Introduction

Australia is among the foremost Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in welcoming skilled migrants from around the world. In the academic literature, a skilled or highly skilled migrant is defined as an individual who holds at least a university degree or equivalent and who has relocated to work and live abroad on a long-term basis (Cerdin et al., 2014). According to the OECD (2017), global migrant stocks in the G20 countries, including the high-skilled, are relatively gender-balanced: in 2010/11, 52% of all highly educated migrants in G20 countries were women. In Australia, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, as of 2019 there were over 900,000 recent migrants (as Australian citizens upon arrival and permanent residents), and the majority were female (59%), and 79% of recent migrants had a Bachelor Degree or higher qualification (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2020), indicating skilled migrants are attracted to Australia. Labour force participation rate was higher for these recent migrants: a higher proportion (70%) were employed compared with people born in Australia (65%), and migrants were also more likely to be employed full-time (76% vs. 68%) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2020) due to their diverse knowledge and skill set, as well as perspectives, global networks, and inter-cultural competencies that lead to improvements in individual and organisational productivity (Bahn, 2014; Burford et al., 2018; Morley et al., 2018). Recognising skilled migrant economic efficiency participation (Ho, 2006), the Australian government has announced that the skilled migration cap has been increased from 160,000 to 195,000 in 2022/23 (an increase of 35,000), to address economy-wide skills shortages such as in the health and engineering sectors (Hegarty, 2022).

Although skilled migrants have actively participated in the Australian employment market, unfortunately, female participation has been on a downward trend—90% of recent migrants employed full-time were males, compared with 63% of females (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2020). Previous research has shown that one of the main reasons was caring for family needs (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2020), and there are similar findings in other studies on skilled migrants, specifically on women (Cooke et al., 2013; Ho, 2006; Ressia et al., 2017). Ho (2006) further argues that, while these highly skilled migrant women have full-time work before migration, they opt to work part-time in Australia due to their mothering and domestic duties responsibilities.

The primary focus of literature on highly skilled migrant women has been on their challenges in navigating employment outcomes in the host-country labour market (Singh, 2022a; Singh, 2022b; Cooke et al., 2013; Ho, 2006; Ressia et al., 2017). Limited studies have reported on highly skilled migrant women’s success factors in obtaining employment in Australia (Cooke et al., 2013; Crowley‐Henry et al., 2018; Ressia et al., 2017). Therefore, to address this empirical gap, the aim of this study is to explore enablers in gaining employment in Australia of highly skilled migrant women. The paper poses the following research question: What are the critical factors that contribute to highly skilled migrant women gaining employment in Australia? To the author’s knowledge, this paper is one of the first to explore highly skilled migrant women’s experiences in gaining employment in Australia. Its significance is in providing a more nuanced understanding of those experiences.

Literature Review

Highly skilled migrants are valued in Australia in order to meet the shortage of skills arising from an aging workforce and to foster national economic outcomes and growth (Ho, 2006; Rajendran et al., 2020; Ressia et al., 2017). In addition, highly skilled migrants are appreciated and recruited to provide a culturally diverse workforce in an organisation to promote innovation and gain organisational performance and expansion (Zikic, 2015). Business-related organisations value migrants for their global perspectives, intercultural competency and access to multi-cultural talent networks that enable organisations to create a sustainable competitive advantage in a globalised economy (Almeida et al., 2019). Therefore, there are numerous factors that interact in providing employment opportunities to highly skilled migrants in the host country.

‘Human capital’ was a term initially coined by researchers in the 1960s (Becker, 1975; Schultz, 1963). It refers to the acquisition and accumulation of educational knowledge and professional skills through formal education and training and career outcomes (Tomlinson, 2017) for gaining employment. Tomlinson (2017) argued that with human capital individuals will have a higher level of competitiveness and productivity in the employment market, particularly for the organisation in which they work. Becker (1975) and Schultz (1963) further argue that investment in an individual’s education has a positive monetary impact for that individual, indicated by obtaining a good job and high-paying salary. Human capital, in this perspective, not only enhances an individual’s status in the labour market but also improves the organisation’s productivity and financial competitiveness (Waxin et al., 2021).

