Discrimination against credentials in Black bodies: counterstories of the characteristic labour market experiences of migrants in Ireland

ABSTRACT

Black Africans across Europe who report higher levels of discrimination in employment encounter systemic resistance in their career pursuits. In this article, discrimination in the Irish labour market is creatively challenged by centring race, and juxtaposing the experiences of migrants of Black African descent against their White counterparts based on information from 32 semi-structured interviews of first generation migrants from Nigeria, Poland, and Spain. Five characteristic experiences identified by synthesising migrants' interpretation of their journeys to paid employment are presented. The typologies in these trajectories reveal whiteness as a hidden resource that advantages Whites. It also illustrates the prevalence of an ascription of deficiency to Black workers and their credentials. These findings are presented through composite characters following critical race theory's counter-storytelling.

KEYWORDS:

• Migration
• cross-cultural issues
• inequalities
• labour market
• discrimination

Notes on contributor

Ebun Joseph, PhD, is a lecturer in Black studies, race, migration, social policy and equality. She holds the position of Career Development Consultant at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She worked with Business in the Community Ireland for over nine years as a Training and Employment Officer supporting immigrants from over 73 different nationalities in accessing the labour market. She is also an author and a founding member of the African Scholars Association in Ireland. Her research interests include critical race theory; race and racial stratification and how it is reflected among groups in the labour market.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.