Papers by Lesleyanne Hawthorne
Oxford University Press eBooks, Feb 8, 2018
When US employers hire foreign-born engineers they are much more likely to hire workers with temp... more When US employers hire foreign-born engineers they are much more likely to hire workers with temporary visas than those with permanent status in the US. Workers with temporary visas, by law, are tied to their employers. Immigrants with permanent visas are able, like US citizens, to move around freely in the labour market and thus can better fend for themselves economically.
Dutch Crossing: Journal of Low Countries Studies, Jul 12, 2016
Canadian Public Policy-analyse De Politiques, 2015
Social Science Research Network, Jul 13, 2016
Notes the increasing use of English language testing in Australia for nonlinguistic purposes in c... more Notes the increasing use of English language testing in Australia for nonlinguistic purposes in contexts governed by political pressures. Explores recent test examples and the pragmatic considerations giving rise to such test development.
International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 2014
Social Science Research Network, Jul 13, 2016
Social Science Research Network, Jul 13, 2016
The past decade has coincided with extraordinary growth in international student migration to Aus... more The past decade has coincided with extraordinary growth in international student migration to Australia. By mid 2010, over 610,000 students were enrolled, large numbers of whom planned to convert to permanent resident status through two-step migration. While international students were initially presumed to face minimal employment barriers (having self-funded to meet employer requirements), the reality has proven more complex. While impressive employment and labour market mobility rates are achieved through the study-migration pathway at 6 and 18 months, perverse study-migration incentives have also evolved. Addressing these, the Australian Labor government has introduced radical policy change in the past 3 years, which has markedly reduced students economic category share (from 62% to 35%). From July 2011, additional changes to selection will favour older native English speakers qualified with bachelor or higher degrees. International student demand for Canada seems certain to grow in consequence, in a context where students have become highly discerning consumers researching global options to secure the optimal study, migration and employment outcomes.
Social Science Research Network, Jul 13, 2016
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Coalition Government are in dispute over General... more The Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Coalition Government are in dispute over General Practitioner (GP) fees. The AMA has a case that these should be increased. However, this article shows that there is still a serious maldistribution of GPs in Australia which favours metropolitan areas. This is contributing to the practice of 'high throughput' medicine in these areas. It is argued that any increase in GP service fees should be accompanied by measures to ensure GPs serve where they are needed.
Social Science Research Network, Jul 13, 2016
The globalisation of the nursing workforce: barriers confronting overseas qualified nurses in Aus... more The globalisation of the nursing workforce: barriers confronting overseas qualified nurses in Australia Recent decades have coincided with the rapid globalisation of the nursing profession. Within Australia there has been rising dependence on overseas qualified nurses (OQNs) to compensate for chronic nurse shortages related to the continued exodus of Australian nurses overseas and to emerging opportunities in other professions. Between 1983/4 and 1994/5, 30 544 OQNs entered Australia on either a permanent or temporary basis, counter-balancing the departure overseas of 23 613 locally trained and 6519 migrant nurses (producing a net gain of just 412 nurses in all). The period 1995/6-1999/2000 saw an additional 11 757 permanent or long-term OQN arrivals, with nursing currently ranked third target profession in Australia's skill migration program, in the context of continuing attrition among local nurses. This pattern of reliance on OQNs is a phenomenon simultaneously occurring in the UK, the US, Canada and the Middle Eastthe globalisation of nursing reflecting not merely Western demand but the growing agency and participation of women in skilled migration, their desire for improved quality of life, enhanced professional opportunity and remuneration, family reunion and adventure.