Highly skilled migrants have been successful in gaining employment in the host country due to employers appreciating that their human capital consists of global skills, credentials, and knowledge as well as training. Even so, according to Ho (2006) and Ressia et al. (2017), skilled migrants do not always successfully transfer their knowledge and skills (human capital) to the host competitive labour market, since human capital is not always readily transferable to a host-country employment context that is shaped by broader social, cultural, and economic aspects (Ho, 2006). For instance, due to migrants’ backgrounds, ‘language deficiency creates an additional barrier to labour market integration and career advancement’ (Cooke et al., 2013, p. 2629) in the host country. Also, migrants have problems convincing Australian employers that there is no difference in performing in Australia the job they did overseas (Ressia et al., 2017). As a result, they ‘need to have Australian experience before employers [will] consider them for job roles’ (Cameron et al., 2019, p. 90), which in turn contributes to the skill underutilisation phenomenon in Australia (Almeida et al., 2015). However, scholarly articles have strongly argued that employers do employ highly skilled migrants with overseas qualifications and global skills to innovate and gain a competitive advantage in global markets, as well as facilitate knowledge transfer (Cameron & Harrison, 2013; Guo & Al Ariss, 2015). In addition, locally acquired qualifications and relevant work experience are also taken into consideration by employers in recruiting highly skilled migrants. For example, Australian employers recognise Australian qualifications and work experiences of migrants because this demonstrates they have developed professional identity and graduates have ‘awareness of and connection with the skills, qualities, behaviours, values and standards of a chosen profession, as well as one’s understanding of professional self in relation to the broader general self’ (Jackson, 2017, p. 833).

Leveraging on social capital is an important factor for highly skilled migrants in gaining employment in the host country. Career-related networks comprise both internal relationships within an organisation (i.e. colleagues) (Mäkelä et al., 2016; Wond & Brown, 2019) and external personal contacts (i.e. friends, previous managers, or business partners) (DeFillippi & Arthur, 1994; Yao, 2013). These connections are able to identify new career opportunities (Mäkelä et al., 2016), either in the host country or beyond. Colakoglu et al. (2018) establish that highly skilled migrants must leverage upon support networks such as mentors, family members, and influential people that are vital in finding employment opportunities in the host country.

Women’s employment searching and successful outcomes are not as straightforward as men’s, because women face significant barriers in gaining employment in the host country (Ressia et al., 2017). Therefore, literature on highly skilled migrant women paints a different picture. Such women often face challenges in gaining quality employment, and they are highly likely to be ‘under-employed (defined here as being employed for jobs that are below their educational/professional qualifications and skill competence)’ (Cooke et al., 2013, p. 2631). Some of the challenges they face are due to social capital barriers, caregiver role commitment’ and financial constraints in regaining human capital (Cooke et al., 2013; Ho, 2006; Ressia et al., 2017). They also face issues of ‘settling in a new country and the loss of domestic support saw most of the women focusing their energies on their families, withdrawing completely from paid work or limiting themselves to part time work’ (Ho, 2006, pp. 503–504). These highly skilled migrant women are not only responsible for looking after their children’s needs, they are also responsible for all domestic (housework) duties (Ho, 2006). Domestic arrangements expose the underlying gender inequalities in Australia (Ho, 2006), because men are not accustomed to doing domestic work.

In light of this discussion, because highly skilled migrant women are an understudied population in the literature, less is known about their factors in gaining employment as they ‘strive to establish their careers from scratch’ (Colakoglu et al., 2018, p. 259). Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore highly skilled migrant women’s factors in gaining employment in Australia by addressing this research question: What are the critical factors that contribute to highly skilled migrant women gaining employment in Australia?

Methodology

This study elicits experiences of highly skilled migrant women in gaining employment in Australia. A qualitative exploratory and hermeneutic phenomenological approach (Creswell, 2013) was adopted. Hermeneutic phenomenology seeks to understand lived experiences of research participants similar to a qualitative approach. It has both elements of descriptions of experiences (phenomenology) and interpretations (hermeneutic) in order to understand lived experiences (Ajjawi & Higgs, 2007). This study seeks to interpret the lived experiences of participants about the phenomenon of enablers in gaining Australian employment as highly skilled migrant women (Pernecky & Jamal, 2010).

