Recognition of Prior Learning for Highly Skilled Refugees’ Labour Market Integration Per Andersson* ABSTRACT In the integration of highly skilled refugees, recognition of their prior learning is a key factor. One concern is the object of the recognition process, the formal and the actual competence of the individual. Another concern is the subject of the process, the refugee. Starting from the individual and her/his experience and competence entails a different process and results than starting from professional regulations and labour market needs. A final concern is the process of recognition. Recognition processes could be seen solely as a matter of classification and assessment, but this misses that fact that the recognition process also means a learning process for the individual. This article discusses problems and opportunities relating to the recognition of prior learning targeting highly skilled refugees in relationship with these three concerns of object, subject and process of recognition. INTRODUCTION Recognition of prior learning is a key factor in the integration of highly skilled refugees. The prior learning of migrants, be it from formal education or from informal learning in qualified positions in their prior labour market, should be central in determining the demand, inclusion and integration of such refugees and their skills and competences into a new workplace, labour market and society. Several initiatives have been taken in policy and practice to facilitate labour market integration through processes aimed at the recognition of prior learning (RPL). However, there are also prob- lems emerging in such processes. Problems and opportunities in recognition processes will be high- lighted in this article, centring upon three key concerns: firstly, the object of recognition; secondly, the subject of the recognition process; and thirdly, the very process of recognition. The objects of recognition refer to the skills, competences and qualifications of the refugee, which are the actual and formal aspects of what should be assessed and recognized through RPL, the focus of the pro- cess. However, there is always an individual, a subject, who possesses these objects and who expe- riences the process in a certain way. And this process is in itself central to the experiences and outcomes of RPL. This article is a research review based on earlier studies of RPL 1 , mainly in Sweden, as well as theoretical perspectives and concepts that have been employed in these studies to understand and problematize different practices of RPL. That is, the focus of the review is the relevant findings *Link€ oping University, Link€ oping, This paper is part of a special issue on The Labour Market Integration of Highly Skilled Refugees in Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. doi: 10.1111/imig.12781 © 2020 The Authors. International Migration published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Organization for Migration International Migration Vol. 59 (4) 2021 ISSN 0020-7985 This is an open access article under the terms of the Crea tive Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non- commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Recognition of Prior Learning for Highly Skilled Refugees’ Labour Market Integration
Jul 11, 2023
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