From communal duties to individual rights: The migration of Indian social workers to England

Abstract

The demand for social workers in England has been outstripping supply for more than a decade. As a result, social work continues to be on the UK Shortage Occupation List (2021; available online at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-shortage-occupation-list (accessed May 26, 2021), ensuring the migration of social workers will continue. While several studies have examined the experiences of migrating social workers, these studies largely neglected the impact culture plays in this transition. This article will focus on the experiences of social workers who were trained in India and migrated to England. It is part of a much larger study that used a mixed method approach to explore the migration to England of social workers from eight different countries. Indian social workers highlighted the significant differences between the individualistic character of English culture and the much more collectivist Indian culture. This difference shaped a range of attitudes towards the family and parenting, as well as the distinctions between what is 'public' or 'communal' and what is 'private'. Other differences raised were regarding communication resulting from the more hierarchical tendencies of Indian society. In the final section, implications for practice are discussed and recommendations are made for the induction required to help future migrating social workers make a smoother transition.