Walter Leimgruber

The Mobility of the Highly Skilled towards Switzerland

Migrants to Switzerland are better educated than ever before. Yet, while many highly qualified migrants hold highly regarded positions others are still unable to use their skills. Our goal is to understand the implications of uneven access to resources, opportunities and social participation for different groups of highly qualified migrants. We observe that migrants who come as spouses, students, and asylum seekers face specific challenges despite being highly educated. We suggest some solutions aimed at enabling all migrants to participate more fully in the economic and social life of the country where they live.

Project Fact Sheet (PDF)
Main Results (PDF)

Messages for Decision-Makers

The needs of highly qualified refugees, recent graduates and reunified family members are not adequately addressed by the current Swiss legislative framework.
—
Stable residence permits are key to social and economic integration: concerned authorities should provide transparent information to employers, migrants and the institutions that support them.
—
Processes of skill recognition should be improved: employers and educational institutions should be made aware of the specific needs of highly skilled migrants.

Comparative Case Study on the Situation of Refugees at Universities in France, Germany, and Switzerland
Subproject by Walter Leimgruber and Katrin Sontag
Project Fact Sheet

Project-related scientific publications Select publication   Hercog, Metka and Laure Sandoz Selecting the highly skilled: norms and practices of the Swiss admission system for non-EU immigrants 2018   Camenisch, Aldina Middling whiteness: The shifting positionalities of Europeans in China 2022   Camenisch, Aldina and Brigitte Suter Diverse encounters. European migrants’ contact zones in China 2020   Sandoz, Laure Understanding access to the labour market through migration channels 2020   Camenisch, Aldina China as a new frontier: Neo-liberal aspirations, imaginaries and (dis-) enchantments of Swiss migrant professionals in mainland China 2019   Camenisch, Aldina and Brigitte Suter European Migrant Professionals in Chinese Global Cities: A Diversified Labour Market Integration 2019   Hercog, Metka Skill Levels as a Political Resource: Political Practices of Recent Migrants in Switzerland 2019   Müller, Seraina and Aldina Camenisch Re-negotiating Switzerland from Abroad: An Ethnographic Perspective on Citizenship-Belonging Nexuses 2019   Sandoz, Laure Les expatriés et autres élus de la mobilité: l’organisation de la mobilité 2019   Sandoz, Laure Mobilities of the Highly Skilled towards Switzerland 2019   Sandoz, Laure and Fabian Santi Who receives more help? The role of employer support in migration processes 2019   Sontag, Katrin Refugee Students’ Access to Three European Universities: An Ethnographic Study 2019   Camenisch, Aldina and Seraina Müller My Foreign Self as Privileged Outsider: Differing Lines for Marginalization and Inclusion of Swiss Living Abroad 2018   Hercog, Metka and Laure Sandoz Highly Skilled or Highly Wanted Migrants? Conceptualizations, Policy Designs and Implementations of High-skilled Migration Policies 2018   Sontag, Katrin Highly Skilled Asylum Seekers: Case studies of refugee students at a Swiss university 2018   Camenisch, Aldina and Seraina Müller From (E)Migration to Mobile Lifestyles? Ethnographic and Conceptual Reflections about Mobilities and Migration 2017   Hercog, Metka and Mindel van de Laar Motivations and Constraints of Moving Abroad for Indian Students 2017   Oberlé, Hélène, Laure Sandoz and Katrin Sontag Mobilität – der Weg zum Erfolg? Eine öffentliche Veranstaltung der Wissenschaftsvermittlung als paraethnografisches Experiment 2017   Hercog, Metka and Mindel van de Laar Europe as unlikely immigrant destination: location choice for internationally mobile students in India 2016   Leimgruber, Walter Die Tücken der Entgrenzung. Migration und Migrationsforschung vor neuen Herausforderungen 2016   Leimgruber, Walter Demokratische Rechte auf Nicht-Staatsbürger ausweiten 2016   Leimgruber, Walter El desafío de la nueva inmigración a Suiza 2016   Leimgruber, Walter, Brigitte Studer, Caroline Arni, Jon Mathieu and Laurent Tissot Die Schweiz anderswo. AuslandschweizerInnen – Schweizerinnen im Ausland. La Suisse ailleurs. Les Suisses de l’étranger – Les Suisses à l’étranger 2015