Sustainable migration: Educational and socio-economic challenges

Skill mismatches and shortages in evolving labor markets are driven by inadequacies in skills development, activation, and matching, as well as by factors such as remuneration, changing work conditions, and workplace innovations (EC, 2020). Skill mismatching is a significant factor influencing migration and is also experienced by migrant workers themselves. Education and training are crucial tools for addressing skill mismatches and facilitating a dialogue between labor supply and demand. However, numerous barriers to accessing education and training for migrant workers still persist (e.g., sometimes their primary need is access to economic resources; in other cases, despite having comparable education to natives, they face significant skill mismatches due to inadequate recognition of their qualifications, leading to their overrepresentation in lower-skilled roles and highlighting the need for improved education and training systems that facilitate better integration and equivalency recognition. Additionally, lack of proficiency in the language used in the education system means they may not possess the necessary skills) (ILO, 2017).
There is little research evidence on the relationships between skill matching in the labor markets of the destination and origin countries and development of sustainable migration pathways. Skill matching represents the extent to which the supply of skills is effectively matched to it’s demand in the labor market. This can be observed in the form of jobs and mismatches which include unemployment, shortages, surpluses or underutilization of skills in the labor market. (Source: https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/european-skills-index/skills-matching). This is also valid for the relationships between skill matching and migration from the countries of the Global South to the EU, EEA countries, and the UK. Such evidence is important for developing partnerships between the stakeholders of skill formation and deployment in the countries leading to sustainable migration and skill distribution patterns. Existing research on the contribution of the education and training systems and institutions to the integration of migrants in skill formation, and the labor market is also rather fragmented. This Research Topic will explore the relationships between migration, education, processes of socio-cultural inclusion, and skill matching by referring to two main contexts:
1. From unsustainable employment to sustainable migration: capabilities approach to work
2. Education and training systems, which supply skills through VET, higher education (HE) and lifelong learning (LLL).
The anticipated increase in the number of migrants in the coming years, coupled with the contraction of available economic and natural resources, the rise of extremism and racism, the growing political influence of anti-immigration factions, inevitably presents new challenges for social cohesion in host countries. These challenges threaten equity as securing of the basic persons rights within educational and work contexts.

The scope of the Research Topic includes the following themes to be addressed by the authors:
1. Empowerment of migrant people through education, and processes of socio-cultural inclusion.
2. The role of education and training in supporting workers’ integration into the new society.
3. The potential of education and training providers in facilitating labor market integration for migrants.
4. Multilevel and multiscale dialogues between enterprises, education and training institutions, governments, and NGO's to address skill mismatches and training for migrant workers.

The call invites theoretical and empirical contributions that address professional training from multi-level perspectives (micro, meso, macro) with a migrant-centered approach. This perspective aligns with the critical interpretation of the Human Development Capability Approach (see Sen, 1999; 2002; Robeyns, 2005; Nussbaum, 2006; 2011; Bonfanti, 2014; United Nations Development Programme, 2009).

Keywords: Skill mismatch, migration, migrant worker, labour market integration, vocational education and training, education and training providers, sustainable migration

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.