International skilled migration is a key feature of the global economy and a major contributor to socio-economic development, yet skilled workers face barriers in the non-recognition of credentials. This is particularly relevant in nursing, an occupation increasingly important under current conditions of feminized global migration and the crisis of elder care in developed nations.

Our research project critically examines international nursing migration and contrasts the different pathways and experiences of nurse migrants who move to Canada, Germany, and Singapore. The three country pairs analyzed are differently positioned in terms of gender regimes, nurse training export, and migrant integration policy models. We aim to explore three types of nurse migration pathways: two-step or study-work pathways that allow for visa change from student to permanent status (India-Canada); bi-lateral 'triple win' or fair migration agreements (Vietnam-Germany); and 'bus stop', temporary worker migration models that are a prelude to onward step migration (Philippines-Singapore).

Using data mining activities, policy scans, qualitative key informant interviews, surveys and story maps, we aim to illustrate the cumulative complexities of migrant nurses' journeys. The research will examine how these cases are differentiated in terms of initial financial investment (states, markets, households), how nurses move (states, markets, networks), how they are spliced into destination labour markets (intersectionality, skills, credentials and workplace regulation) and differential migrant inclusion (temporary or permanent status, residency and citizenship rights and how these may be gendered). Through a comparative gendered approach, our research will reveal the complex processes that feed nurse migrants into global circulation, the losses and gains associated with such mobility and examples of good practices, where migrants, sending and destination communities experience the best possible outcomes.

The project started in 2019.