Recent Indian migrants constitute an extraordinary talent reservoir for Australia. They are chara... more Recent Indian migrants constitute an extraordinary talent reservoir for Australia. They are characterised by high labour market participation, earnings and employment rates. They have the potential to offer a 'productivity premium' given their relative youth, level of English, tertiary training (with many qualified in Australia), and acculturation. At the same time they face significant barriers to securing initial work in their field. The scale of future intakes is also jeopardised by current skilled migration policy changes. These have particular significance for Indian IT workers entering Australian on a temporary sponsored basis. In the past decade Indian migrants have emerged as Australia's primary skilled migration resource. From 2008-09 to 2016-17 114,640 primary applicants (PAs) secured new grants in the permanent skilled migration program, far exceeding the scale awarded to Australia's other top source countries (the UK, China, the Philippines, Ireland and Malaysia). Within this period India simultaneously became Australia's second top source of temporary primary applicants, with 96,212 of new grants -only marginally less dominant than the UK, and far exceeding the scale of grants to Australia's next major source countries (Ireland, the USA, the Philippines and China). As established by national census data, new Indian migrants have also been disproportionately young, male, clustered in Victoria and New South Wales, and tertiary-qualified (with a remarkable 80% holding post-school qualifications compared to 56% of Australia's overall population). Despite these advantages, as demonstrated by this paper, recent Indian migrants face significant employment challenges. First, many have qualified in Australia in seriously over-supplied fields, impeding early access to professional positions (most notably in IT, business/ commerce, and accounting). Second, their recent scale of migration has been driven by the IT sector, rendering it highly vulnerable to any downturn in demand. Exemplifying this, an extraordinary 52,059 temporary and 34,591 permanent Indian IT workers were selected from 2008-09 to 2016-17 -vastly exceeding new grant rates for the UK (the next largest temporary IT source country with 3,553 PAs), and China (the next largest permanent source with7,775 PAs). Third, reduced Australian employer demand is evident in select other fields, most notably in medicine (where Indian migrants' share of new permanent grants dropped from 24% to 9%, and for new temporary grants from 21% to 10% in this nine year period). Finally, Australia's March 2018 refinement of the temporary skilled migration program, aligned with stronger labour market testing, has potential major consequences. Most notably 21 IT fields will become eligible for just two (rather than four) year visas, with no scope to apply for transition to permanent resident status. While Australia's recently announced Global Talent Scheme will allow some softening, these policy changes seem certain to reduce flows in a range of IT, business and commerce, nursing and medical occupations in which Indian migrants have recently been prominent. Young, tertiary-qualified Indian migrants constitute an extraordinary workforce resource for Australia, should their skills be effectively utilised. The scale of Indian skilled migration was surprisingly modest to Australia for decades, following the abolition of the White Australia Policy in 1973. In the five years to 1985 a mere 142 accountants, 129 computer science professionals, 93 electrical engineers, 79 doctors, 58 mechanical engineers, 43 lawyers, 24 nurses, 11 civil engineers, 9 architects and 9 dentists were admitted across all Australian immigration categories (spanning skilled, family and humanitarian entry). Indian arrivals have surged since, reflecting the rapid expansion and 'Asianisation' of Australia's skilled migration policy (with up to 14 of the top 20 recent source countries located within the Asia-Pacific region). From 1996 to 2006 49,106 degree-qualified Indian migrants arrived, with India emerging as Australia's second top source after the UK/Ireland (most notably IT professionals, engineers and accountants). The decade since has seen unprecedented growth in Indian skilled arrivals. From 2006 to 2011 a further 68,608 degree-qualified migrants were selected, along with substantial numbers in vocational fields. By the time of the 2011 Census 295,362 India-born people were resident in Australia -more than double the number in 2006, with around three-quarters (73%) present for less than ten years. Beyond their striking recency of arrival, Indian migrants were also disproportionately: • Location -Clustered in Victoria (111,787) and NSW (94,387), trailed by Queensland (30,259) and Western Australia (29,915), with only very modest numbers resident in other states. • Age and gender -Male (56%) and young, with a median age of 31 years (compared to 37 years for the Australia-born and 45 years for all migrants). • English -Characterised by excellent English ability (with 93% of Indians using a first language other than English at home speaking English well or very well). • Qualified -Tertiary qualified, with a remarkable 80% holding post-school qualifications (compared to just 56% of Australia's overall population). • Skilled -Reflecting this around half working in skilled, managerial, professional or trade positions if employed (48%, near identical to the rate of the Australia-born, despite Indian migrants' recency of arrival). • Remunerated -Impressive earners, securing a median weekly age of $663 for those working (far exceeding the $577 median for the Australia-born and $538 for all resident migrants) 1 . The potential impact of Indian migration on key professions was highly significant by this time. In the five years to 2011, India had become Australia's primary source for degree-qualified migrants in eight major fields (business/commerce, IT, accounting, engineering, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and physiotherapy), and the second top source in nursing and education. In numerical terms Indian arrivals in business/commerce and IT dominated, delivering 13,691 and 11,821 workers respectively, followed by accounting (8,751) and engineering (8,108). (See Table .) Despite Indian migrants' impressive human capital attributes, labour market participation rates and minimal unemployment levels, significant challenges were evident by 2011 in access to Australian professional positions in the first five years. While more successful than recent Chinese migrants qualified in identical fields, they lagged behind UK migrants, with outcomes worse than for overall 1
Social Science Research Network, Dec 1, 1993
English language competence is central to the employment prospects of migrants professionals. How... more English language competence is central to the employment prospects of migrants professionals. However, until recently, the author believes the testing procedures used by professional associations and the Australian government have been poorly designed and poorly implemented. The article focuses on the evolution of English language testing in relation to skill migration categories. It argues that the introduction of mandatory language testing as a screening device represents a significant and timely reform.