In-depth, semi-structured interviews were used for data collection to explore in depth the experiential views of participants (Kvale, 2007). In the interviews, participants were asked questions on their demographic details, followed by questions on employment related factors and challenges and strategies in gaining employment in Australia. Twenty-seven interviews were conducted in English by both authors from September to November 2021 via Zoom (online) due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The duration of these was between 31 and 70 min. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim by a professional transcription service. The first author emailed all participants their own transcripts for verification of content and deletion of information they did not wish included, ensuring data validity and trustworthiness (McClure, 2003). All participants verified their transcripts and no data were deleted. This study was conducted with the approval of the Human Ethics Committee (HEC21287) and was consistent with the guidelines established in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans.

Research participants were selected based on three criteria: (a) highly skilled migrant women from various disciplines, (b) currently working and/or finding employment in Australia, and (c) willing to share experiences of gaining employment opportunities in Australia. Initial contact was established by the authors with the women via LinkedIn and Twitter. Upon gaining their email addresses, the authors sent invitations to participate and provided relevant forms (Participant Information Statements, Consent, Withdrawal of Consent), using authors’ email addresses. Snowball sampling was also used because it facilitates fast access to information-rich research participants: women suggested other possible women that fit the criteria of this study (Minichiello et al., 2008; Patton, 2002). One possible limitation of snowball sampling is that it introduces ‘biases’ in the data, because the recommendations by participants may be skewed towards their friends in the same social network (Lindlof & Taylor, 2011). However, adequate monitoring by the researchers in terms of selecting research participants who fit the criteria of inclusion reduces the ‘biases’ of snowball sampling (Lindlof & Taylor, 2011). Saturation of data was achieved after 27 interviews when no new information emerged and therefore the interviews ceased (Guest et al., 2006). Demographic details are outlined in Table 1.

Table 1 Demographic details of highly skilled migrant women
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In reporting qualitative comments, the following convention is used: HSMW for Highly Skilled Migrant Women, interview number, and other information such as country and occupation.

The interview data were analysed inductively using a thematic approach (van Manen, 1990) and both researchers coded the interview data using the latest NVivo version. The processes of data analysis and transcription were followed by both authors and included reading and re-reading the transcripts, initial coding for the purpose of making sense of the data using the latest NVivo version, establishing potential themes, and generating a thematic ‘map’ of the data so that analytic narrative could be developed (Braun & Clarke, 2006) in the findings section. Since the analysis was conducted via NVivo, the researchers deliberated on several occasions and reached an agreement of the most common codes and themes that were prevalent in the analysis of the findings.

Findings

Based on the thematic analysis, there were three major factors identified. The women’s experiences were diverse, and quotations used in this paper are reported verbatim. The findings are organised around the emergent key themes of factors in gaining employment in Australia. The factors are categorised into three key themes: social capital, human capital, and prior related home-country work experience. Figure 1 presents the thematic map of these findings and is used to structure the findings (based on the frequency of sub-codes and codes mentioned by research participants).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Thematic map

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Social Capital (Network Connections)

Social capital denotes a web of connections and associations with close linked individuals such as employers, family members, friends, and colleagues that migrant can take advantage of to access the employment market (Tomlinson, 2017). In this study, women have leveraged upon their networking skills when seeking employment. Some of the women were invited by their mentors and on their own initiative to attend these networking events which are organised by universities while being students, which resulted in their gaining employment through their subsequent connections at the networking events. The networking events attended by these highly skilled women are organised in Australia by university and professional organisations which are assisting migrant women specifically in gaining employment in Australia. These women created opportunities in meeting senior human resource managers at networking events and expressed their interest in gaining a position to get a foot in the employment door. These contacts of theirs did not provide job opportunities directly to them but they did recommend these women to someone who, to their knowledge, would offer them employment assistance. For instance:

At a university networking event I met and talked to a professional staff member who is in a senior position at my former university. She worked as a Director of HR, so she looked after the whole university HR portfolio. I said that I am completing my PhD and I need to look for jobs. She introduced me to a contact person in the Department and that is where I got my first teaching job. (HSMW 8, Vietnam, Senior Advisor)

It was at a networking event organised by Migrant Women professional organisation. There was a mentor who introduced me to one person who is working in Human Resources. And I invited her to an online coffee. She is Colombian as well, so we were talking about many things in common, many things that every Colombian knows. And she was the person who told me that this position is available, you can apply through the website, you will be perfect for this position. So, if you like, please apply for it. I applied and they selected me, so definitely in this case the networking was 100% fundamental. (HSMW 16, Columbia, Human Resource Officer)

