Gender Differences in Recognition of Immigrants’ Foreign Credentials

European policymakers consider recognition of foreign educational credentials a crucial policy for improving immigrant labour market outcomes. By verifying and translating foreign qualifications, recognition reduces employer uncertainty about immigrants' education. Previous research shows that recognition leads to higher employment rates and wages, and immigrants view it as key to regaining their pre-migration societal positions. However, gender—a fundamental factor in migration and labour market outcomes—has not previously been central in analysing recognition. Immigrant women's double disadvantage in the labour market, having worse outcomes compared to both native-born women and immigrant men, may stem from unequal valuation of gender-typical education, and from cultural and institutional expectations pushing women toward household care. Understanding gender differences in recognition is thus essential to both assess the effectiveness and equity of the policy instrument and reveal broader mechanisms of labour market inequality.

This study analyses gender differences in applying for and obtaining recognition, and in labour market outcomes between those with and without recognised credentials. Data consist of all immigrants from outside the EU in the three rounds of the European Union Labour Force Survey containing the ad hoc module on migrants, augmented with comparative country data and analysed with multi-level models. Preliminary results point to immigrant women applying for and obtaining recognition to a larger degree than immigrant men in the Nordic countries with the most comprehensive welfare states and family provisions. The largest gender differences in outcomes favouring immigrant men, between those who obtained and did not obtain recognition, are found in countries with the highest share of regulated professions. By linking gender differences in credential recognition to welfare, labour market, and gender regimes, this study highlights how policy is embedded in societal contexts and fills a notable gap in understanding labour market inequalities.