Migration,gender and low-paid work: on migrant men’s entry dynamics into the feminised social care work in the UK

The literature on workers in gender atypical occupations has been dominated by a focus on women doing men’s work. Much less attention has been paid to men in women’s work, and even less to the impact of migration. Based on 28 in-depth interviews with migrant men having experiences of working in hands-on social care in England, this article is a contribution to the understanding of migrant men’s entry dynamics into a female-dominated occupation. Focusing on migrant life experiences, it discusses how they actively engage in three entry dynamics: (1) facing barriers and negotiating them, (2) ‘stumbling upon’ women’s work, then developing compensating strategies and (3) migratory/temporary settling into the sector. The article suggests a theory about lifelong ‘travelling’ when entering women’s work: a continuing process of negotiating work options within a specific historical sector context, the intersection of gender and migration being part of this.     

Diasporic youth identities of uncertainty and hope: second-generation Albanian experiences of transnational mobility in an era of economic crisis in Greece

This paper explores various dimensions of ‘gender’ and ‘mobility’ among immigrant youth from a transnational perspective in an era of economic crisis. The extent and parameters of continuity, contestation and change in migrant youth identities are analysed and we suggest that neither gender nor identity are stable categories but are embedded in sociocultural particularities both in the country of residence (Greece) but also in the country of origin (Albania). Through in-depth interviews with 52 participants, all second-generation Albanian immigrants in Greece born to two Albanian parents, the paper addresses youth identification in relation to gendered representations of belonging. The narrative accounts that we have selected and analysed reflect the emotional challenges, constraints and creativity of Albanian youth.     

Residential mobility and the spatial dispersion of personal networks: Effects on social support

Using a representative national sample of personal networks, this article explores how the spatial dispersion of networks, residential mobility and social support are linked. Three issues will be addressed here. Firstly, how is the spatial dispersion of personal networks related to individuals’ social characteristics, network composition and residential mobility? Secondly, how do the spatial dispersion of networks, residential mobility and their combined effect influence the number and (thirdly) the structure of emotional support ties? Results showed that the extent of the support was affected neither by the geographical distribution of the networks nor by residential mobility. Living far from one's birthplace, however, exerted two distinct, and opposite effects on the support network structure. On the one hand, mobility led to high spatial dispersion of personal contacts, which in turn favored a sparsely knit network centered around the mobile individual. On the other hand, by controlling for the effect of distance between the contacts, we found that individuals that cited long-distance ties tended to be part of more transitive support networks than those that cited local ties. We interpreted the latter effect as evidence that transitive ties may survive greater spatial distances than intransitive ones. These findings are discussed in view of spatial mobility and social network research.     

Mobility of students and attractiveness of universities. The case of Sapienza University of Rome

Human mobility is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. While labour migration has been widely and deeply investigated – through theoretical and empirical analysis – other forms of mobility have received much less attention. Students' mobility is a peculiar form of temporary movement that can be considered as neither migration nor tourism. It is rapidly growing: in the period 1975–2005 the number of tertiary education students abroad increased fourfold, from 0.61 million to 2.73 million, following the trend of the internationalization of economy and globalization of culture. In 2009 almost 3.7 million tertiary students were enrolled outside their country of origin, an increase of more than 6% from the previous year.

In this paper we analyse the international mobility of university students, using a unique data set built through surveys conducted at the Sapienza University of Rome. The data collected cover a rich array of information on students' characteristics and backgrounds, provenance places, family conditions, individual aspirations, and job preferences. The empirical analysis of those data offers an opportunity for understanding a relevant part of mobility decisions of (prospective) highly qualified workers. The Sapienza University, moreover, is at present the largest university in Europe for number of students and a pole of attraction for both European and non-European students. This allows us to enlarge our analysis at a global level.     