Women also gained their first employment opportunities through volunteering connections. These women were international students who once studied in Australia, and they volunteered for various activities and through their networks secured their first employment opportunities in Australia:

My volunteering boss mentioned to my current boss that she has just graduated with a food science degree. If you have any part-time opportunities, that would be great. And I think at the time, my current place was looking for someone in administration and then my boss was just like, no, no, I don’t think she will do admin. Let’s just put her in marketing, I feel like she would be good at it. And they just simply took a shot! (HSMW 2, India, Marketing Officer)

I just kept attending conferences and I was a volunteer at Monash for one of the conferences and luckily I met one of the university coordinators there and they asked me, we have one extra class would you like to teach? I said yes, why not? (HSMW 24, India, Senior Research Officer)

Others gained employment through recommendations from former colleagues through rapport building which benefited them in gaining subsequent role opportunities. For example:

Well, I would say the job that I just left was through the network from work, which obviously I built a rapport with a former colleague to trust me enough to recommend me for that job. I think, in that sense, … that networking and building the relationship was so important and beneficial. (HSMW 5, Malaysia, Freelance Consultant)

My current managing director reached out to me because he found out that I was looking for work, and I had worked with him at NAB before. And he said, what are you working on, and I said, I am actually looking for work right now. And he goes, come and join and us. And I went straight in, no interviews, nothing. (HSMW 27, Sri Lanka, Learning and Organisational Development Advisor)

Networking is vital in gaining employment in Australia, and these women recognised the importance of building and maintaining relationships in gaining their first and subsequent employment opportunities.

Human Capital (Acknowledgement of Relevant Knowledge, Expertise, and Skills)

Human capital refers to the skills and knowledge developed and acquired at higher learning institutions for employment purposes (Tomlinson, 2017). Prior acquired knowledge, expertise, and skills from the home country were acknowledged by Australian employers. Women varied in their related experience and competencies from their positions, although from their home country, and these were considered in their Australian employment journey. For instance, a combination of skills (i.e. technical and marketing skills) acquired in the home country was highly appreciated by Australian employers and provided employment opportunities:

I think the major point was I had some skill sets, which was very helpful for the company in launching the products. From technical skills to some marketing skills, because I have been working in some customer service roles when I was back in Bangladesh. So, I had some blended skill set which my boss really liked about me. So, I think that is why I got the position in the first place. (HSMW 1, Bangladesh, Casual Academic)

Highly skilled migrants who were experienced lecturers back in their home countries were also acknowledged by Australian employers. They were provided with job opportunities, although not equivalent to the prestigious roles that they enjoyed in their home countries, because of their specific teaching skills and subject matter expertise in their courses:

I was quite lucky, because when I was back home working in a university, we had this thing called blended learning. So, I was very lucky that the university was pushing [it], so we had to do some online and some face-to-face. So, when I got the job in Australia, it was a bit of a teething problem, but I could catch it quickly, because I have had that, a little bit of that background. So, it did help me, I would say. (HSMW 3, Malaysia, Casual Academic)

I got this job from LinkedIn. I applied and they interviewed me, and they thought that I was suited for their requirements, so they gave me this remote teaching online for teaching their nurses as a casual teacher. They are teaching Health Sciences courses to nurses, because my basic background is MBBS, and then I did my PhD, as well as my high-impact cancer research one-year course from Harvard Medical School. I am well associated with the university back in Pakistan, I was a senior teacher and professor over there in Biomedical Sciences, as well as I was leading the clinical research division as a chairperson. So, it was related to the health courses and related to biomedical sciences for nurses, so I was successful to get the job. They understood my expertise and put their trust in me. (HSMW 4, Pakistan, Casual Academic)

Highly skilled migrant women who were international students in Australian universities were employed due to their local qualifications, experience and skills from working in Australia. Recent scholarly research has found that international graduates are not employed by Australian employers due to not possessing appropriate visa status such as permanent residency, perceived low-level English proficiency and difficulty in obtaining suitable employment in Australia against their qualifications (Singh, 2020). In this study, however, the employment gateway was easier for them, because they had Australian workplace experience:

