Annual Conference 2023 (Conference)

Session 1: Research presentations RUNOMI members on migrant inclusion
• Syrian Refugee Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands from an Intersectional Approach (by PhD candidate Samaneh Khademi, Nijmegen School of Management)

• Becoming an entrepreneur: the strategic positioning of second-generation Moroccan female entrepreneurs in the Netherlands (by PhD candidate Samira Louali, Nijmegen School of Management)

• Unraveling Muslims' political agency and gender attitudes (by Dr. Samira Azabar, Faculty of Social Sciences)

• Assessing the ‘Why’ in Volunteering for Refugees: Exploring Volunteer Motivations (by PhD candidate Maikel Meijeren, Faculty of Social Sciences)

• So your research is different than expected? Challenges of collecting data among undocumented migrants in the Netherlands, and refugees in Uganda (by PhD candidate Tessa Ubels, Faculty of Social Sciences)

• Hidden Dialogicality among Eritrean Refugees in the Civic Integration Process in The Netherlands (PhD candidate Dawit T. Haile & Prof. Toon van Meijl (Faculty of Management / Faculty of Social Sciences)

Session 2: Research presentations RUNOMI members on migrant inclusion and digitalization
• ‘Digital nomads’ as mobile subjects of research (by Dr. Kaisu Koskela, Nijmegen School of Management)

• Automated decision-making at European borders, and its discriminatory risks (by Dr. Yiran Yang, Nijmegen School of Management)

• Presentation on FINDHR (by Dr. Nina N. Baranowska, LL.M., Legal Postdoc at the iHub: Interdisciplinary research hub on digitalization and society)

Reflections RUNOMI members and Q&A with audience
• Dr. Catherina Wilson, assistant professor, Nijmegen School of Management, Social Geography
• Dr. Noemi Mena Montes, assistant professor, Faculty of Humanities, International Business and Communication

Panel discussion with societal partners and scholars
• Menno Savenije (Project lead RefugeeWork)
• Amsterdam City Rights App
• Salma Fayyad (New Women's Connectors)
• Dr. Koen Leurs
• Dr. Colleen Boland

Moderator: Prof. Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius

Syrian Refugee Entrepreneurs and their Agency from an Intersectional Approach
by Samaneh Khademi, PhD candidate, Nijmegen School of Management
Samaneh Khademi is a sociologist and Ph.D. candidate at Nijmegen School of Management. In her latest article, she explores how Syrian refugee entrepreneurs navigate and exert their agency within the complex dynamics of identity categories, including gender, religion, ethnicity, age, and class. Her study sheds light on the ways in which these entrepreneurs utilize their entrepreneurship as a means of expressing agency at the intersection of multiple social identities in the context of the Netherlands.

Becoming an entrepreneur: the strategic positioning of second-generation Moroccan female entrepreneurs in the Netherlands
by Samira Louali, PhD candidate, Nijmegen School of Management
Abstract tba.

Unraveling Muslims' political agency and gender attitudes
by Samira Azabar, postdoc, Sociology
Islamic faith has been and still is fiercely debated in western societies questioning whether Muslim migrants` values are compatible with western values. Most of these debates focus on whether they are politically integrated and respect gender equality. First, research has pointed at Muslims` political agency, and second, studies have pointed at the complexity and differences among Muslims concerning their gender attitudes.

Assessing the ‘Why’ in Volunteering for Refugees: Exploring Volunteer Motivations
by Maikel Meijeren, PhD candidate, Faculty of Social Sciences
The presentation elaborates on the third paper of my dissertation, where we organized focus groups and interviews with volunteers for refugees volunteering in Heumensoord (2021-2022). Precisely, it addresses what motivations volunteers have for volunteering for refugees and whether these motivations differ from or complement motivations to volunteer in general.

So your research is different than expected? Challenges of collecting data among undocumented migrants in the Netherlands, and refugees in Uganda
by Tessa Ubels, PhD candidate, Faculty of Social Sciences
You have a good topic, a fitting design, but when you start conducting the research, everything goes different than expected. This presentation talks about the reality of researching mental health and psychosocial support among two groups in vulnerable positions: undocumented migrants in the Netherlands, and refugees in Uganda. It will explore the challenges of collecting data in both contexts, and their possible effects on the study outcomes.
Tessa Ubels has a background in international relations and conflict studies. In 2020, she started working on her PhD project at the Anthropology and Development Studies department of Radboud University.

Hidden Dialogicality among Eritrean Refugees in the Civic Integration Process in The Netherlands
by Dawit T. Haile, PhD candidate, & Professor Toon van Meijl – Faculty of Management / Faculty of Social Sciences
We unpack the paradox between the inventiveness of refugees during their flight and a supposedly passive attitude upon arrival in a new country. Using Dialogical Self Theory (DST), we demonstrate that the alleged lack of agency by Eritrean refugees is misunderstood since their cultural identity is not recognized in the dominant discourse of civic integration.

‘Digital nomads’ as mobile subjects of research
by Kaisu Koskela, PhD/Dr, Department of GPE (Nijmegen School of Management)
This presentation will introduce a novel form of digital labour mobility, namely those referred to as ‘digital nomads’. Locating them in wider megatrends of digitalization of work and increasing mobility in the post-pandemic world, I will discuss who digital nomads are, how they are debated in academia and how countries across the world are responding to their seemingly sudden emergence in their territories.   
Dr. Koskela is an anthropologist with previous affiliations to universities of Helsinki, Amsterdam, Malta and Singapore. She has worked in a variety of research projects instigated by e.g. European Commission, NGO’s in Tanzania and tourism boards in Croatia.

Automated decision-making at European borders, and its discriminatory risks
by Dr. Yiran Yang, Nijmegen School of Management
This research will summarize the main trends in the use of automated decision-making at borders. Additionally, it will evaluate potential discrimination-related risks that automated decision-making may bring to certain groups of people. 
Yiran completed her PhD at Leiden University and is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Nijmegen School of Management and iHub at Radboud University.

RefugeeWork is the national platform that brings together refugees, employers and other parties to create suitable matches. RefugeeWork is an eco-system for all parties who contribute to creating matches or to facilitate the necessary support to make the match last. Work as a means to integrate refugees in the Dutch society.

Frederik Zuiderveen Borgesius is professor ICT and law. He works at the iHub, part of Radboud University, the interdisciplinary research hub on digitalization and society. His research mostly concerns fundamental rights, such as privacy and non-discrimination rights, in the context of new technologies. He regularly advises policymakers