsen och i samhället.

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.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Literacy development in South African higher education is increasingly challenged by several issues in dialogue and language of tuition. Despite the widening of access to South African universities, research shows that a large majority of entry-level university students are still failing in their chosen programme of studies. Almost all universities in the democratic South Africa incorporate academic development programs in first-year modules as an awareness raising attempt to scaffold novice students into the vocabulary of their various disciplines. However, these development programs sometimes fail to address the language needs of some of the students who have had more than seven years of schooling in their first languages (IsiXhosa and Afrikaans). My study seeks to explore how additional language IsiXhosa and Afrikaans students understand and construct written knowledge in one literacy development course using English medium of instruction. I further explore lecturers’ and tutors’ perspectives of the demand of sounding a scholarly voice in academic writing by entry-level students in their new roles as scholars in the University of the Western Cape (UWC).Literature indicated gaps when it comes to students’ and lectures’ perceptions on the construction of voice in academic writing in a language that the students are not comfortable in.

Virtual-team professionals have reported experiencing low job satisfaction due to lack of face-to-face interaction leading to stress, miscommunication, and role-confusion. Dissatisfaction among virtual teams has increased turnover and management costs for organizations. Despite these known associations, there was a gap in the literature investigating efficient leadership practices to improve job satisfaction for highly skilled virtual teams. Participative leadership offers an effective approach to increase job satisfaction among face-to-face teams and innovative teams. This study explored the relationship between participative leadership and job satisfaction among highly skilled virtual teams within the global software industry. A quantitative study with a correlational design was utilized among 173 participants from the International Association for Software Architects. Participants took a voluntary online survey by responding to an invitation post on the group LinkedIn page. The questionnaire included participative leadership scale (Ismail, Zainuddin, & Ibrahim, 2010), job satisfaction scale (Wall, Cook, & Warr, 1979), and demographic questions. Correlation analysis indicated that there was a positive relationship between participative leadership and job satisfaction, r(172) = .67, p < .001. Regression analysis revealed that job position had a control effect on job satisfaction, F(2, 170) = 89.46, p < .001, R2 = .51. Higher-ranked professionals enjoyed higher job satisfaction when participative leadership was present. Study results are beneficial for global software organizations to streamline leadership practices for highly skilled virtual teams to ensure high levels of job satisfaction. Ensuring high job satisfaction among skilled global talent helps innovative organizations cut costs, increase competitive advantage, and ensure high work quality.

There has been growing concern over how state and federal governments can support the increasing population of aging Americans and their need for long-term care. Current insurance funding models cover acute hospitalization and skilled care only, leaving unskilled care needs and homemaker services at the full expense of those in need. Time banking allows individuals to exchange or barter time for goods or services without monetary payment. There is insufficient evidence to determine if members believe time banks to be a viable alternative to support aging-in-place care needs. This phenomenological study explored time banking as a potential vehicle for nonskilled health care support to defray health care costs as one ages. Ostrom's co-production theory provided the theoretical foundation for the research questions, which examined the participants' lived experiences with the role time banks played in their decision to age in place. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 Southern California time bank participants, age 50 years or older. Using a Moustakas-modified van Kaam method and a priori coding emergent themes were extracted. Study findings illustrated that time bank participation did support aspects of nonskilled health care needs and provided members with confident options for aging in place. Study findings also indicated a need for continued collaborations between professional and managerial staff in public agencies, including California's Health and Human Services Agency and time bank users in their communities. Reducing health care costs for taxpayers in any government-funded health insurance model benefits positive social change, and nonskilled health care provider time bank initiatives may be a sustainable alternative for those wishing to age in place.

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.

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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.