Before I graduated with my PhD from one Australian university, I applied for a position. It was short-term, casual research assistant advertised by the School of Education, looking at knowledge building in schools and higher education. Because of my publications, I guess, I was selected, and I was recruited to do casual work in research. I am growing my profile that way. (HSMW 8, Vietnam, Senior Advisor)

So, for this current role, as I was told, I worked as an assistant grant officer position in one of the Australian universities and I had some experience handling the software like Pure, Sapphire, and have experience checking the eligibility kind of things. So, they were looking someone who should have some experience in these kinds of things. And that local experience helped me to get this current position in the grant’s team. (HSMW 24, India, Senior Research Officer)

Once I have that in my resume that I have been working for some local Australian company, and people have trust in me, that was the gateway where I started from. So that was the opening for myself. So, I think it is really important that you get started. (HSMW 3, Malaysia, Casual Academic)

The women were employed due to their specific and niche skills wanted by Australian employers. For example, one woman, who was an outstanding scientist, was employed due to her niche scientific knowledge and skills that would assist the Australian company to gain more funding:

I was one of the first scientists who had done a lot of training, beyond an undergraduate degree, to join this current company of mine. And so, they were looking to bring on some scientists who had more scientific training, I assume that I had the background that would look appealing to investors, given that they were pushing so hard to get seed funding at that time. And I had the skills they were looking for, in terms of cell line development, and media development. (HSMW 11, United States, Senior Scientist)

Interestingly, one of the highly skilled migrant women who was an Australian graduate was employed due to her language skills that were needed for a position. Although this vital information was not written in the position description, it was a crucial skill valued by the employer. To her, she was just lucky that the employers wanted someone who could speak the Chinese language, although the job advertised was for a senior position:

One of the main reasons for them to employ me was that they were looking for someone who can speak Chinese. It was not on their job description or the position description, because it will be discriminatory if they put it onto a job description to find someone with Chinese skill. I just happened to apply and even though the position was actually looking for a senior dietician, I was a junior. I was a fresh grad. And they think that just giving me a chance. So, they interview me, and they decided to hire me. I was just so lucky. (HSMW 26, Hong Kong/Singapore, Lecturer)

For highly skilled migrant women who have worked in different countries and acquired extensive competencies, Australian employers were impressed with their global skills and profile and hence provided job opportunities for them in Australia:

Because I had a very good profile. I worked with PwC in Malaysia to London with Morgan Stanley and Barclays Capital, all top companies, global companies, it really helped me. I am very well known for the agile, lean, business analysis, consulting space. So, I have already built up my profile. And, being a UK-qualified chartered accountant also helped me in gaining related roles in Australia. (HSMW 7, Malaysia, Senior Business Consultant)

Human capital accumulation, either from the home country or Australia, is acknowledged and appreciated by Australian employers. As a result, these highly skilled migrant women were offered positions in Australian labour market.

Prior Related Work Experience in the Same Industry in the Home Country

Prior work experience of women in their home countries was acknowledged and recognised by Australian employers. This is in contrast with experiences of highly skilled migrant women in Purkayastha’s (2005) study who faced systemic devaluation of credentials acquired in their home country. They had to regain their qualifications before gaining appropriate employment in the host country. In this study, highly skilled migrant women were provided with job opportunities in similar industries. Yet, although they had a wealth of knowledge and skills in similar kind of work and in similar companies, they were also offered a lower position in Australia:

I would say that I have worked in a university before, and I think that creates a bit of strength. Moreover, someone saw my name and said, I know her. She does do a good job, and so it was very quick for them to just take me in. It was more because I used to work in Monash Malaysia, so as soon as they saw that, they thought, okay, this is someone that has worked before in the system and Monash called me and said, okay come and join us in casual employment. (HSMW 3, Malaysia, Casual Academic)

However, one woman did receive the same employment position in Australia as she held in her home country. She was offered the position as she knew the company system and processes as well as the culture:

I saw someone posted on Facebook that they were recruiting a job in the same company I used to work for in my home country. I applied and they called me for an interview, and I was, so this is my chance. And since that moment I put all my best to nail the interview. I passed the first interview, and the second interview and they offered me the same job. I think, mainly, that I knew the company processes, it is not easy, they have so many processes. And when they know that someone has already worked with them, even if it is in another country, at least they know okay, this person knows the culture of the company, knows the system, knows the ways of working. So, I think that put me in a better position than other persons who may have applied. So, that was a plus, and I just did my best with that. (HSMW 6, Venezuela, recently unemployed)

Although Australian employers appreciate prior relevant work experiences of highly skilled migrant women in their home countries, there are mixed opportunities for these women in gaining similar positions in Australia.

