Local network as the highway to success? Studying the added value of mentoring to work for highly skilled immigrants

Across Europe, immigrants struggle to find a good position on the labour market. They face large difficulties finding employment, and particularly getting a job corresponding to their level of qualifications. In Flanders (Belgium), as well as in various other European countries, mentoring is increasingly put forward as a strategy to overcome immigrants’ difficulties on the labour market. The underlying rationale is that, while ‘traditional’ (public) interventions (such as counseling by the Public Employment Service), focus primarily on increasing economic capital, mentoring allows a multidimensional approach, as mentoring can tackle an immigrant’s lack of country-specific social, psychological and/or cultural capital as well. Another important (assumed) benefit of mentoring, is that it not only supports the mentees in overcoming their ‘shortcomings’, but can also have an impact on the mentors in terms of intercultural awareness, and indirectly, on how society deals with diversity. Conducting an evaluation study of mentoring projects targeting highly skilled immigrants in Flanders (Belgium), we test these assumptions empirically. More specifically, we investigate what issues are addressed by mentoring, and what is the added value of mentoring, from the perspective of the three ‘parties’ involved, i.e. mentees, mentors and coordinating organisations. Data stem from focus group discussions as well as semi-structured interviews in five mentoring-to-work projects. Findings indicate, amongst other things, that sector- or occupation-specific matching is a crucial determinant in terms of providing added value for highly skilled immigrants, and the tailor-made approach in mentoring is a welcome complement for immigrants to counselling by the PES. Recommendations are formulated based on the results.status: publishe