HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS WITH A MIGRANT BACKGROUND STRENGTHEN THEIR POSITION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION
Healthcare providers with a migrant background are still too often confronted with forms of
discrimination, both when looking for work and in the workplace. Although combating and
preventing discrimination remains essential, it is equally important to empower these healthcare providers
to deal with such experiences. Coping strategies – such as recognising
unsafe situations, respectfully discussing inappropriate behaviour, and
responding appropriately to microaggressions or explicit exclusion – can support their professional careers and
psychological well-being. These competencies increase the capacity of
care providers to act within often asymmetrical or vulnerable working relationships and contribute to their long-term
employability. At the same time, the commitment to structural solutions remains as necessary as ever.
Interventions and training courses on discrimination usually focus (rightly so) on preventing
discriminatory behaviour, and less on empowering individuals who experience or may
experience discrimination because of certain characteristics. Although prospective healthcare providers consider it important that
discrimination during internships and how to deal with it is addressed in their healthcare training, this does not appear to be
a given and is highly dependent on the motivation of the teacher involved (Caffrey et al., 2023; Kros
et al., 2024).The aim of this research project is (1) to gain insight into the experiences, challenges and needs of
(prospective) healthcare providers with a migrant background in dealing with discrimination during their
search for work and in the workplace, (2) to develop the outlines of a training module or
support tool to strengthen them in this regard. In a follow-up project, this training module or tool
will be further developed and evaluated for effectiveness and usability.
We focus on highly skilled (prospective) healthcare providers with sufficient knowledge of Dutch,
so that the focus can be on the impact of migration background, regardless of educational or language barriers. This
choice is in line with the observation that exclusion is still common within this group. In 2024,
77% of highly skilled Belgians between the ages of 22 and 64 will be in work, while the employment rate
among highly skilled people of non-EU origin is almost 20 percentage points lower
(Statbel). The fact that healthcare providers with the right qualifications and communication skills still
face discrimination highlights the importance of focusing not only on qualifications and
language skills, but also on other forms of human capital, such as self-confidence,
decision-making skills, psychosocial resilience and strategies for dealing with discrimination and exclusion.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research questions for this project are:
1. What are the experiences, challenges and needs of highly skilled healthcare providers (and future healthcare providers)
with a migrant background when it comes to dealing with discrimination during their search
for work and in the workplace?
2. How can we empower them to deal with these challenges?