Discussion

The main purpose of this study was to explore the enablers in gaining employment in Australia as experienced by a highly skilled migrant women cohort and hence address an empirical gap identified by Crowley‐Henry et al. (2018) in their systematic literature review. The findings have painted a more positive ‘picture’ in the migration literature, especially concerning highly skilled migrant women’s employment journey in Australia. They are employed due to their human capital capabilities, and they leverage upon their networks (social capital) in gaining employment as well as prior home-country work experience, which are considered by Australian employers. As there are 10 participants who are working in universities and most as academics, the findings provide more nuanced consideration of the opportunities enjoyed by highly skilled migrant women in Australia to present a more ‘balanced representation of skilled migrants’ career’ (Crowley‐Henry et al., 2018, p. 388) as opposed to studies researching skilled migrants working in business organisations (Crowley‐Henry et al., 2018). Therefore, the findings are unique and this research has also contributed theoretically and supports human capital theory that holding relevant qualifications and skills from prior experiences does assure highly skilled migrant women of positive employment outcomes in Australia, against Almeida et al.’s (2015) finding where that there is no guarantee of employment that is similar to the qualifications and skills of migrants. This paper strongly builds on recommendations by Colakoglu et al. (2018) and Ressia et al. (2017) in understanding highly skilled migrant women’s lived experiences around their reasons of being employed in Australia.

Cross-border migration often leads to the loss of social capital for highly skilled migrants, as this capital is culturally specific and ‘not always readily transferable across countries with markedly different institutional and cultural environments’ (Cooke et al., 2013, p. 2629). Lack of social networks has further added to the barriers of employment opportunities of highly skilled migrant women (Heffernan, 2020; Ressia et al., 2017). Heffernan (2020) further argues that, due to family responsibilities, highly skilled migrants are unable to build their networks as effectively as men. However, building and sustaining connections was vital for the women in this study and none mentioned their care-giving roles impeding developing their networks (similar to Cooke et al., 2013), when it came to gaining first and subsequent employment opportunities in Australia. Personal networks (i.e. friends), as well as professional networks (e.g. membership of professional community associations/networks), were leveraged by women in Cooke et al.’s (2013) study to gain their first job and also their subsequent employment. Ressia et al.’s (2017) findings demonstrate that highly skilled migrant women in their study utilised social networks and contacted community-based organisations to search for work and local experience. Highly skilled migrant women in this research, however, made their connections with senior human resource managers at networking events organised by university and Migrant Women professional organisation which they were invited to and expressed their intentions to gain employment in Australia. These managers did not provide the positions directly to them but were referred them on to people in their network circles for assistance. Other women gained their first employment opportunities via connections made through their volunteering activities. They were offered positions due to their active volunteering work. For subsequent positions, they were offered roles recommended by their former colleagues who clearly had sustained their connections with them.

Highly skilled migrant women were also employed due to showcasing their human capital. Human capital researchers (Becker, 1975; Schultz, 1963) argue that investing in an individual’s education has a positive impact in gaining high-paying careers. Irrespective of accumulating knowledge, skills, and expertise, either from home countries or in Australia or even globally, they are provided with relevant roles against their qualifications and competencies by Australian employers. This itself is an interesting finding, coinciding with the study by Singh (2023) as well as Harrap et al. (2021) that Australian employers are coming to recognise foreign credentials of migrants. Hence, research participants in this study did not seek an ‘Australian qualification in a similar or related field to their professional degree in order to improve their contextual knowledge of local practices and to increase the likelihood of finding work’, as noted in Ressia et al., (2017, p. 75). In this study, too, highly skilled migrant women’s specific language (i.e. Chinese) and niche scientific skills were also recognised by Australian employers, resulting in employment opportunities. Cooke et al. (2013) also highlights that highly skilled Chinese migrant women’s knowledge of and experience in China and/or the Chinese language were advantageous to them if Australian organisations were seeking expertise in this area. However, there is also a recent study by Tan and Cebulla (2023) that highlights how overseas qualifications and skills of migrants are not recognised by employers, which is puzzling. There are thus mixed responses from employers in recognising migrant transferability of their human capital in Australia.

