The Nursing Profession

Abstract

Migrants’ career advancement will be influenced by institutional characteristics and by personal aspirations. Institutional factors include career development systems and the culture of the work environment. The nursing profession has highly structured career routes and progression ladders. Advancement is formalized and standardized, either nation-wide or by collective agreement. Women predominate in the profession. Despite this female work environment, women do not have an easy time moving up the career ladder. This chapter is divided into four sections. Section one provides information on the gender—ethnic composition of the workforce. Section two outlines the career structures and systems in Britain, Germany and Spain. Sections one and two are useful for situating migrants’ experiences and for analysing the final results within a societal context. Section three examines the experiences of migrant interviewees in respect of promotion and further training. In the final section, I discuss the findings within the context of career systems and policies, labour market situations, women’s position and migrants’ personal characteristics.