Late-career international migration and reproductive work. A comparison between Peruvian and Ukrainian women in the Southern Europe

Research on the relationship between reproductive work and women´s life trajectories including the experience of labour migration has mainly focused on the case of relatively young mothers who leave behind, or later re-join, their children. While it is true that most women migrate at a younger age, there are a significant number of cases of men and women who move abroad for labour purposes at a more advanced stage, undertaking a late-career migration. This is still an under-estimated and under-researched sub-field that uncovers a varied range of issues, including the global organization of reproductive work and the employment of migrant women as domestic workers late in their lives. By pooling the findings of two qualitative studies, this article focuses on Peruvian and Ukrainian women who seek employment in Spain and Italy when they are well into their forties, or older. A commonality the two groups of women share is that, independently of their level of education and professional experience, more often than not they end up as domestic and care workers. The article initially discusses the reasons for late-career female migration, taking into consideration the structural and personal determinants that have affected Peruvian and Ukrainian women’s careers in their countries of origin and settlement. After this, the focus is set on the characteristics of domestic employment at later life, on the impact on their current lives, including the transnational family organization, and on future labour and retirement prospects. Apart from an evaluation of objective working and living conditions, we discuss women’s personal impressions of being domestic workers in the context of their occupational experiences and family commitments. In this regard, women report varying levels of personal and professional satisfaction, as well as different patterns of continuity-discontinuity in their work and family lives, and of optimism towards the future. Divergences could be, to some extent, explained by the effect of migrants´ transnational social practices and policies of states.

Journalistic organisations with regard to training and professional changes. Parallelisms with academic discourse

The present paper analyses the parallelism existing between academic and professional discourse regarding three interrelated subjects: journalists´ training needs, their adaptation to multimedia profile changes and recognition of University graduates via professional regulation. This study relies on a bibliographical review and brings together the opinion of five professional groups by means of an interview using an openended questionnaire. The results show a coincidence in both discourses regarding the need for firmly grounded training of the journalists with study plans which integrate the new profiles. At the same time, it reflects the discrepancy of the journalistic groups with regard to professional regulation based on the University degree, whose vindication does not appear to be a priority in academic circles.

The in-service teacher trainer: profile, career path and duties

This article is the result of a doctoral thesis that aims to understand the reality of teacher trainers at a given moment, when their professional role changes from being a managing training advisor to a role that is more centred on process counselling. Using in-depth interviews, we defined the personal and professional profile of training counsellors in the Balearic Islands, their career path, the process for their inclusion in Teacher Centres (CEP) and, finally, the duties and skills that they perform as teacher trainers. The data that has been collected shows the coexistence of different professional roles in the group of education advisors. Moreover, it also indicates a lack of definition of the profile needed to access an advisor's position. There are indeed some coincidences determining the access route to such a position when it comes to the teaching profession since their leadership qualities and group dynamics expertise are a common indicator in most cases. The research also shows that they are subjected not only to a wide range of roles and tasks but also to a vast array of competences required to tackle the education advisor's tasks.