In this study, although women’s prior home-country-related work experiences were acknowledged, resulting in their being employed in Australia, unfortunately some were not employed at a level they enjoyed in their home countries, as Ressia et al. (2017) and Rajendran et al. (2020) also found: they were employed in similar companies but at a lower position. For example, one was a full-time lecturer in a branch university in Malaysia but is currently employed as a casual teaching staff member at the same home university in Australia. This indicates a de-skilling and downward occupational mobility trend (Almeida et al., 2015; Rajendran et al., 2020; Ressia et al., 2017), as there is considerable underuse of skills when migrants are unable to find jobs at their skills levels. However, there were women who did receive Australian employment at a comparable level. This is inferred to be due to their extensive understanding of the role and the workplace systems as well as culture, even though the company was operating in a different part of the world. This finding contradicts Ressia et al. (2017) that employers are not convinced that migrants are able to work in similar job settings because lack of local work experience and overall cultural fit are emphasised greatly by such employers (Almeida et al., 2015).

Conclusion

Highly skilled migrant women expect that their migration journey will lead to better employment success and increased economic opportunities, not only for themselves but also for their family and Australia (Cooke et al., 2013; Ressia et al., 2017). While Australian Bureau of Statistics (2020) figures on recent skilled migrant employment outcomes seem clear, such broad data on migrants do not tend to represent more deeply the lived experiences of research participants who are migrants (Ajjawi & Higgs, 2007). This current study has made an empirical contribution in the migrant employment literature through exploring experiences of highly skilled migrant women by uncovering at a deeper level, through a qualitative approach, factors that facilitated in gaining employment in Australia. With leveraging on their human and social capital, as well as relevant home-country work experience, highly skilled migrant women can secure employment opportunities in the Australian labour market. These positive experiences must be shared, disseminated, and amplified widely to other highly skilled migrant women who are recent arrivals to Australia through public forums and engagements.

Recommendations

At the meso level, Australian employers should continue to build career support for highly skilled migrant women in recognising their human capital and appreciating their home-country related work experiences. Employers can also provide opportunities to these women in gaining promotion internally and building their local experience, confidence, and capacity to thrive in the Australian employment market (Cooke et al., 2013). Although such women are already highly educated, employers can also provide and sponsor training and development opportunities for them to network and equip themselves with up-to-date knowledge and skills related to their field of work to advance their careers in Australia.

At the macro level, the Australian government can build on the positive insights of these research findings and strongly advocate to employers to provide equivalent jobs and positions based on highly skilled migrant women’s qualifications and related work experience. The Australian government should therefore promote and streamline the appreciation and recognition of migrant human capital so that it is employed in Australia appropriately, thereby avoiding underemployment and underutilisation of migrants’ knowledge and skills. In addition, when highly skilled migrant women arrive in Australia, it is important to educate and provide them with career development opportunities (i.e. mentoring, coaching, and community-based career information), so that their career gap is narrowed and there is reduction in the underutilisation of human capital. Such mechanisms in place will attract more participation from migrant women in the labour market, where, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (2020), men continue to enjoy higher labour force participation rates than women.

Limitations and Future Research

Although these findings have contributed to the empirical literature, there are several limitations. Firstly, this research is conducted with highly skilled migrant women in Australia. Further research could be conducted with highly skilled migrant women in countries such as Canada, the United States, and the UK—countries that have been receiving large numbers of skilled migrants, especially women. A comparative study could be conducted to investigate what strategies and enablers are contributing in gaining employment of highly skilled migrant women. In addition, future studies can also study the differences in employment in the host country according to the home-country profession. Secondly, comparative study could also include employers as other stakeholders in understanding better why highly skilled migrant women are recruited and retained in their organisations, as also suggested by Ressia et al. (2017). In addition, what support mechanisms ought to be offered by organisations to highly skilled migrant women in improving highly skilled migrant career pathways in Australia deserves policy attention.