Refugees in the Workforce: Obtaining Employment and Career Success after Resettlement

A record high of forced displacement is occurring worldwide with 25.4 million refugees forcibly displaced from their home countries at the end of 2017 (UNHCR, 2019). While obtaining employment in the new, host country has been identified as a key factor in successful refugee resettlement (Colic-Peisker, 2009; Colic-Peisker & Tilbury, 2006; Newman, Bimrose, Nielsen, & Zacher, 2018), the organizational sciences have been largely silent on the refugee experience in obtaining employment and career success post-resettlement despite the unique background and characteristics that comprise this population. Our symposium seeks to address this gap in the literature by presenting five papers that address refugee employment and career success using diverse theoretical frameworks and a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods. Together, this collection of papers represents refugees from Syria, North Korea, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of Congo resettled to the United States, Australia, Jordan, Lebanon, and South Korea. Further, we consider the employer perspective and gain insights on the challenges and benefits of hiring refugee employees. In sum, this symposium will extend our knowledge and spark future research on the role of organizations and management research on this important societal topic. Social Purpose Organizations in Refugee Workforce Integration: A Model of Tertius Iungens Strategy Presenter: Eun Su Lee; U. of Sydney Business School Presenter: Betina Agata Szkudlarek; U. of Sydney Business School Presenter: Luciara Nardon; Carleton U. Searching for Work as a Syrian Refugee: The Role of Attitudes Towards Women Presenter: Lisa E. Baranik; U. at Albany (SUNY) Relationship-Based Leadership and Refugee Followers: Developing High-Quality Relationships Presenter: Courtney Williams; U. of North Carolina, Charlotte Presenter: Jessy Guler; U. of Kansas Presenter: Janaki Gooty; U. of North Carolina, Charlotte Digital Literacy and Economic Adaptation among North Korean Escapees Presenter: ByeongJo Kim; California State U. Chico Presenter: Caihui Lin; the U. of Queensland Presenter: Haeran Song; U. of Pittsburgh A Holistic View of Refugee Employment Attitudes: Employer, Refugee, and Service-Worker Perspectives Presenter: Vickie Coleman Gallagher; Department of Management, Cleveland State U. Presenter: Ahna Mullins; Cleveland State U. Presenter: Benjamin E. Baran; Cleveland State U. Presenter: Sorin Valcea; Cleveland State U.