This book proposes an original approach to analyse the social and professional trajectories of
migrant women with tertiary education. It focuses on the role of essentialism in stratifying
labour markets based on gender class and racialisation and in limiting migrant women's
employment opportunities. Based on multi-sited fieldwork conducted in France and Italy the
book highlights how essentialism influences the assessment of working capacities stressing
that skills are socially constructed and valued depending on who embodies them. It also
emphasises that migrant women and labour market gatekeepers are not only passively accepting
essentialism but some are also resisting and eventually challenging this process.
Deconstructing essentialism enables us to better understand the mechanisms that produce
stratifications and aids in designing paths towards more equal access to employment.
