-
The Effects of the Crisi
ib
o2
acionniver
migrant population. This impact is stronger
this phenomenon on migrants in general and on
Terrazas, 2009; Castles & Miller, 2010; Martnez-
POPULATION, SPACE AND PLACEPopul. Space Place (2015)Published
online in Wiley Online Library(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI:
10.1002/psp.1909among LAC women because they are the onesat
greatest disadvantage, a situation thatworsened following the
crisis. Skilled migrantsfrom LAC are substantially more segregated
onthe occupational structure than other migrants,and they increased
its concentration in medium-skilled occupations. The study also
found thatskilled migrants from LAC are underrepresentedin
professional occupations. Copyright 2015John Wiley & Sons,
Ltd.
Pizarro, 2010; Skeldon, 2010; Moser & Horn, 2013).While
these effects were more evident amongmedium and low-skilled
migrants particularlyworkers linked to economic sectors such as
con-struction we should ask how this crisis affectedskilled
migrants, especially those from LatinAmerica and the Caribbean
(LAC), the migrantpopulation that grew the most, compared withother
regions of the world, grew the most in therecent years, compared
with migrants from otherregions of the world.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse theeffect of the
20072008 economic and nancial crisis
*Correspondence to: LucianaGandini, Instituto de
InvestigacionesJurdicas de la UNAM, Circuito Maestro Mario de la
Cuevas/n, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 04510, Mxico, D.F.,
Mxico.Segregation of SkilledAmerica and the CarStates,
20062012Luciana Gandini1,* and Fernando Lozano-Ascenci1Instituto de
Investigaciones Jurdicas, Universidad N2Centro Regional de
InvestigacionesMultidisciplinarias, U
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to analyse theeffect of the
20072008 economic and nancialcrisis on the levels of employment
andunemployment of skilled migrants from LatinAmerica and the
Caribbean (LAC), as well astheir conditions of labour insertion and
levelsof income, in order to identify patterns ofoccupational
segregation and wage inequalityaccording to their participation in
the US labourmarket. This analysis was developed using acomparative
perspective in two ways: on theone hand, comparing skilled migrants
fromLAC to the skilled migrant population from otherregions of the
world and to the native skilledpopulation and, on the other hand,
by analysingthese indicators pre-crisis and post-crisis.
Theinformation source employed in this study wasthe March
supplements of the CurrentPopulation Survey 20062012. Our
ndingsindicate that the crisis affected the entire
skilledpopulation in the USA and particularly theE-mail:
[email protected] migrants in particular. Different
studieshave demonstrated the effects of this global crisison
international migration: a reduction in the owof international
migrants, increased unemploy-ment rates among migrant populations,
reducedremittanceows, and an increase inmigrant returnrates, among
other issues (Papademetriou &s on OccupationalMigrants from
Latinbean in the United
al Autnoma de Mxico, Mxico D.F., MxicosidadNacional Autnoma
deMxico, Cuernavaca,Mxico
Accepted 7 October 2014
Keywords: skilled migration; crisis andmigration; occupational
segregation; wagedifferentials; migration to the USA; LatinAmerica
and the Caribbean
INTRODUCTION
F ollowing the 20072008 global economicand nancial downfall
centred in the UnitedStates, national governments,
internationalorganisations, and academic bodies expressed
in-creasing interest in understanding the impact ofon the levels of
employment and unemployment of
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
-
L. Gandini and F. Lozano-Ascencioskilled migrants from LAC, as
well as their condi-tions of labour insertion and levels of income,
in or-der to identify patterns of occupational segregationandwage
inequality according to their participationin the US labour market.
This analysis was devel-oped using a comparative perspective in two
ways:on the one hand, comparing skilled migrants fromLAC to skilled
migrant population from otherregions of the world and to the native
skilled popu-lation and, on the other hand, by analysing
theseindicators pre-crisis and post-crisis.
Literature addressing the impact of the eco-nomic crisis on
international migration is broadand diverse and characterised by
three generalfeatures. First of all, there is a great deal of
hypo-thetical or speculative work regarding the possi-ble impacts
of the global economic crisis oninternational migration, which is
explained by theshort period of time that has transpired in orderto
have sufcient empirical evidence to be able todemonstrate changes
in international migrationassociated with the crisis. A second
feature is thescant publications regarding the impact of thecrisis
specically upon skilled migrants and anabundant amount of
literature about the crisiseffects upon migration in general. A
third featureis that a good part of the literature on this topic
isfocused on the effects of the crisis in receivingcountries of
migrants, with very little emphasisonwhat happens in sending
countries, particularlyin the LAC region.
What kind of crisis are we talking about? Therst symptoms of the
arrival of the crisis were feltin 2007 when the nancial system
weakened inthe face of difculties of the mortgage market inmeeting
high-risk (subprime) payments in theUnited States. The following
year, the investmentbank was the one with problems: Some
banksfailed and were bailed out by the government,and others who
failed to have the same luck were taken over or simply disappeared.
The im-plementation of unregulated subprime nancialinstruments,
monetary and expansionary scalpolicy in the United States, and
excess liquidityresulting from the huge inux of capital to
theUnited States despite low interest rates arekey elements for
explaining the crisis (Ochoa,2013). To the extent that what began
as strictly acrisis of the real estate sector in the United
Statesin 2007, rapidly developed into a serious globalnancial
crisis in 2008 that spread to the real
economy (Marichal, 2010; Keeley & Love, 2011).
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.In terms of the
consequences for labour markets,this nancial crisis evolved into an
employmentcrisis (Papademetriou & Terrazas, 2009; Castles
&Miller, 2010; Moser & Horn, 2013). By the end of2008, the
crisis brought about a huge decline ininternational commerce, the
loss of jobs, and thecollapse of economic growth rates within the
con-text of a generalised global recession. Accordingto the
International Labour Organization, in 2009,approximately 61 million
people lost their jobs asa consequence of the economic crisis
(Alexander,2010). In addition to spreading unemployment, abroad
ensemble of groups and categories ofworkers faced inappropriate
working conditions,although some groups were more affected
thanothers. Castles and Miller (2010) maintain thatduring its
initial stages, the nancial crisis had astrong impact on highly
skilled workers, includingemployees in the banking sector,
information andtechnology, and specialised services, who lost
theirjobs or underwent heavy salary cuts. At the sametime, lower
skilled workers were even moreaffected by the collapse of the real
estate sectorand the drop in the goods and services
market.According to these authors, when the nancialcrisis developed
into an employment crisis,migrant workers were the most vulnerable
to thecrisis and the most seriously affected (Castles &Miller,
2010: 3). However, given the heterogeneityof migrant workers, we
know very little aboutwho was struck the hardest, which sectors
weremost affected, and how each specic group hasadjusted to the
situation. In otherwords, it is neces-sary for us to develop more
in-depth analysis ofthe characteristics of the vulnerability of
themigrant population in the face of the crisis.
