One of our IER Visiting Fellows, Professor Nadya Guimarães, Professor of Sociology at the University of Sao Paulo and former Director of CEBRAP, The Brazilian Centre for Analysis and Planning, has been elected as a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC). The ABC, for which there is no direct equivalent in the UK, is a very important institution which nominates only the most distinguished scientists in the country. Only 17% of them are women, and even fewer are social scientists, only one a sociologist (two now with Nadya). So, this is a great achievement for the social sciences at large and for Nadya in particular, a recognition of the exemplary trajectory and leadership of an intellectually generous and creative social scientist. She has worked on a succession of joint projects with Professors Peter Elias and Kate Purcell since 1998, and from June this year, will be a spending a year on a Research Fellowship at the University of Cambridge, along with her husband Professor Antonio Sérgio Guimarães, who has been appointed as this year’s Simon Bolivar Professor at Cambridge.

Professor Nadya Guimarães and Professor Antonio Sérgio Guimarães will visit IER over the next year, so watch this space for stimulating seminars ahead.

The Journal of Vocational Behavior (ABDC A*) is inviting papers on "Vocational Behavior of Refugees: How do Refugees Seek Employment, Overcome Work-Related Challenges, and Navigate their Careers?”.

Over the last two years we have witnessed the largest migration of refugees in history. As of early 2016 over 4.7 million people have fled the civil war in Syria and the terror regime of the so-called “Islamic State” in both Syria and Iraq, and a significant number presently live in refugee camps in the Middle East (UNHCR, 2016). The effects of this crisis have been immense, not only in neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, but also in countries such as Greece, Germany, Hungary, and Austria, which are the final destinations for many refugees, and countries which have agreed to resettle smaller numbers of refugees from the conflict zones including Canada and Australia. The government authorities in these countries are in the process of developing policies to deal with the immediate influx of refugees, but also have to think of ways in which to integrate refugees into the mainstream society in the medium to long term.

Integration into mainstream society is an extremely challenging process for many refugees (Yakushko, Backhaus, Watson, Ngaruiya and Gonzalez, 2008). In addition to applying for asylum status and refugee resettlement and seeking family reunification, and learning the culture and language of the host country, refugees also have to seek employment to support the immediate needs of their families and re-establish a livelihood (Colic-Peisker and Tilbury, 2006). Policy makers have begun to recognize the importance of assisting refugees to obtain employment quickly, as stable employment amongst refugees has been found to reduce welfare dependency and to enhance the educational and health outcomes amongst the children of refugee families (Khoo, 2005; Pernice and Brook, 1996). However, current knowledge of how refugees, practitioners, organizations, and policy makers negotiate these issues is very limited (Morrice, 2011). Very few studies have examined refugees’ vocational behavior, including seeking employment, overcoming work-related challenges and traumata, and navigating careers after leaving their home country. In addition, we have limited understanding as to how organizations, practitioners, and policy makers can best assist refugees in the adaptation process.

In order to improve our understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by refugees in seeking work, overcoming challenges and traumata, and adapting their careers, this special issue of invites articles that will discuss these issues.

Guest editors: Alex Newman, Deakin University; Jenny Bimrose, IER, University of Warwick; Ingrid Nielsen, Deakin University; and Hannes Zacher, Queensland University of Technology.

IER warmly welcomes Sudipa Sarkar from the University of Salamanca in Spain, who will be a Visiting Fellow until June.

Sudipa is a labour economist with additional interests in the economics of education and development economics. She has published a number of articles on poverty, skills and occupational change in India and also a report on pay and job quality in India for Eurofound, where she was working part of last year. Sudipa will be working with a number of colleagues in IER over the next few months.

IER recently underwent a certificate renewal visit for Quality Management System Standard ISO9001, and was recommended for approval to re-certification to ISO9001 for a further 3 years. IER has developed a quality management system underpinning all aspects of management and research activities. This is certified by the Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) - the international quality management standard for organisations who want to evidence commitment to services that meet the needs of clients and other relevant stakeholders. A two-day independent ISO9001 review and assessment took place on 4 and 5 November 2015 investigating all aspects of IER's quality management system. IER is the first department of the University of Warwick to gain ISO9001 and for this to be re-certified in 2015 is recognition of our continuing high quality work. IER researchers are fully committed to the University of Warwick’s policy of advancing and safeguarding the highest academic and ethical standards in all its research activities.

For further information on IER's Quality Management System, contact our Administrator, Catherine Vassallo.

This week IER welcomes Dr Stephen Whelan as a visiting academic from the University of Sydney. Stephen is a labour economist with a research focus on social policy and its impact on labour market outcomes. Whilst at IER for the next few months, Stephen will be working with Chris Warhurst and Sally Wright researching global jobs.