Accounting & Finance Research Community – Professor Rania Kamla

Title: Professional refugees seeking employment: A framework of political and psychological oppression

Date:  25 October 2023

Time: 14:00-15:30

Location: NUBS.4.23

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Professional refugees seeking employment: A framework of political and psychological oppression

Speaker: Professor Rania Kamla

Professor Rania Kamla, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh Rania Kamla is a professor of accounting at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh. Rania’s research is interdisciplinary, focused on researching accounting, accountability and the profession in non-Western contexts, especially in the Arab and Muslim world. Rania is especially interested in theoretical and empirical explorations that challenge Western-centric dominant discourses on accounting and the profession and give a voice to marginalized groups. Her publications and recent projects include research on experiences of Muslim women accountants, language and culture in accounting and the profession, accountability and ethics from Islamic perspectives, inclusion/exclusion of marginalized groups in professional spaces and accountability processes.

Abstract

Data regarding refugee employment marginalisation in the UK’s job market are stark, whether in relation to (un)-employment/underemployment rates, low wages, or hours of work. Data also point to the consequences of such exclusion on refugees’ mental and physical health. While previous research has investigated “barriers” to refugees’ employment, a comprehensive understanding of their experiences in seeking employment is still required. This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach between political and psychological dynamics of oppression to understand refugee professionals’ marginalisation. It builds on 28 in-depth interviews with professional refugees and agents helping them in accessing employment in the UK. The findings provide two main theoretical contributions to critical management and organisation literature. First, it contributes to extant theorizing on refugees’ (un)-employment by understanding their marginalisation in a comprehensive framework of political and psychological oppression. Specifically, the research identifies four interlinked levels of oppression: political and global (imposed by states, and linked to global colonialism); social (involving social groups like employers and recruitment agencies), inter-personal (involving interactions between refugees and agents dedicated to helping them access employment), intra-personal (dynamics operating within the single individual). Such conceptualisation provides different avenues to understanding and countering oppression. Second, it contributes to the literature on job market marginalisation by extending concerns around the neoliberal state’s logic of individual-centric approaches to employment to consider the global and colonial dimension to oppression internalised by local agents, employers and refugees themselves. In addition to theoretical contributions, the study adopts an “activist stance” pointing to the need for radical transformation in refugee treatment and employment practices. The study is timely given the climate of increased criminalisation and hostility towards refugees and migrants globally.