Towards the elsewhere: discourses on migration and mobility practices between Morocco and Italy

The objective of this article is to analyse the preparation process of young Moroccan migrants intended to migrate to Italy. My focus is on the personal and collective formulation of their desire to leave and on concomitant action taken to bring about these aspirations; highlighting the complexity of the imagination, which migration – and expected return – entails. A second point of interest is the agency exerted by such youth, as they prepare for departure; even when they have not yet physically left the country. In addition, my observation is focussed on networks emerging as a result of having to deal with state-imposed, migration restrictions, as well as with the politics of humanitarian agencies and NGOs. I argue that these aspiring migrants project themselves into the future and act in accordance with what they long to become. They shape themselves as mobile subjects through a process of self-making to overcome the above-mentioned constraints.     

Locus of Control and low-wage mobility

We investigate whether non-cognitive skills – in particular Locus of Control – are important determinants of mobility processes for male workers at the low-wage margin. Our results reveal a significant amount of state dependence in low pay even after controlling for non-cognitive skills. Furthermore, compared to individuals with an external Locus of Control, individuals with a more internal Locus of Control have a significantly higher probability of being higher-paid instead of low-paid. Conditional on being low-paid, individuals with an internal Locus of Control have a significantly higher probability of moving to higher-paid employment in the following year than individuals with an external Locus of Control. Our results suggest that having an internal Locus of Control is an important non-cognitive skill in the context of low wages. It may help individuals to avoid low-wage jobs and to move from low-paid jobs to higher-paid jobs.     

农民工社会流动的现实困境与对策分析

农民工合理有序的社会流动对转型期中国社会具有特殊意义。然而,目前农民工的社会流动绝大多数只是水平流动,缺乏跨越阶层边界的向上流动。因此可以说,当前的农民工社会流动已陷入困境。转型社会背景下的二元化制度及其惯性、农民工整体人力资本弱势以及社会资本缺乏是造成流动困境的主要原因。欲突破农民工社会流动困境,必须改革与创新制度、提升农民工人力资本、推动农民工组织化建设、规范政府职能,同时还应加强执行能力的建设、转变观念。     

江苏省居民个人收入流动性实证分析

利用1989-2009年间CHNS调查数据,对江苏省居民个人的收入流动性进行了经验分析,研究发现:(1)尽管在1997-2000年间居民个人收入流动性略有上升,但是整体上考察期内江苏省居民个人的收入流动性呈现出不断下降且趋于稳定的趋势特征;(2)中间阶层的居民较最穷和最富两个收入阶层具有更高的收入流动性;(3)农村居民个人收入流动性始终大于同时段城镇居民个人收入流动性;(4)1993年以后收入流动性不利于江苏省居民个人收入地位的改善,收入顶层居民的收入地位固定化趋势较为明显,同时江苏省尚未形成一个较为稳定的中等收入阶层.最后,本文指出江苏省应将提高居民收入流动性和培育中等收入阶层作为政策的着力点.     

China Daily文化报道话语模式的认知分析及其对外语学习的启示

十八大以来,提升国家传播能力、建构国家文化形象已上升至国家战略高度。新闻媒体作为中国文化传播的“窗口”和“中国故事”的“诉说者”,在文化传播中发挥着至关重要的作用。语言是文化的载体,China Daily文化报道的话语模式的研究为外语学习提供了启示。基于China Daily文化报道的话语模式所提出的“文化—概念—语言”三维习得互动指出了语言习得、概念习得和文化习得的缠绕关系,旨在提升外语学习者的跨文化交际能力和文化传播能力,从而更好地传播中国文化,塑造良好的中国文化形象。     

《新华日报》的文艺专刊《星期文艺》

《星期文艺》是《新华日报》创办初期设立的第一个文艺专刊,由胡风编辑,因稿源缺乏,问世不久就停刊了。《星期文艺》注重评论,它存续的时间虽然不长,却已经初步形成了《新华日报》文艺副刊注重战斗性、批判性的特色。由于胡风在文坛的重要影响以及“七月派”作家的有力支撑,《星期文艺》也得以刊载了一批生活实感与战斗激情紧密融合的优秀创作,形成了抗战初期文艺园地的一道靓丽风景。