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Abstract
Developing sociocultural competence in a new country is essential for migrants practising social work within new and distinct cultures. An argument for interventions needed to support the cultural transitioning of a migrant social work workforce is made, informed by findings from a mixed methods study of the experiences of overseas-qualified social workers in New Zealand. One of the main findings relates to migrant social workers' professional adaptation to the new environment. We focus the discussion here on how the perceptions and practices regarding the cultural dimensions of the transition informed their adaptation. Although this is a highly contextual example of social work practice in a foreign setting, the dynamics have equivalents in many international contexts as migration of labour is common globally. We argue that a greater focus on the migrant workforce is required in debates on globalisation. The discussion of the findings will highlight the need for culturally informed interventions to enable an increasingly global workforce to successfully make a professional cultural transition.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Christa Fouché is Associate Professor in the School of Counselling, Human Services and Social Work at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Christa has participated in a range of community-based research initiatives. Her research expertise centres on workforce development in the health and social services, including the migrant professional workforce, with a particular focus on the context of practitioner research capability and employees' experiences of work.
Liz Beddoe is Associate Professor in the School of Counselling, Human Services and Social Work at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Liz has long-standing interests in critical perspectives on social work education, professional supervision in health and social care, the sociology of professions, the professionalization project of social work, and more recent interest in media framing of social issues and professions.
Dr Allen Bartley is Senior Lecturer in the same school. Allen is a sociologist with research interests in migration New Zealand biculturalism/multiculturalism and social cohesion. He has explored migrant adaptation and settlement in New Zealand, the experiences of 1.5 generation New Zealanders and transnational migration.
Eleanor Parkes was appointed as research assistant on the project.
With Phil Harington, they comprise the research team for a project titled ‘Crossing Borders: An exploration of migrant professional workforce dynamics’.
Notes
1. Migrant social workers registering under Section 7 of the Social Workers Registration Act (2003) most demonstrate through either the attestation of additional coursework, or documented evidence of a self-directed programme of learning how they have gained the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude to work with those of Maori descent and those of other cross cultural backgrounds prior to attaining full registration (SWRB, Citation2007).
2. Some New Zealand social work agencies offer dedicated services for Maori service users by Maori practitioners, as a commitment to uphold tino rangatiratanga (self-determination). In these agencies, social workers are expected to refer Maori clients to these teams.
3. The term ‘Pakeha’ remains a highly contested and politically charged descriptor for New Zealand’s majority population. However, it is used here to refer to ‘New Zealanders of a European background, whose cultural values and behavior have been primarily formed from the experiences of being a member of the dominant group of New Zealand’ (Spoonley, Citation1993, p. 57).