Undoubtedly, the crisis that crippled the USeconomy has affected
possibilities for labour inser-tion for all workers, aswell as
conditions for labourinsertion, particularly among the migrant
popula-tion. However, over the past few decades, theUnited States
has experienced signicant changesin its occupational structure and
in the distributionof the workforce in the labour market as a
result ofglobalisation and economic restructuring, givingway to
increasing polarisation and employmentsegmentation associatedwith
skill andwage levelsand types of labour insertion. Within these
pro-cesses, there is an increasing demand for a skilledworkforce to
occupy competitive spaces in the la-bour market, a demand that
calls for a contingent
of unskilled workers situated in secondary sectors
Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
Crisis Effects on Occupational Segregation of Skilled
Migrants(industry and construction) and personal
services,contributing to increasing inequality and inequity(Sassen,
1988, 2003). For the previously mentionedreasons, it is important
to note that while the objec-tive of this work is to evaluate the
impact of theglobal economic crisis, many of the ndings and
in-terpretations do not necessarily or exclusively referto the
circumstances of the crisis. Rather, some ofthese account for
long-term structural changes thatinstead of being products of the
crisis are changesthat accelerated or became more entrenched
withthe crisis.
Before moving on to the next section, we wouldlike to clarify a
series of details in regard to the pop-ulation that we are
referring to here, as well as thespatial and temporal dimensions of
the study.Given that this analysis focuses on the skilled mi-grant
population, we selected a population of25years and older because
one of the assumptionsis that by this age, most migrants have
concludedtheir undergraduate studies and are also at thestage of
insertion into the labour market (for abroader discussion about
this age range, refer toDocquier et al., 2008; Lozano &
Gandini, 2010).As an analytical strategy, we divided this
skilledpopulation into three main groups, according toplace of
birth, for systematic comparison: (a) thepopulation born in the
United States, which wewill refer to as the native population; (b)
the migrantpopulation that was born in other regions of theworld
than LAC, which we will call migrants fromother regions; and (c)
the migrant population thatwas born in the LAC region that we will
call LACmigrants. In this document, the skilled populationrefers to
individuals with an undergraduate,masters, or doctorate degree or
diploma and theunskilled population as those workers with
lowerlevels of schooling.
The methodological strategy employed consistsof comparing the
general characteristics of thelabour insertion of thesemigrants
prior to and afterthe 20072008 crisis, so that this comparison
pointsto the pre-crisis and post-crisis changes in theirlabour
situation. Thus, we take into considerationthe 2006 to 2012 period,
having identied thepre-crisis period from 2006 to 2009, whereas
the20092012 period is theoretically reecting apost-crisis
situation, without assuming that itnecessarily refers to recovery
or a nal exit fromthe crisis. Different sociodemographic,
economic,and labour indicators point to 2009 as the year in
which the conditions of the crisis that engulfed
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.the United States
economy and society were mostclearly expressed. Hence, we are using
these two pe-riods as references in order to document whether ornot
there were differences in the dynamics of skilledemigration in the
United States and especially in theconditions of labour insertion
and income levelsfor migrants originally from the LAC region.
The information source employed for thisstudy is the March
supplements of the CurrentPopulation Survey (CPS) 20062012. We
selectedthis database for two reasons: rst of all, becauseit
contains an important selection of labour vari-ables and, secondly,
because at the time of ouranalysis, the CPS 2012 database was
available,whereas the American Community Survey (ACS)database was
not. Nevertheless, as authors of thisstudy, one of our concerns was
sample sizebecause the CPS sample is considerably smallerthan the
ACS sample. In order to lend greatercertainty to the results of
this paper, we carried outa thorough exploration of the indicators
used, andwe were able to conclude that we were arriving atthe same
tendencies using both sources of informa-tion and thus the same
ndings.
This work is composed of the following parts:After this
introduction, the second section is dedi-cated to an examination of
the tendencies ofpopulation growth in the United States and
partic-ularly the behaviour of skilled migrants from LACpre-crisis
and post-crisis. In the third section, wepresent an analysis of the
levels of economicactivity and unemployment for the period
understudy. In the fourth section, we carry out ananalysis of
occupational segregation and salarydifferentiation, followed by our
conclusions.
THE DYNAMICS OF NATIVE AND MIGRANTSKILLED POPULATION IN THE
UNITEDSTATES PRE-CRISIS AND POST-CRISIS
One of the effects expected from the economicnancial crisis upon
population dynamics in theUnited States is a reduced ow of migrants
intothe country. With the decrease in the demandfor jobs,
disinvestment, and increased unemploy-ment rates in certain
economic sectors, both areduction in the ow of migrants and the
returnof part of this population to its place of origin
wereforeseeable (Skeldon, 2010). In fact, the crisis,together with
the deportation and containmentpolicy on the northern Mexican
border, the
Mexican and Central American population clearly
Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
reduced their growth rate which does not meanan absolute
reduction of thesemigrant populations(Papademetriou & Terrazas,
2009). Although thesecases of deceleration and return occurred
amongcertain groups of migrants, in general, the globaleconomic
crisis did not affect the stock ofmigrants in receiving countries,
although it didaffect the ow of new migrants,
particularlyundocumented migrants (Castles & Miller, 2010).
Let us see what happened to the population of25years of age and
older in the United States, ac-cording to their condition as
natives or migrants,between 2006 and 2012. One initial gure is
thatthe total population within this age range in theUnited States
grew by 6.6%, from 191.9 millionto 204.6 million people. The
percentage of growthof the native population was 4.8 compared
withthe migrant populations growth of 17.0 overthe course of this
6-year period (Table 1). Thisgrowth among the native population
wasbasically because of the incorporation of peopleborn in the
United States into the group of people
25years or older, who were 19 to 24 in 2006. Onthe other hand,
the growth of the stock ofmigrant population corresponds to the
incorpora-tion of these cohorts, as well as to the arrival ofpeople
coming from abroad.
Having said that, not only did the migrantpopulation of 25years
and older cease to stopgrowing during the pre-crisis period but
also itgrew at a signicantly greater rate in the post-crisis
period. Although, as we previously men-tioned, the stock of migrant
population in theUnited States did not decrease in absolute
termsbetween 2006 and 2012, it presented clear deceler-ation in its
annual growth rates between 2006 and2009 (6.7%), achieving recovery
during the 20092012 period (9.7%). This behaviour could bereected
by the effects of the economic crisis onemigration dynamics towards
the United States.
In Table 1, we observe that while the nativeskilled population
grew 17% from 2006 to 2012,the skilled migrant population grew by
22.4%.We have observed this tendency of greater
Table 1. Total and skilled population of 25 years and older by
place of birth, 20062012.
2006 2009 2012 20062009 20092012 20062012
Total population 191,884 198,285 204,579 3.3 3.2 6.6Natives
162,678 167,133 170,418 2.7 2.0 4.8
49247434912912664339946
L. Gandini and F. Lozano-AscencioMale workers 77,641 80,14Female
workers 85,038 86,98Migrants 29,206 31,15Male workers 14,614
15,37Female workers 14,592 15,77Skilled population 53,720
58,57Natives 45,597 49,66Male workers 22,768 24,17Female workers
22,829 25,48Migrants 8,123 8,91Male workers 4,141 4,53Female
workers 3,981 4,37Skilled migrants 8,123 8,91LAC migrants 1,821
1,99Mexico 440 54Central America 222 22The Caribbean 600 67Andean
Region 370 33South America 190 21Migrants from other regions 6,301
6,91Europe, Canada, and Oceania 1,878 1,86Asia 3,999 4,60Africa 424
44
Source: Authors calculations using CPS 20062012.
Population by thousands and percentage growth per period.
