FRENCH CAPITAL: THE MIGRATORY STRATEGIES OF HIGHLY SKILLED FRENCH MIGRANTS IN LONDON

INTRODUCTION

An ‘opportunity for a new kind of integrated research agenda on global mobility and the international migration of the highly skilled’ (Smith and Favell, 2006).

More research needed - how ‘mobile people live their everyday lives… and the sense of rootedness they might develop’ (Tseng, 2011: 782).

AIMS OF PAPER

To focus on a range of different migratory pathways including; expats and intra-company transfers (ICTs), students, and spontaneous movers. Aim to:

1.explore multiple/non-linear migration pathways of skilled migrants (see Nagel 2005)

2.overcome polarity – highly-skilled/un-skilled

3.Challenge assumption that benefits necessarily accrue with on-going mobility (Beaverstock, 2005): ‘Costs’ of mobility (Tseng, 2011) - Context-specific nature of business know-how, practices, and language (Erel, 2010)

4. Discuss the negotiation of career opportunities and costs of mobility with familial/spousal needs and attachments.

FRENCH IN LONDON

French in London under-researched, and numbers unclear

French nationals in the UK - 111,000 (ONS 2010), 114,000 (Eurostat 2009)

Other recent, though unverifiable, estimates:

300,000 French nationals in London alone (Mail Online Jan 24th 2010), 400,000 French nationals in the UK - (Consulate’s estimates The Economist Feb. 24th 2011)

London as ‘the 4th largest French city’

South Kensington as the ‘21st arrondissement of Paris’ (Favell, 2006)

THE STUDY

18-month, ESRC-funded, qualitative research project - French highly skilled working in London’s financial and business sectors, and their families

Qualitative methodology - the thick biographies of migrants’ lived experiences - the meaningful nature of migratory motivations, practices, patterns and effects

Semi-structured, one-off interviews and one focus group

37 participants - 16 men and 21 women (most aged 35 - 44)

Majority arrived in the UK in the 2000s, some much longer

25 married, 5 co-habiting and 9 single. 25 were parents

THE STUDY (2)

Defining ‘highly skilled’ - those who have either successfully completed a tertiary education and/or are employed in occupational roles normally requiring such qualifications - OECD and European Commission/Eurostat

Majority of participants satisfied this definition on both counts

29 qualified to degree level or above, and 16 had pursued subsequent education and training in the UK

20 - financial sector; 3 - finance law; 4 - business-related higher education: remainder of those in work - range of highly skilled professional positions

EX-PATS AND ICTS

London as a ‘low-risk’ migratory experiment given proximity to France

Ex-pat package smoothing the process of mobility - relocation agencies

Range of anticipated and unanticipated obstacles

Dislocation experiences – friends, family, place, careers, education

Social isolation and integration barriers

Relationship stress

Gradual emplacement in, and attachment to, London as place - localising trends in social networks as an outcome of committed investment

Fluidity from ex-pat to local contract as a part of a process of emplacement

Fragmentation in links with France

CHALLENGES

Florin: ‘This year it has been very tough…. having your children, organising everything… its not easy’.

‘its more pressure to be here because you are facing

more difficulties, you’re far away from your friends so I would say that could be a risk for a family to split’.

‘You never really think that you’re leaving so many friends and then you have no-one. It takes time to make new friends, a bit more than I thought’ (Martine).

SELF-INITIATED MOVERS

EU - freedom of movement between member states (Favell, 2006).

Some of the highly skilled professionals in our study had

unplanned and rather haphazard mobility – similarities with recent Polish migrants to the UK (Ryan et al, 2008; 2009)

Spontaneous movers often had less clear-cut career trajectories - Some arrived without pre-arranged jobs:

‘So I did that for six months in Paris and then after that I just got fed up with the French hierarchical system and I decided to come to London and try it…I resigned, and took the Eurostar and came to London. It took three weeks to find a job in banking and then I have been here ever since’ (Colette).

THE MEANINGS OF LONDON

Associated the move to London with:

‘excitement’ (Beatrix);

‘we came here to have fun’ (Céline)

‘I wanted to move because I love London… to improve my English’ (Jacques)

FLUIDITY

Fluidity in two ways:

As a process of emplacement

Also a status change, e.g. from student/ intern or self initiated mover to highly skilled professional

Settlement as progressive, gradual and ‘passive’ - Short term sojourners may become extended over time as migrants become ‘emplaced’ (Scott, 2006: 1114)

FLUIDITY

‘It comes down from some sort of passivity, you know, of accepting that you have your life here… and basically, moving back to Paris is readily vanishing from the agenda. You don’t come to a point in time when you say ‘okay, well that’s it, three years we have to move back’. I would say it’s a question of very gradually settling in’ (Jean).

ONWARD MOBILITY

Opportunities for/advantages of on-ward mobility need to be balanced against other considerations especially at later stages in the life cycle

‘ Maybe for the first time I feel settled and I don’t mind it because until then I always wanted to be able to just go… And then I got an opportunity to buy and I thought ‘I’m happy here’ (Adele).

GENDER RELATIONS

A tendency in migration studies to assume that families collectively make decisions to move in order to maximise household earnings (Sales, 2007)

Important to consider the migration decision-making of highly skilled women.

The number of highly skilled female migrants is increasing globally - women make up just over half of skilled migrants (Docquier et al, 2009).

GENDER RELATIONS (2)

We interviewed female highly skilled migrants

Children and family-life significantly impacted on their career pathways. While maintaining their own careers, women appeared to make the most compromises around childcare.

Only in one case did a man take on the full parenting role

Even here, it is apparent that children impacted on the woman’s future geographical mobility. Schooling influenced the countries to which she was prepared to relocate.

GENDER AND SCHOOLING

‘Now that they’ve just started school and we’re buying a house I think I’ll stay in England.... And it’s especially to do with education and it’s probably the laziness of not having to start everything from scratch’ (Sylvie).

CONCLUSION 1

Our research aims to understand the motivations, aspirations and experiences of highly skilled French migrants in London

We challenge the simplistic dichotomy between the ‘elite’ and everyone else, illustrating the fluidity between apparently different migratory statuses

Challenging the hegemony of assumptions of highly skilled migrants as sojourners, we highlight the changeable nature of migratory plans, as people extend their stay and become more settled

We have contributed to the growing interest in the gendering of migration

CONCLUSION 2

We question the assumption that career mobility necessarily requires geographical mobility. Relocation may bring with it alienation, isolation and foreignness. It takes time and effort to invest in building up local knowledge

Many participants had experienced significant geographical mobility. Despite accruing significant career advancement accordingly, they highlighted the disadvantages of mobility.

None of them wanted to be entirely rootless.

Proximity to France - though employment in France was for many an unlikely option, most considered retirement there a probability