“By women, for women, and with women”: on the integration of highly qualified female refugees into the labour Markets of Berlin and Brandenburg

Abstract

Abstract This article focuses on the labour market integration of highly qualified female refugees in cosmopolitan Berlin and smaller towns in the county of Brandenburg. Based on interviews with civil society organisations designed mainly for female refugees, universities, employees of the job agency and government administrations, the gendered pathways of stratified access of this group to the labour markets of the two areas were analysed. Special attention was given to the role of emerging intermediary actors and their powers to influence stratified access to the labour markets. As this research shows, a variety of new approaches have evolved, and a web of migration-related jobs to support these women has been created – with marked regional differences.

Keywords

• Labour market integration
• Highly-qualified female refugees
• Civil society
• Intermediary actors
• Differential inclusion
• Berlin