Women migrants. A vulnerable group that appears to be needed more help now than ever. Throughout the years, migration appears to be a growing problem for the European area. Nowadays more and more migrants are entering the borders and there appears to be no real monitoring of the situation. However, we as EU citizens will need to think about the bigger picture.
Who are these people? Why are they here and do they need our help? No one simply abandons their home, their friends and their family to just live somewhere else. Most of these people have been chased away by unfortunate situations and they are just looking for shelter. We as European citizens need to give them the hope they are looking for.
Women in the labor market
In every case, migrants are facing a lot of discrimination. There are always people who do not accept them. People who think they are better and are demonstrating racist behavior towards them. And in this case, the gender equality gap is not absent. If anything, it is more obvious than in any other case.
Women migrants appear to be in the worst state. Try to imagine this possible scenario. A woman, who is a native of Europe applies for a managerial job. She is however not able to get it because she is not considered capable of coping with the difficulties of the business.
Now that same woman gets a job that has fewer responsibilities. She is the employee of a company. However, she constantly faces discrimination from other coworkers, dues to the fact that, as a woman. Sometimes her opinion might still not be considered important enough. Perhaps her manager does not ask her opinion on important matters, or her expertise are not being taken seriously.
Eventually, that woman becomes a mother and she has to stop working for a while. When she is ready to go back to work she realizes that no employer wants to hire a woman with major responsibilities back home, how has been out of the labor market for more than a couple of years.
Women migrants in the working environment
This is unfortunately a very plausible scenario, even in today’s European society that is considered to be a rather free society that does not promote discrimination of any kind. Take that situation and add a very important variable.
The woman is a migrant. She has children and she has been out of the labor market for a while. Regardless of her expertise, her education, any kind of work experience she might have, she is not accepted in the local market for two main reasons.
She is a woman and she is a migrant. Her already created family simply adds to the problem. Now, that woman is more than capable of taking on responsibilities. Moreover, she might actually have a lot of working experience in business and innovative inputs that can change the course of the business.
Trusting in skills and experience
She is not being given the trust she deserves and that can create a major gap between European residents and the labor market. But she is no different than any other woman across Europe. The gap exists and it needs to be eliminated and in the case of women migrants the need is even bigger.
By not including them in the labor market, in any way, we are simply adding to the already high levels of unemployment in the European Area. At the same time, business owners do not understand that diversity in the workplace can have great results in the long run.
Not only are they going to be able to start reaching the levels of social entrepreneurship that every business out there needs, nowadays. They are going to be promoting a healthy and all inclusive working environment, free of racism and discrimination. This kind of environment can add a lot of value to a business.
Discrimination does not belong in the European labor market. Not when European companies are always trying to promote a social profile with a sensitized touch. If you want your business to have a social impact, start opening up your “employee list”. Do not be afraid to hire women migrants, women who are mothers, members of other vulnerable groups and so on. These people will add more value to your business and will definitely help you approach diverse clientele.
Through the implementation of European Project such as the WIDTH project “Women in Diaspora communities as champions of learning to live together” we intent to equip teachers with a wealth of innovative tools that promote the design of training activities for disadvantaged people, through guidance and support processes, to promote the development and recognition of adult skills. In this way we will invest in improving the effectiveness and quality of the learning methodology, within targeted training paths, also through new technologies.
