Interplay of agency and structure on skilling: A case of Filipino migrant nurses in UAE

• In Event: Case studies in educational trajectories, professional development, job satisfaction and training

Proposal

With an increased number of migrant nurses especially from the Philippines, scholars have explained why migrants move overseas. The global nursing care chain (GNCC) is the most popular macro framework for explaining why nurses are migrating (Yeates, 2009). GNCC demonstrates that migrant nursing is not only a product of global capitalism but also the result of receiving and sending-country policies on nurse migration and of partnerships between the countries to ensure the high quality of nurses, which encourages nurses to move from the Global South to the Global North (Ortiga, 2014; Yeates, 2009, 2012). From a micro perspective, the migration of nurses is primarily driven by the economic benefits and cultural factors of the Philippines; hopes for economic prosperity and family pressures prompt their migration (Choy, 2003; Kingma, 2001; Ronquillo et al., 2011; Sills, 2014).

Although previous researches provide clues for why nurses migrate, they tend to describe migrant nurses as passive rather than active agents, stereotyping them as national heroes or victims of global capitalism (Gibson et al., 2001; Prescott & Nichter, 2014). For example, GNCC explains how global capitalist policies drive nurses to migrate, describing migrant nurses as being confined in global structural contexts. Studies on motivations for migration have focused on external factors such as economic or cultural factors, seeing migration as having been forced on the migrants rather than willingly chosen. Only a few studies treated migrant care workers as active agents. Filipino migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong strategically positioned themselves and accumulated their wealth (Gibson et al., 2001). In Britain, migrant nurses testify that they have reinforced their profession after migration (Olwig, 2015). However, many more studies are focused on how migrant nurses are victimized, and only a limited number of research has been conducted on migrant agents.

To fill the gap in the previous research, this study aims to explore the agency of migrant nurses in their life history of learning. Life history can provide a full explanation of individual migrant nurses, revealing the interactions between structure and agency. Furthermore, the lifelong learning aspect is focused on exploring how migrant nurses’ agency is activated through migration. By examining migrant nurses as active agents, we explore what migrant nurses have learned working overseas. Our study is focused on Filipino nurses working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Although it is evident that Filipino nurses prefer Western countries over the Middle East, Middle Eastern countries are more likely to be chosen as the first countries of migration because the migration process is easier and there is high demand for care workers (Statista, 2024). Also, the UAE is becoming a popular destination for Filipino nurses compared to other traditional migrating countries. Hence, the UAE is a proper location to explore the topic and compare the life of Filipino nurses before and after migration.

Findings show that while structural aspects are critical, individual nurses’ agency was also highly relevant. When interview participants entered college, nursing was a popular career affording a good chance to work abroad. Also, most participants had family members or relatives who were migrants, which gave them a positive image of migration as a feasible option. Lastly, the working conditions for nurses in the Philippines were so poor that they could not support their families with the low wages. Although these external factors pushed the nurses to migrate, they also activated their agency. They struggled to adapt to new cultures in the hospitals, and they could develop their professionalism as nurses through abundant resources such as training and technically advanced medical equipment. Lastly, they developed critical perspectives on healthcare and nursing policies in the Philippines and reflected on their own situations.

These findings demonstrate how migrant nurses' agency functions with structure. The individual agency is activated even under strong structural pressures. The interviewed migrant nurses had not dreamed of becoming migrant nurses when entering college. Some were even forced by their parents who chose the nursing career for them. The trigger for migration was poor working conditions in the Philippines. Even if migrant nurses migrated due to external factors, they developed their agency in the new country through lifelong learning. They noted the cultural differences, accepted the differences, and adjusted. They established their professionalism and testified that they grew to love their career after migration. They also developed a critical perspective on their situation. This clearly illustrates how the agency of migrant nurses functioned in and through their lifelong learning. The structure laid the conditions for migration but did not determine their state as victims.

Author

• Kim Jiin, Seoul National University