This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the a... more This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the Reference field.
Social Science Research Network, Jul 13, 2016
Following a decade of increasing non English-speaking background (NESB) migration to Australia, i... more Following a decade of increasing non English-speaking background (NESB) migration to Australia, including the migration of unprecedented levels of NESB professionals, this article examines two recent studies which report cases of direct and indirect labour market discrimination. The first relates to qualifications recognition for migrant doctors. Key findings include a growing trend to federal government intervention (in alliance with the medical professional bodies) to limit the entry and registration of migrant doctors, as well as the potential for English language ability to negatively impact on pre-registration examination outcomes. The second study concerns labour market outcomes achieved by an élite sample of Australia's skilled migration programme -migrant engineers of prime workforce age and advanced level English, with fully recognized qualifications pre-migration. Based on longitudinal research conducted over a three year period, this study reports significant evidence of employer bias by region of origin, operating in favour of English-speaking background (ESB) and European origin engineers, compared with those of Asian or Middle Eastern origin. The findings of both studies are contextualized by reference to a 1997 study (based on the Australian census) which reports the employment outcomes obtained by migrant professionals by country of origin, including the length of time taken to achieve professional integration.
Social Science Research Network, Jul 13, 2016
The past two decades have coincided with unprecedented Australian selection of skilled migrants, ... more The past two decades have coincided with unprecedented Australian selection of skilled migrants, in particular professionals from non-English speaking background (NESB) source countries. By 1991, the overseas-born constituted 43 to 49 per cent of Australia's engineers, 43 per cent of computer professionals, 40 per cent of doctors, 26 per cent of nurses, and rising proportions in other key professions. Within one to five years of arrival, just 30 per cent of degree-qualified migrants were employed. However, few diploma holders had found work in any profession, and select NESB groups were characterized by acute labour market disadvantage. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, barriers to credential recognition were identified as a major contributing factor to these inferior employment outcomes. This paper describes the evolution of Australia's qualifications recognition reform agenda for NESB migrants, including progressive growth in support of a shift from paper to competency-based assessment (CBA). Within this context, the paper examines the degree to which improvements were achieved in the 1990s in the field of nursing -the first major Australian profession to embrace CBA, and one promoted by the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition as an exemplar of the reform process. Assessment protocols and outcomes are analysed within two contrasting contexts: pre-migration at Australian overseas posts, and within Australia following overseas-qualified nurses' (OQNs) arrival. Based on empirical data from a wide range of sources, the paper identifies the development of a major paradox. Substantial improvements in qualifications recognition were indeed achieved for NESB nurses through CBA in Australia, in particular in the dominant immigrant-receiving states of Victoria and New South Wales. At
Canadian Journal of Nursing Research Archive, Dec 15, 2014
Nurses who migrate through the Canadian Live-in Caregiver Program face significant barriers to th... more Nurses who migrate through the Canadian Live-in Caregiver Program face significant barriers to their subsequent workforce integration as registered nurses in Canada. This study applies the concept of global care chains and uses single case study methodology to explore the experiences of 15 Philippine-educated nurses who migrated to Ontario, Canada, through the Live-in Caregiver Program. The focus is the various challenges they encountered with nursing workforce integration and how they negotiated their contradictory class status. Due to their initial legal status in Canada and working conditions as migrant workers, they were challenged by credential assessment, the registration examination, access to bridging programs, high financial costs, and ambivalent employer support. The results of the study are pertinent for nursing policymakers and educators aiming to facilitate the integration of internationally educated nurses in Canada.
AARN: Health & Illness (Topic), 2014
Circular and return migration are the globally endorsed preferred models for health workforce mob... more Circular and return migration are the globally endorsed preferred models for health workforce mobility. Australia is the sole country to date to record emigration as well as immigration flows, including data permitting analysis of migration dynamics and scale in specific vocational fields. Within this context, the prevalence and health workforce impacts of circular and return migration remain largely unknown. This will continue to be the case until more comprehensive migration data capture systems have been introduced, recording immigration, emigration and re-entry data for health professionals in both sending and receiving countries.
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Papers by Lesleyanne Hawthorne