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.81,516 3.2 1.7
5.088,902 2.3 2.2 4.534,162 6.7 9.7 17.016,604 5.2 8.0 13.617,558
8.1 11.3 20.363,291 9.0 8.1 17.853,348 8.9 7.4 17.025,866 6.2 7.0
13.627,481 11.7 7.8 20.49,943 9.7 11.6 22.44,900 9.4 8.1 18.35,043
10.0 15.2 26.79,943 9.7 11.6 22.42,314 9.4 16.2 27.1593 24.2 8.6
34.9272 1.8 20.4 22.6778 12.4 15.5 29.7434 -9.9 30.4 17.4236 12.0
11.2 24.5
7,628 9.8 10.3 21.12,092 -0.5 11.9 11.44,939 15.1 7.3 23.5598
5.1 34.0 40.9Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
intensity of growth among the skilled migrantpopulation in other
studies as well (Lozano &Gandini, 2010), and it constitutes one
of the mainresults of this work. This is a structural tendencythat
transcends the effects of the crisis because itreects the
persistent, positive selectivity of theNorth American labour market
in regard to amigrant population with higher levels of school-ing.
The contribution of women to the growth ofthe skilled population is
remarkable; althoughthe presence of women is important in the
mi-grant population in general, it seems to have evengreater
incidence among the skilled population.
In regard to the region of origin of skilled mi-grant
populations, we can appreciate that nativesfrom LAC grew the most
(27.1%) compared withmigrants from other regions of the world
(21.1%),a difference that is particularly sustained duringthe
post-crisis period (Table 1).
TRENDS OF LABOUR ACTIVITY ANDUNEMPLOYMENT AMONG THE SKILLED
the impact of the crisis on the labour marketbetween 2006 and
2012.
In this sense, we can observe that in 2012,activity rates did
not undergo signicant varia-tions in regard to 2006 (Fig. 1). In
general, uponcomparing the 20062012 period, participationrates are
sustained at similar levels, with a slighttendency towards a
reduction. With the exceptionof male migrants from other regions,
the rest ofthe groups presented lower levels of participationin
2012 than in 2006, although the differencesuctuate between 0.7 and
1.8 percentage points.An examination of the rates of economic
activityshows different behaviours between migrantand native
skilled populations of women andmen. A review of the beginning and
end of theperiod shows that migrant men faced the fewestchanges,
and on the contrary, native men are theones who most reduced their
level of labourparticipation.
The activity levels of male migrants remainedconsistently above
the level of native men, as a
tion
Crisis Effects on Occupational Segregation of Skilled
MigrantsMIGRANT POPULATION FROM LATINAMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN IN
THEUNITED STATES
An analysis of economic activity and unemploy-ment rates, for
both migrant and native popula-tions by sex, provides an initial
exploration of
Figure 1. Rate of economic activity of the skilled popula
undergraduate degree or more, by region of origi
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.reection of greater
selectivity, even among thispopulation group that is already
selective interms of schooling. Nevertheless, this pattern isnot
repeated in the case of women migrantswho, with the exception of
the year 2008, alwaysshowed lower levels of participation in
compari-son with native women. The rates of LACwomen
25 years and older residing in the United States, with an
n and sex, 20062012 (rates in percentages).
Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
migrants are very close to native women,whereas the rates of
women born in other regionsof the world are considerably lower.
This clearlydifferential gender pattern suggests that a differ-ent
kind of selection is at play for skilled womenand that they are
less willing to participate in thelabour market than their male
peers. In otherwords, differential behaviour by gender in thelabour
market does not exclude migrant womenwith higher levels of
schooling.
A different situation occurs in the case ofunemployment, which
showed a substantialincrease during this period, for both natives
andmigrants (Fig. 2). The impact of the crisis isclearly reected in
the generalised difculty ofnding or holding down a job. The
increase inunemployment began to reveal itself in 2008,showing a
notable, increasing tendency through2010 and even up to 2011 for
the male migrantpopulation from LAC. In 2012, a decrease in
therates of unemployment occurred, which couldbe interpreted as a
budding sign of economic
important increases across the board, sustaininga pattern of the
highest rates among migrantmen compared with their native peers.
Neverthe-less, whereas in 2006, the differences between thetwo
groups were small, in 2012, LAC migrantsshowed rates 57% higher
than natives. In the caseof women migrants, unlike the behaviour
shownby US women who, despite an increase, regis-tered the lowest
rates during the entire period,foreign women have faced most
difculties inthe labour market. Unemployment rates for mi-grant
women from other regions in 2012 are morethan double the rate in
2006. LAC women show adrastic decrease in unemployment in 2012
although it is impossible to know if they willsustain these levels
but, through 2011, theirlevels of unemployment were 150% higher
thanthe levels of 2006.
An analysis of the rates of labour participa-tion and
unemployment provides a few initialresults about the situation of
the skilled residentpopulation in the United States. Although
n 25
L. Gandini and F. Lozano-Ascenciorecovery. However, although the
general ten-dency is to recognise a possible improvement atthe end
of the period, the levels of unemploymentprior to the crisis have
not yet recovered.
The skilled migrant population, particularlywomen, was the most
affected. Levels of unem-ployment among the male workforce show
Figure 2. Unemployment rate of the skilled populatio
undergraduate degree or more, by region of origi
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.skilled migrants
constitute a select population not only in educational terms but
also in regardto bearing other types of capitals their behav-iour
in the labour market is different than thenative population and
demonstrates genderdifferentials similar to those shown by
thegeneral population.
years and older residing in the United States, with an
n and sex, 20062012 (rates in percentages).
Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
Papademetriou & Terrazas, 2009; Duncan &
Crisis Effects on Occupational Segregation of Skilled
MigrantsWaldorf, 2010; Green & Winters, 2010; Skeldon,2010).
The analysis presented here allows us toconclude that migrants with
higher levels ofeducation have not been exempt from the effectsof
the economic situation and its repercussionsin terms of increasing
unemployment, even to agreater degree than the native population.
Inkeeping with the ndings of other studies, wecan argue that
although education grants greateropportunities for insertion to the
labour market,it does not completely excuse skilled migrantworkers
from the potential impact of the crisis(Brdan, 2012a, 2012b).
The levels of unemployment of skilled mi-grants at beginning and
end of the period wereat higher rates than the rates of natives,
al-though this gap tends to expand dependingon gender specics and
region of origin. Thesetendencies show that while it is possible
toidentify conjunctural effects upon the labourmarket after the
crisis, that situation exacer-bated the existence of more
persistent patterns(Terrazas, in Pizarro, 2011). In short, the
crisisaggravated structural tendencies, doubly so inthe case of
skilled migrant women.
OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION ANDWAGEDIFFERENTIATION: A PRE-CRISIS
ANDPOST-CRISIS EXPLORATION
An analysis of occupational segregation andwage differentiation
constitutes two possibleways to approach the inequalities that are
mani-fested in the United States labour market for themigrant and
native population.
