Key Insights from Professor Ryan’s Presentation on Refugees, Social Networks, and Employment

On October 10 and 11, 2024, Rīga Stradiņs University (RSU) hosted a two-day international conference organized by social anthropologists, titled The Getaway Conference: Mobilities, Societies, the State, and Detoxing. The conference was opened by internationally recognized migration and social network researcher, Professor Louise Ryan, who is a senior sociology professor at London Metropolitan University and the director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre. In this blog post, we reflect on Professor Ryan’s presentation and the key insights she shared.

At the conference, Professor Ryan delivered a presentation titled ‘You need a network’: how highly qualified refugees rebuild social networks to convert cultural capital and reclaim professional identities, which was partially based on her latest book, Social Networks and Migration (2023). In her presentation, she explored the challenges that highly qualified refugees face when establishing new professional contacts in host countries and provided fresh perspectives on the role of social capital in career rebuilding.

At the beginning of her presentation, the researcher emphasized that forced displacement often leads to “torn nets,” a concept describing the disruption of professional and social ties due to migration. In her view, the loss of these networks can significantly hinder career rebuilding, especially in professions such as medicine, law, and academia, where strong professional contacts are crucial for accessing employment opportunities. Drawing on her latest book, Social Networks and Migration (2023), Professor Ryan highlighted that while academic literature on migration often focuses on the issue of downward mobility, it is equally important to study how refugees actively rebuild their careers through strategic networking. She examined various barriers that refugees face, including language limitations, legal restrictions, and discrimination, which can make it difficult to establish vertical ties—connections with influential figures in their respective fields.

One of the most compelling aspects of Professor Ryan’s presentation was her detailed analysis of the experiences of recently arrived Afghan refugees in London. Along with her colleagues, she conducted interviews with more than 80 Afghan professionals who were evacuated to the United Kingdom following the Taliban’s rise to power in 2021. Many of these individuals had held high-ranking positions in Afghanistan but were forced to start their careers from scratch in the UK. In her presentation, Professor Ryan identified several key aspects of how highly qualified refugees navigate their professional paths in new circumstances:

1. Volunteering as a transitional stage. One case study involved a former high school teacher who used volunteer work at a local school as a stepping stone to paid employment, ultimately regaining her professional identity.
2. Networking challenges. A study participant, a former high-ranking government official, faced difficulties establishing connections with influential figures in the UK, which hindered access to strong vertical ties.
3. Strategic networking for career rebuilding. Another participant, a highly qualified doctor, successfully reestablished his career by mobilizing professional contacts through social networks and academic platforms. As a result, he secured a PhD scholarship at a prestigious UK university.

Professor Ryan emphasized that networks are not only a means of finding employment but also a crucial element in reclaiming professional identity. She introduced the concept of the “networked self,” which she co-developed with her colleague Alessio D’Angelo, examining how personal and professional identity is shaped through relationships. She also challenged the assumption that all networks are beneficial, highlighting the concept of “toxic ties”—connections that can reinforce disadvantageous conditions, exploitation, or dependency. This aspect was particularly significant in her analysis of the gender- and ethnicity-based barriers that refugee women face in professional environments.

Following her presentation, a Q&A session took place, where discussions centered around networking, social capital, and structural barriers encountered by highly qualified refugees. One of the key discussion points was the contrast between strong and weak ties. Professor Ryan stressed the importance of vertical, resource-rich connections rather than merely expanding social networks broadly. She also explored the role of digital networking in today’s world, noting that while remote work and online professional communities facilitate global connections for some refugees, digital inequality remains a challenge, particularly in countries with unstable internet infrastructure, such as Afghanistan.

Concluding her presentation, Professor Ryan highlighted the need for policy reforms to promote the recognition of refugees’ qualifications and establish structured networking opportunities to facilitate their labor market integration.