Barriers and facilitators to Venezuelan refugee professionals’ career development in South Florida: A case study

The deteriorating social, economic and political conditions in Venezuela have triggered an unprecedented refugee crisis. To date, over five million Venezuelans have fled the country to Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, and Europe. In the United States, the number of refugees and asylum seekers from Venezuela has reached record high levels. Many of these refugees are professionals with academic degrees and experience. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the barriers and facilitators Venezuelan refugee professionals encountered when intending to resume their careers and work in their professions in South Florida, United States. I conducted 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Venezuelan refugee and asylum-seeking professionals with extensive work experience in five professions: business administration, civil engineering, education, human resources, and veterinary medicine. I also interviewed the program director and program coordinator of two federally-funded college programs directed toward helping refugees advance their careers. My findings suggested the non-recognition of their foreign qualifications, stringent government policies, costly recertification processes are some of the major barriers for these foreign trained professionals. While social capital, resilience, personal agency and bilingualism (Spanish and English) facilitate refugees’ integration in South Florida’s communities. The role and effort of Human Resource Development as a change agent should first be aimed at the more macro, national level by influencing refugees’ policy reforms for career advancement. Adequate public policy reforms would translate into major benefits for the United States and for refugee professionals seeking to receive the equivalence of their qualifications, contribute to the economy, and stop the depreciation of their human capital