Analysis of Occupational Segregation
Occupational segregation is a phenomenon thatexpresses the
concentration of certain populationgroups in determined sectors or
occupations andconstitutes one of the most important and
persis-tent characteristics of labour markets the worldAn array of
studies have shown interest indocumenting the effects of the
economic crisis inthe United States on the migrant populationin
general, nding that this population has beenparticularly affected
in terms of possibilities foremployment and working conditions
(Castles &Vezzoli, 2009; Orrenius & Zavodny, 2009;over
(Anker, 1997). In general, it is an indicator
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.used to analyse the
location of men and womenin the occupational structure, on the
understand-ing that gender operates as a criterion that gener-ates
socially different and hierarchical labourspaces (de Oliveira &
Ariza, 2000). Genericallyspeaking, this term refers to how labour
opportu-nities are distributed to a minority group com-pared with a
majority group. From thisperspective, we are interested in
enquiring howa persons condition as a migrant in the UnitedStates
becomes a premise for social differentiationthat also operates as a
factor for structuring thelabour force. In this case, occupational
segrega-tion causes migrants to fail to have access to thesame
opportunities as the native population, lim-iting the range of
available alternatives for em-ployment and leading to
overrepresentation incertain economic activities.1
Although this analytical approach refers spe-cically to the
labour market structure, one ofthe points of interest of this work
is to learn ifthe economic crisis has had an effect on the
con-centration of the population employed in certainoccupations,
thus encouraging structural labourtransformation that is important
in productiveterms and, in this sense, generating changes in
la-bour segregation by origin and gender (Luque,2010). While the
analysis from previous sectionsshows that the crisis has
demonstrated a general-ised effect on the resident population in
theUnited States, we are interested in knowing if ithas affected
migrants and natives in differentways, as well as men and women,
according tothe space that they occupy in the US labourmarket.
Occupational segregation analysis focusedspecically on the
population with higher levelsof schooling is also a way to broaden
the analysisof underutilisation based on peoples skill level.In
addition to knowing other characteristics of la-bour insertion, we
are interested in knowing ifthe incorporation into the labour
market of thispopulation group allows them to make use oftheir
abilities. The lack of correspondencebetween the level of education
and the skill levelrequired by an occupation is an expression
ofwastage or formative waste called brain wastein specialised
literature (Salt, 1997; Mattoo et al.,2005; zden, 2005; Lozano
& Gandini, 2010).
For the analysis presented in this section andin the following
section, we grouped occupations
using a categorisation that recognises the
Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
L. Gandini and F. Lozano-Ascenciooccupational structure. The
criterion for deter-mining these categories was based on skill
levelsassociated with the types of occupations and theeconomic
sector. In this way, we dened sevendifferent groups of occupations.
The rst cate-gory, which is located at the top of the
structure,considers professional activities (independent ofthe
economic sector) that call for higher skilllevels.
Non-manual-labour activities from the ter-tiary sector are found in
categories 2 (technicalservices and medium-skilled jobs) and 3
(salesand administrative support), whereas non-manual occupations
from the secondary sector(skilled workers and specialised trades)
are incategory 4. These categories constitute the middlepart of the
occupational structure. Finally, catego-ries 5, 6, and 7 group
together manual activitiesthat require lower skill levels,
constituting thelower part of the structure: Category 5
corre-sponds to occupations in the tertiary sector(low-skilled
service workers), 6 is for low-skilledsecondary sector workers, and
7 is for primarysector activities (farmers and farmworkers).
Table 2, shows the occupational concentration in-dex (OCI) that
indicates the percentage of nativeand migrant employment for each
occupationalgroup, in regard to each groups total. This
per-spective allows us to assess what percentage ofthe skilled
population is employed in profes-sional occupations and, moreover,
where nativesand migrants are actually working, in order to
es-tablish differences in the occupational structureand in the case
of any differences if there arechanges during the period of
study.
Skilled migrants from LAC are underrepre-sented in professional
occupations: Only 39.5%of these migrants were working in an
occupationof this kind in 2006, a percentage that reached40.2% in
2009 and decreased to 39.0% in 2012,whereas, in their case, the
percentages of boththe native and migrant population from other
re-gions are higher than 50%. In particular, womenfrom LAC are at a
greater disadvantage because,upon concluding the period under
study, the pro-portion of occupied professional spaces is
lower(39.9% in 2006 and 36.5% in 2012).
In this way, Latin Americans and Caribbeanworkers present a
great decit and demonstratean important lack of correspondence
betweentheir level of schooling and the type of skill re-quired by
their current occupation, a situation
that was identied more than a decade ago and
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.that has been
corroborated in other pieces ofwork (Lozano & Gandini, 2010;
Gandini &Lozano, 2012). Results from this study demon-strate
that skilled migrant women from LAChave increased their
concentration in technicalservices and medium-skilled occupations
(mov-ing from a concentration of 11.8% in 2006 to14.0% in 2009 and
17.1% in 2012) and in salesand administrative support activities
(20.5, 20.9,and 28.4 respectively). In the case of men fromLAC, in
addition to slightly increasing their con-centration in
professional activities, they also in-creased their presence,
similar to their womenpeers, in technical services and
medium-skilledjobs (20.6%, 24.0%, and 26.0%).
What happened to occupational concentra-tion among other
population groups studied?In the case of migrants from other
regions, therehave been fewer changes in occupational struc-ture.
The concentration of women has increasedin professional activities
in low-to-mid-range oc-cupations, whereas men achieved greater
con-centration in medium-skilled activities, similarto women and
male migrants from LAC. Nativespresented some more polarised
results. Womenincreased their concentration in
professionaloccupations and in the lower part of the struc-ture,
which would require lower skill levels.Men sustained their
concentration in profes-sional and technical activities and
increasedtheir participation in some medium and low-skilled
occupations.
Finally, Table 2 also presents a global segregationindex that,
using a single gure, allows us to sum-marise the differences in
occupational concentra-tion between native and migrant populations.
Ineach case, it uses the concentration index of thenative
population as a reference and indicatesthe proportion of the
migrant population that dif-fers from the native occupational
structure.2 Ourresults show that there are notable differences
be-tween the indexes of segregation of migrantsfrom other regions
and those who come fromLAC, compared with native residents. The
formeradopted values of 6.3%, 6.5%, and 5.3% in the3years of
analysis, whereas the level of segrega-tion of skilled migrants
from LAC moves from19.9%, to 19.7% and then to 15.6%. These
resultspoint to two situations: huge disparity in thelevels of
segregation by migrant populationgroups, in which LAC migrants are
clearly more
segregated, and, despite the differences in the
Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
Table2.
Occup
ationalcon
centration
index
fortheskilled
popu
lation
of25
yearsandolder
residingin
theUnitedStates,byplaceof
origin,typ
eof
occupation
,andsex.
