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Global Migration Focus of Conference

Scholars from Ghana, South Africa, Singapore, China, Japan, Australia , the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Canada and the U.S. will present research at an Oct. 6-7 conference at the ILR School on labor market inequality for global migrants in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.

Open to the public, the event can be attended in person at King-Shaw Hall in the ILR Conference Center on Garden Avenue or by Zoom. Sessions will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 6 and from 10 a.m. to 5:30 on Oct. 7. Register here to attend the conference in person or virtually.

Funded by Cornell International Programs, the conference will cover:

  • gender, migration and inequality in high-skilled labor markets
  • low-skilled labor, gender, and immigrant marginalization
  • institutions and legal protections for marginalized groups
  • labor market inequality and migrant sending country dynamics
  • New methods for measuring intersectional labor market inequality 

The Cornell Population Center and ILR's Pierce Memorial Fund have also provided funding, and the Cornell Migrations Initiative and ILR Conference Services have provided logistical support.

ILR Assistant Professor Tristan Ivory, conference organizer, said the aim of the conference is to make comparisons within and across thes Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. Examining the differences will deepen understanding of the mechanisms driving labor market inequality for migrants and societies beyond North America and Western Europe.

Most contemporary research in the field focuses on North America and Western Europe, he said. “This is especially troubling given the increased mobility of individuals in the so-called ‘Global South’ and the increasing appeal of non-traditional migration destinations outside the West.”

Sub-Saharan African countries are generating more voluntary movement of migrants in search of socioeconomic mobility and many Asian-Pacific countries are increasing their share of global migrants, Ivory said.

Ivory is conducting an interview project that will track sub-Saharan middle-class high school and college students as they begin professional careers in order to assess whether there is a substantial correlation between international migration and better economic and social outcomes. 

He is also researching foreign-born women's labor force participation in Japan, Sweden and the United States.

Additional projects include an examination of cross-nativity marriage on labor force outcomes of the foreign-born partner, and an interview project with Ghanaian, Kenyan and South African youth enrolled in secondary and tertiary educational programs.

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