Foreign Healthcare Professionals in Germany: A Questionnaire Survey Evaluating Discrimination Experiences and Equal Treatment at Two Large University Hospitals
Elif Can,
Clara Milena Konrad,
Sidra Khan-Gökkaya,
Isabel Molwitz,
Jawed Nawabi,
Jin Yamamura,
Bernd Hamm,
Sarah Keller
Affiliations
Elif Can
Department of Radiology, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité—Universitaetsmedizin Berlin Corporate Member of Freie Universitaet Berlin, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Clara Milena Konrad
Department of Radiology, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité—Universitaetsmedizin Berlin Corporate Member of Freie Universitaet Berlin, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Sidra Khan-Gökkaya
Department of Patient and Care Management, Integration and Anti-Racism Commissioner, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Isabel Molwitz
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Jawed Nawabi
Department of Radiology, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité—Universitaetsmedizin Berlin Corporate Member of Freie Universitaet Berlin, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Jin Yamamura
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Bernd Hamm
Department of Radiology, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité—Universitaetsmedizin Berlin Corporate Member of Freie Universitaet Berlin, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Sarah Keller
Department of Radiology, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité—Universitaetsmedizin Berlin Corporate Member of Freie Universitaet Berlin, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Objective: To identify facilitators and barriers and derive concrete measures towards better workplace integration of migrants working in the German healthcare sector. Design: Two-centre cross-sectional quantitative online survey of experiences of discrimination among healthcare professionals with a migration history in two large German university hospitals. Participants: 251 participants fully completed the questionnaires. Main outcome measures: Experiences of discrimination and perception of inequality. Results: Fifty-five percent of migrant health workers had had at least some command of German before arriving in Germany. Members of all professional groups surveyed expressed experiences of discrimination related to language, nationality, race/ethnicity, and sex/gender. The proportions of staff with experiences of discrimination by peers differed significantly among occupational roles, with nurses and technologists having the most experiences of discrimination. The perception of inequality was reported more frequently than experiences of discrimination and had a negative impact on workplace satisfaction. Specifically, the compulsion to compete was a frequent feeling stated by participants. Conclusion: The mechanisms of discrimination and structural inequality revealed by our survey could inform specific measures, for example at the management level, to increase workplace satisfaction and attract migrant health workers in the long term.