2006
2009
2012
Natives
Migrants
Natives
Migrants
Natives
Migrants
Other
region
sLAC
Other
region
sLAC
Other
region
sLAC
Totalp
opulation
Profession
als,ofcials,andexecutives
50.5
53.2
39.5
50.8
53.2
40.2
51.6
52.7
39.0
Technicalservicesandmedium-skilledoccupation
s25.4
21.4
16.5
26.3
22.7
19.3
24.7
21.8
21.7
Salesandad
ministrativesupp
ort
15.1
13.1
15.8
14.4
11.7
12.2
14.2
12.6
16.7
Skilled
labourersandspecialised
trad
es1.9
3.6
5.0
1.8
3.3
4.8
1.9
3.5
3.7
Low
-skilledserviceworkers
4.8
6.0
13.9
4.9
6.9
14.4
5.2
7.3
10.0
Low
-skilledworkers
inthesecond
arysector
1.8
2.6
7.7
1.4
1.8
7.3
1.6
2.0
7.6
Farm
ersandfarm
workers
0.5
0.2
1.7
0.4
0.2
1.8
0.9
0.1
1.3
Globalsegregation
index
6.32
19.93
6.45
19.73
5.3
15.6
Femaleworkers
Profession
als,ofcials,andexecutives
45.3
48.2
39.9
46.1
50.5
42.1
48.2
50.4
36.5
Technicalservicesandmedium-skilledoccupation
s25.7
15.5
11.8
27.2
16.8
14.0
24.1
14.5
17.1
Salesandad
ministrativesupp
ort
22.6
24.4
25.5
20.3
20.3
20.9
20.7
22.3
28.4
Skilled
labourersandspecialised
trad
es0.6
0.6
1.4
0.5
1.3
0.9
0.6
1.2
0.5
Low
-skilledserviceworkers
4.9
9.3
18.3
5.2
9.7
18.8
5.1
9.9
12.1
Low
-skilledworkers
inthesecond
arysector
0.6
1.7
3.0
0.4
1.1
2.7
0.7
1.5
4.3
Farm
ersandfarm
workers
0.2
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.3
0.6
0.5
0.2
1.0
Globalsegregation
index
10.31
19.30
10.44
17.25
10.0
18.8
Maleworkers
Profession
als,ofcials,andexecutives
55.2
57.0
39.1
55.3
55.3
38.5
55.0
54.5
41.4
Technicalservicesandmedium-skilledoccupation
s25.1
26.0
20.6
25.5
27.3
24.0
25.2
27.5
26.0
Salesandad
ministrativesupp
ort
8.3
4.4
7.3
8.6
5.2
4.6
7.7
5.0
5.5
Skilled
labourersandspecialised
trad
es3.1
5.8
8.1
3.0
4.9
8.3
3.1
5.3
6.8
Low
-skilledserviceworkers
4.6
3.5
10.0
4.6
4.8
10.4
5.2
5.2
8.0
Low
-skilledworkers
inthesecond
arysector
2.9
3.3
11.9
2.4
2.4
11.3
2.4
2.4
10.7
Farm
ersandfarm
workers
0.7
0.1
3.0
0.6
0.2
2.9
1.3
0.1
1.6
Globalsegregation
index
5.66
21.65
3.94
22.27
4.4
15.8
Source:A
utho
rscalculations
usingCPS
20062012.
Crisis Effects on Occupational Segregation of Skilled
Migrants
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Popul. Space Place
(2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
L. Gandini and F. Lozano-Ascenciolevels of segregation, both
groups witnessed adecline between 2009 and 2012.
The indexes are also presented for women andmen, and at least
three facts from the analysis areworth mentioning. First of all,
the index of femaleand male segregation particularly for
LatinAmericans and Caribbean workers is lower in2012 than in 2006,
although they had differenttendencies in 2009. Secondly, the levels
of malesegregation from LAC are almost three times ashigh as the
levels of segregation of migrants fromother regions compared with
the native popula-tion whereas in the case of women, this
differ-ence is double the index in 2006 and tends todecline. The
reason why men from LAC havehigher levels of segregation (compared
with thenative population) than the levels of othermigrants can be
explained by the fact that the for-mer spread out their employment
across differentoccupations throughout the structure more sothan
natives and migrants from other regions.3
This behaviour tends to appear among the maleworkforce in
general both skilled and unskilled compared with the female
workforce, whichtends to have greater concentrations within
theservice sector (Luque, 2010). Womens participa-tion in the
service sector, with different skilllevels, is concentrated mainly
in low-skilledactivities such as housekeeping and restaurant
ser-vice workers, personal care and related workers,for example,
childcare, and other personal serviceworkers. Their participation
in this type of jobreduces the probability of having labour
ascendermobility, in comparison with men migrants ornative women
(Rubin et al., 2008).
With the information displayed thus far, it couldappear
contradictory to observe a reduction inlevels of segregation of the
skilled migrant popula-tion in a period of analysis with a
watershed event,such as the crisis. How can this be explained?
Someexplanations can be tested. As can be seen, the OCIhas been
changing over the years observed, show-ing dissimilar behaviour
between native andmigrant skilled populations. The former
increasedits concentration in a polarised fashion during
thisperiod: in professional occupations and in the low-to-middle
range of the structure. In the meantime,the same index for the
migrant population fromLAC shifted, particularly because of an
increasein medium-skilled occupations, although femaleparticipation
in professional spaces worsened and
male participation grew slightly. This behaviour
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.is also related to the
increasing participation ofthe male and female native skilled
populationin the middle-to-lower occupational spaces ofthe
structure.
Everything seems to indicate that the crisis hashad a greater
impact on some occupations thathad a greater concentration of the
native popula-tion than of migrants, generating a redistributionof
the employed native workforce. This nallyled to in an increased
concentration of activitiesof workers and specialised trades and
services,producing a smaller differentiation with migrantsin the
remaining occupational spaces (this isdemonstrated by a comparison
between columnsNatives and LAC (female and male), in 2006and 2012,
from Table 2).
One way to support these changes is by calcu-lating the
populational growth that each type ofoccupation underwent by group
of analysis. Thisanalysis strengthened the statement from the
pre-vious paragraph: During the period of analysis,the types of
occupations that underwent greatergrowth for migrants from LAC are
concentratedin medium skilled (or, in some cases, highlyskilled)
occupations, whereas the highest growthof the native population is
observed in mediumand low-skilled occupations.4
The ndings described thus far can becomplemented with the
analysis on the partial seg-regation index, a summary measure that
indicatedthe relative weight of the migrant population ineach type
of occupation, thus neutralisingdifferences that exist in absolute
terms betweenthe different occupations (Blau et al., 1998; Castaoet
al., 1999). If the value is positive, it means thatsegregation
benets the skilled migrant popula-tion, and on the contrary, if it
is negative, itindicates a greater concentration of skilled
nativesthan skilled migrants (Luque, 2010). The value ofthe index
demonstrates the magnitude of a largeror smaller quantity of
skilled migrants existing ineach occupation (under the assumption
ofcomplete equality with the skilled native popula-tion). Table 3
illustrates this point. A quick look atthe indexes that adopt a
negative value allows usto appreciate the results derived from
theaforementioned information: The skilled migrantpopulation from
LAC is particularly segregatedin activities higher up on the
structure, a situationthat is sustained during the 3years that
wereanalysed. In terms of magnitude, the segregation
of professional activities is greater in 2012 than in
Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
2006, an index that is affected by the situation ofwomen, who
are the ones who lost presence inthese occupations: in 2006, there
were 88 LatinAmerican and Caribbean skilled women inprofessional
occupations for every 100 skillednative women; in 2012, there are
76 women fromLAC for every 100 native women. The positivevalues
reveal occupations with large concentra-tions of the migrant
population. In 2012, LACwomen occupied 4.6 times more spaces
inoccupations in the low-skilled secondary sectorthan their native
peers, a much higher concen-tration than that held in 2006 (3.8
times).
We have two additional comments before con-cluding this section.
