Understanding brain waste: Unequal opportunities for skills development between highly skilled women and men, migrants and nonmigrants

<p>Brain waste studies seldom analyse the skills development of tertiary-educated</p> <p>workers according to gender and country of origin. Combining statistical analyses,</p> <p>participatory workshops and 77 qualitative interviews on employment trajectories</p> <p>with highly skilled workers in Switzerland, I offer three contributions. An</p> <p>intersectional perspective reveals unequal opportunities of skills development:</p> <p>Swiss-born men have the highest rates of employment, income and jobs commensurate</p> <p>with their education, followed by foreign-born men, then Swiss-born women</p> <p>and lastly foreign-born women. Second, a multiscalar perspective shows how actions</p> <p>by individuals, families, employers and the state favour or constrain skills advancement</p> <p>among women and men. Individual perceptions of gender roles and unequal</p> <p>childcare responsibilities within couples constrain women&#39;s skills development. Further</p> <p>constraints are set by the state and employers&#39; policies and practices regarding</p> <p>migration, childcare, taxation and hiring. Third, a spatial&ndash;temporal perspective unveils</p> <p>that gender inequalities arise at particular moments (migration and childbirth) and</p> <p>places (lacking childcare services and limited employment).</p>