First, we should not losesight of the fact that the occupational
segregationanalysis presented here refers exclusively to theskilled
population. That is to say, it is a specic
population that shares similar skill levels, whichshould, in
principle, situate it on a plane of equalopportunities. This is
important because, beyondthe existence of different mechanisms
thatproduce segregation ethnicracial or culturaldiscrimination,
social stereotypes, internationaldivision of labour, and so on
other explanatorycharacteristics also come into play in the
studieson occupational segregation, such as differentskill levels
(high, medium, and low), that arenot present here. The second, but
no less impor-tant, comment is that the segregation
analysispresented reveals changes in the distributionand
concentration of population groups in thedifferent types of
occupations at different mo-ments in time but without observing
possiblechanges in the occupational structure that canbe because of
innovation or technological change
Table 3. Partial segregation index of the skilled migrant
population of 25 years and older residing in the UnitedStates, by
region of origin, type of occupation and sex.
2006 2009 2012
Otherregions LAC
Otherregions LAC
Otherregions LAC
Total populationProfessionals, ofcials, and executives 0.053
0.218 0.048 0.208 0.02 0.24Technical services and medium-skilled
occupations 0.157 0.352 0.137 0.266 0.12 0.12Sales and
administrative support 0.133 0.045 0.185 0.150 0.11 0.18Skilled
labourers and specialised trades 0.827 1.549 0.894 1.718 0.84
0.96Low-skilled service workers 0.253 1.904 0.411 1.926 0.40
0.94Low-skilled workers in the secondary sector 0.450 3.306 0.277
4.138 0.30 3.90
.647
.064
.399
.083
.087
.876
.803
.363
.032
.033
.465
.855
.249
.138
.898
Crisis Effects on Occupational Segregation of Skilled
MigrantsFarmers and farmworkers 0
Female workersProfessionals, ofcials, and executives 0Technical
services and medium-skilled occupations 0Sales and administrative
support 0Skilled labourers and specialised trades 0Low-skilled
service workers 0Low-skilled workers in the secondary sector
1Farmers and farmworkers 0
Male workersProfessionals, ofcials, and executives 0Technical
services and medium-skilled occupations 0Sales and administrative
support 0Skilled labourers and specialised trades 0Low-skilled
service workers 0Low-skilled workers in the secondary sector
0Farmers and farmworkers 0Source: Authors calculations using CPS
20062012.
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.2.445 0.442 3.298 0.85
0.40
0.118 0.097 0.087 0.05 0.240.542 0.382 0.487 0.40 0.290.130
0.002 0.030 0.08 0.371.120 1.518 0.662 0.89 0.232.695 0.854 2.605
0.93 1.363.799 1.747 5.793 1.34 5.61
0.025 0.076 1.660 0.67 0.87
0.292 0.001 0.303 0.01 0.250.181 0.071 0.056 0.09 0.030.117
0.401 0.470 0.36 0.291.582 0.648 1.781 0.69 1.171.169 0.044 1.265
0.00 0.543.141 0.021 3.698 0.01 3.413.041 0.636 3.753 0.91
0.21Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
Table4.
Average
mon
thly
wageof
theskilled
popu
lation
of25
yearsandolder
residingin
theUnitedStates,b
yregion
oforigin,typ
eof
occupation
andsex.
Natives
Migrants
Natives
Migrants
Natives
Migrants
Other
region
sLAC
Other
region
sLAC
Other
region
sLAC
Femaleworkers
Profession
als,ofcials,andexecutives
4.048
3.945
3.591
4.380
4.150
4.372
4.380
4.150
4.372
Technicalservicesandmedium-skilledoccupation
s3.141
2.464
3.337
3.064
2.932
3.523
3.064
2.932
3.523
Salesandad
ministrativesupp
ort
3.053
2.163
2.2121
2.125
2.109
1.969
2.125
2.109
1.969
Skilled
labourersandspecialised
trad
es2.105
3.0101
2.282
1.339
2.282
1.339
Low
-skilledserviceworkers
2.373
1.768
1.491
2.313
1.622
3.014
2.313
1.622
3.014
Low
-skilledworkers
inthesecond
arysector
0.872
0.957
1.6171
1.2241
2.0331
2.3641
1.2241
2.0331
2.3641
Farm
ersandfarm
workers
701
1.184
0.8061
0.8061
Total
3.485
3.118
3.056
3.592
3.292
3.488
3.592
3.292
3.488
Maleworkers
Profession
als,ofcials,andexecutives
5.182
5.228
4.838
5.238
5.126
5.278
5.458
5.150
5.709
Technicalservicesandmedium-skilledoccupation
s3.964
4.251
2.103
4.061
4.251
4.159
4.203
4.103
3.907
Salesandad
ministrativesupp
ort
4.495
3.514
1.6171
4.900
2.0901
2.9681
4.614
1.523
0.8911
Skilled
labourersandspecialised
trad
es2.565
2.073
3.1201
4.083
3.801
2.8391
3.415
1.491
1.4861
Low
-skilledserviceworkers
4.202
2.492
3.2281
4.311
2.761
1.107
3.652
2.570
2.4901
Low
-skilledworkers
inthesecond
arysector
2.391
1.0591
1.8761
3.450
1.873
1.2461
2.818
2.087
2.2991
Farm
ersandfarm
workers
2.191
2.409
1.832
1.7691
0.960
Total
4.602
4.507
3.331
4.765
4.471
3.746
4.752
4.452
4.168
Source:A
utho
rscalculations
usingCPS
20062012.
2006,2009,and2012
(at2006
prices).
1 Inthesecells,the
amou
ntof
casesisno
tstatistically
sign
icant.
L. Gandini and F. Lozano-Ascencio
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Popul. Space Place
(2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
improvement in possibilities for placement in the
Crisis Effects on Occupational Segregation of Skilled
Migrantsoccupational structure, although this relative im-provement
is better explained by a recompositionof other groups in the
occupational structure. Thisever persistent segregation has
repercussions onwage discrimination. Skilled women from LACdo not
only have fewer possibilities of enteringoccupational spaces that
correspond to their level which would also affect segregation.
Thus,while the decrease in levels of segregation hasbeen, in part,
explained by changes in importancerelative to the different
populations, their growth,and relocation in the structure, the
effect of thecrisis could have also generated changes in
theoccupational structure that are not identiable.
Wage Differentiation
Previous analysis showed different forms of occu-pational
segmentation and segregation of the mi-grant population that exist
in the labour world.Nevertheless, processes of labour
segregationalso have implications on wage discrimination,another
expression of labour inequality. In otherwords, a manifestation of
inequality occurswhen, given equal levels of preparation,
migrantsreceive lower pay than the native population thatperforms
the same type of occupation. Table 4shows the average monthly wage
at 2006 prices.This allows us to appreciate how the
widespreadsituation of disadvantage of the LAC migrantpopulation in
terms of occupational segregationaffects their wages. Over the
3years analysed,their average wage lies below the native
popula-tions wage, as well as below the average wageof migrants
from other regions. A cross-sectionlook between occupational
structure and genderonce again demonstrates that skilled women
fromLAC are themost affected. Unlike their male peers,they earned
less in 2012 ($2,742) than in 2006($3,056), as calculated at deated
2006 prices. Fur-thermore, their wages are lower even in the
highestcategory of occupation (professionals).
The information presented here shows that theskilled migrant
population of the LAC origin facesa considerable disadvantage, for
women evenmore so, compared with their migrant peers fromother
regions and with the native population withthe same levels of
preparation. This situationexisted prior to the crisis. After the
crisis, in termsof labour segregation, there appears to be anof
education but also, both in general terms and
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.specically referring
to the people who hold thosespaces, their wages are substantially
lower notonly than those of their female native peers but alsothan
their migrant peers from other regions of theworld. So, segregation
patterns inmigration contextsreinforce gender segregation, which
increases thedisadvantages for skilled migrant women.
CONCLUSIONS
Following the arrival and expansion of the globaleconomic
crisis, many voices were raised in avariety of fashions talking or
asking about reper-cussions on the arena of international
migration.Will the crisis be a turning point or simply a stopalong
the way? The temporal proximity of thecrisis makes it difcult to
give rm answers tothis type of question in a non-speculative
terrain.Nevertheless, an analysis of the empirical evi-dence as
presented here allows us to propose afew suggestions for
interpretation and furtherreection.
Growth of the migrant population with tertiaryor higher
education in the United States is a grow-ing and persistent
tendency. This emigration hasrevealed a greater increase than
medium andlow-skilled emigration, a tendency that, contraryto what
one might think, did not change followingthe 20072008 global
economic crisis. The demandfor highly skilled labour continues,
even in times ofeconomic and labour crises. This fact accounts for
astructural tendency: Skilled emigration is becom-ing a dominant
pattern of international migrationand one of the most important
expressions ofglobalisation (Docquier & Rapoport, 2012).
The crisis has had a generalised effect on theresident
population in the United States, includ-ing the native and foreign
population. However,this work offers some clues about how the
crisisaffected the entire skilled population in thatcountry and
particularly the migrant population:This study found that skilled
migrants from LACare underrepresented in professional
occupationsbecause only 39.5% were placed in an occupationof this
kind in 2006, a percentage that rose to40.2% in 2009 and declined
to 39.0% in 2012. Thistendency mainly affects women from LAC:
Theyare the ones at greatest disadvantage, a situationthat worsened
following the crisis.
In spite of the signicant growth of skilledmigrant women from
LAC in the contemporary
migration ows, our ndings show the increasing
Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
L. Gandini and F. Lozano-Ascenciodifculties that they faced in
their insertion in the la-bour market which includes the
underutilisationof their skills. This is because, in part, of their
beingunderrepresented in the top professional occupa-tions of the
global labour market such as businessadministration, engineering,
and information tech-nology. On the contrary, skilled migrant
womenhave a higher presence in occupations related tosocial
reproduction, such as health, education, andculture. Those
occupations are less valued in the la-bour market and also have
transferability problemsbetween countries (IOM, 2012).
At the same time, recruitment and admissionpolicies in receiving
countries tend to favour indi-viduals with business, engineering,
informationtechnology, and physics studies skills, elds withhigh
presence of men (Rubin et al., 2008). The dif-culties that skilled
migrant women from LACface in nding occupations where they use
theirabilities and skills could be related to the discrim-inatory
practices against women in sendingcountries (Rubin et al., 2008;
IOM, 2012).
Some studies have found that non-economicreasons, but mainly
family motives, are stronglyrelated to the female skilled
migration. This isalso linked to the aforementioned
admissionpolicies, combined with some traditional genderroles
(Kofman & Raghuram, 2009). The lesseningin labour activity of
skilled women and the ab-sence of support structures in the
receiving coun-tries (i.e. the family and the housekeeping
help)have led to a process of feminisation or (re)-domestication of
skilled migrant women (Ho,2006; Liversage, 2009), that is, an
increase in theirrole as mothers and wives and a decrease in
theirrole as income providers (Meares, 2010).
The literature on skilled migration with genderperspective is
currently scarce, and it containsmany preconceived notions about
the prole ofless skilled women, with an essentialist view
thatreduces them to a homogeneous group, with adominant economic
perspective and not relatedto other life elds (Kofman, 2000).
Literature onskilled migration has centred its approach in
theindustry and economic activities based on knowl-edge, such as
the information technology sector,dominated by men, with scant
attention toactivities or sectors with higher female
presence(Raghuram, 2009).
Skilled migrants from LAC are substantiallymore segregated in
the occupational structure
than other migrants. Following 2009, there was
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.a decline in levels of
segregation, both for menand women. Nevertheless, this drop in
occupa-tional segregation should not be interpreted asequalisation
of the conditions of labour occupa-tion of the skilled LAC
population with thenative population. The latter increased its
concen-tration in professional occupations and in themiddle-to-low
range of the structure from 2006to 2012. Meanwhile, the Latin
American and Ca-ribbean skilled population increased its
concen-tration in medium-skilled occupations. In thisway, the
decline in segregation levels of thispopulation can, in part, be
explained by therelative improvement in these occupations although
womens opportunities worsened foroccupying professional spaces and
mens im-proved slightly but also because the nativemale and female
population increased its con-centration in occupational spaces in
the middleand lower part of the structure. Other possiblechanges in
the occupational structure perhapsstimulated by a crisis scenario
could also beaffecting and explaining the changes in occupa-tional
segregation.
The place that a worker holds in the occupa-tional structure is
an indicator, particularly inthe skilled population, of the
appropriatenessof his/her labour insertion to his/her level
ofpreparation. The higher the skilled populationis placed in the
structure, the greater the corre-spondence. Nevertheless, this
indicator doesnot reect the conditions and quality of the
occu-pations. An exploration of wage differences of-fers clues,
particularly for Latin American andCaribbean women, that suggest
that they are lesscompensated in terms of wages, even in thehigher
spaces of the structure. Moreover, thissituation worsened after the
crisis. That is tosay, the permanence and increase of theskilled
migrant population from LAC inmedium-skilled spaces in the
occupational struc-ture could be explained by the existence
ofgreater conditions of precariousness, possiblystimulated by the
crisis. The native populationavoided these precarious labour spaces
andsought insertion in other spaces of the occupa-tional structure.
The condition of being amigrant could possibly motivate people to
with-stand the effects of the crisis in less thanfavourable labour
conditions, to a greater degreethan for the native population
(Castles &
Vezzoli, 2009).
Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
from the LAC region did not consider the othergroup of migrants.
This means that each index is
Crisis Effects on Occupational Segregation of Skilled
Migrantscalculated independently of the occupational struc-ture of
the other group of migrants or under the as-sumption that only the
analysed group of migrantsand the native population are employed in
the la-bour market. This is why interpretation is alwayscarried out
in regard to the native population as agroup of reference.
(3) We can see that in 2006, 80.6% of the native maleworkforce
was concentrated in two types of occu-pations (professionals and
medium skilled servicejobs), and 83% of migrants from other regions
werealso concentrated in these occupations, whereasonly 59.6% of
Latin Americans were occupyingthese labor spaces. On the contrary,
almost threeof every four migrants from LAC were distributedamong
the three types of occupations in the lowerpart of the structure,
whereas only 8.2% of nativepopulations held these occupations and
6.9% of mi-grants from other regions.
(4) The information that supports these arguments wasnot
included in the article.
REFERENCES
Alexander D. 2010. The impact of the economic crisis on
theworlds poorest countries. Global Policy 1(1): 118120.
Anker R. 1997. Theories of occupational segregation by sex:an
overview. International Labour Review 136: 315339.
Blau FD, Ferber MA, Winkler AE. 1998. The Economicsof Women,
Men, and Work. 3rd edn. Prentice-Hall:Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Brdan C. 2012a. Educated immigrants and economiccrisis in the
US, presented in Applied DemographyConference, University of Texas
at San Antonio.
Brdan C. 2012b. Are Skilled Migrants MoreProtected during Times
of Economic Crisis?Evidence from the US, poster, Population
AmericanNOTES
(1) Occupational segregation and concentration have
beenresearched widely in connection with both genderand
racial/ethnic inequalities in the labour force.The concept of
segregation in the labour market isusually used to refer to the
tendency for men andwomen to be employed in different
occupationsfrom each other. Concentration refers to the ten-dency
of different groups in the labour force to berepresented in higher
proportions than others incertain types of occupations or sectors
ofemployment.
(2) It is important to point out that the global
segregationindex for skilled migrants from other regions
andAssociation Conference.
Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Castao C, Iglesias C,
Maas E, Snchez-Herrero M.1999. Diferencia o discriminacin. La
situacin de lasmujeres espaolas en el mercado de trabajo y
elimpacto de las tecnologas de la informacin.Coleccin Estudios no.
73. Consejo Econmico ySocial: Madrid.
Castles S, Miller JM. 2010. Migration and the GlobalEconomic
Crisis: One Year On. Online material,Available at:
http://www.age-of-migration.com/na/nancialcrisis/updates/migration_crisis_april2010.pdf
(accessed on 15 September 2013).
Castles S, Vezzoli S. 2009. The global economic crisisand
migration: temporary interruption or structuralchange? Paradigmes
2: 6975.
de Oliveira O, Ariza M. 2000. Gnero, trabajo yexclusin social en
Mxico. Estudios Demogrcos yUrbanos 43: 1133.
Docquier F, Rapoport H. 2012. Globalization, braindrain and
development. Journal of Economic Literature50(3): 681730.
Docquier F, Lowell BL, Marfouk A. 2008. A genderedassessment of
highly skilled emigration, revisedversion. Available at:
http://perso.uclouvain.be/frederic.docquier/lePDF/DLM_PDR.pdf
(accessedon 15 September 2013).
Duncan NT, Waldorf BS. 2010. High skilled immigrantrecruitment
and the global economic crisis: theeffects of immigration policies,
Working Paper#10-1. Available at:
http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/58417/2/10-1.pdf (accessed on
15September 2013).
Gandini L, Lozano AF. 2012. La migracin mexicanacalicada en
perspectiva comparada: el caso de losprofesionistas con posgrado en
Estados Unidos,20012010. In El estado de la migracin. Mxico ante
losrecientes desafos de la migracin internacional, RamrezT,
Castillo MA (eds.). CONAPO: Mxico; 87126.
Green T, Winters LA. 2010. Economic crisis and
migration:learning from the past and the present. Working
PaperT-31. Available at:
http://www.migrationdrc.org/publications/working_papers/WP-T31.pdf
(accessedon 20 April 2013).
Ho C. 2006. Migration as feminisation: Chinesewomens experience
of work and family in Australia.Journal of Ethnic and Migration
Studies 32: 497514.
IOM. 2012.Crushed Hopes: Underemployment and Deskillingamong
Skilled Migrant Women. IOM: Genoa.
Keeley B, Love P. 2011.De la crisis a la recuperacin:
Causas,desarrollo y consecuencias de la Gran Recesin.
OECDPublishing: Paris.
Kofman E. 2000. The invisibility of skilled femalemigrants and
gender relations in studies of skilledmigration in Europe.
International Journal of Popula-tion Geography 6(1): 4559.
Kofman E, Raghuram P. 2009. Skilled female labour
migration. Focus Migration Policy Brief 13: 18.
Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI: 10.1002/psp
-
Liversage A. 2009. Vital conjunctures, shifting hori-zons:
High-skilled female immigrants looking forwork. Work, Employment
and Society, 23(1): 120141.
Lozano AF, Gandini L. 2010.Migrantes calicados de AmricaLatina y
el Caribe Capacidades desaprovechadas? CentroRegional de
Investigaciones Multidisciplinarias de laUNAM: Mxico.
Luque L. 2010. Anlisis Emprico de la Crisis Econmica enel
Mercado de Trabajo en los Pases Europeos: unaPerspectiva de Gnero y
Actividad Econmica. XII Re-unin de Economa Mundial, Sociedad de
EconomaMundial: Santiago de Compostela.
Marichal C. 2010. Nueva historia de las grandes crisisnancieras.
Una perspectiva global, 18732008.Sudamericana.
Martnez-Pizarro J. 2010. Migracin calicada y crisis:una relacin
inexplorada en los pases de origen.Migracin y Desarrollo 7:
129154.
zden . 2005. Brain drain in Latin America. Presenta-tion at the
International Mobility of Talent and Devel-opment Impact
ProjectMeeting. TheWorld Institute ofDevelopment Economics
Research: Santiago de Chile.
Papademetriou DG, Terrazas A. 2009. Immigrants andthe Current
Economic Crisis. Migration Policy Insti-tute: Washington, DC.
Pizarro Martnez J. 2011. Migracin internacional enAmrica Latina
y el Caribe. Nuevas tendencias, nuevosenfoques. Economic Commission
for Latin Americaand the Caribbean: Santiago de Chile.
Raghuram P. 2009. Situating women in the brain draindiscourse:
Discursive challenges and opportunities.In Gender and Migration in
21st Century Europe,Stalford H, Currie S, Velluti S (eds).
Ashgate:Aldershot; 85106.
Rubin J, Rendall M, Rabinovich L, Tsang F, vanOranje-Nassau C,
Janta B. 2008. Migrant womenin the European labour force: Current
situation
L. Gandini and F. Lozano-AscencioMattoo A, Neagu IC, zden .
2005. Brain waste?Educated immigrants in the U.S. labor
market.Policy Research Working Paper Series 3581. TheWorld Bank:
Washington, DC.
Meares C. 2010. A ne balance: Women, work andskilled migration.
Womens Studies InternationalForum 33(15): 473481.
Moser CON, Horn P. 2013. Does economic crisisalways harm
international migrants? Longitudinalevidence from Ecuadorians in
Barcelona. Interna-tional Migration, DOI: 10.1111/imig.12047
Ochoa S. 2013. Riesgo y vulnerabilidad laboral durantela crisis
nanciera y econmica de 20082009 enMxico. PhD Thesis, Centro de
Estudios Sociolgicos,El Colegio de Mxico, Ciudad de Mxico.
Orrenius PM,ZavodnyM. 2009. Tied to the business cycle:how
immigrants fare in good and bad economic times.Migration Policy
Institute. Available at: http://bit.ly/1tquuvs (accessed on 15
September 2013).Copyright 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.and
future prospects. Technical report preparedfor the European
Commission, RAND Corporation.Available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=2098&langId=en
(accessed on 15 September2013).
Salt J. 1997. International movements of the highlyskilled. In
OECD Social Employment and MigrationWorking Papers 3. OECD:
Paris.
Sassen S. 1988. The Mobility of Labor and Capital.Cambridge
University Press: New York.
Sassen S. 2003. Los espectros de la globalizacin. Fondo
deCultura Econmica: Buenos Aires.
Skeldon R. 2010. The current global economic crisisand
migration: policies and practice in originand destination. Working
Paper T-32. Availableat:
http://www.migrationdrc.org/publications/working_papers/WP-T32.pdf
(accessed on 20April 2013).Popul. Space Place (2015)DOI:
10.1002/psp