Recognition of Immigrant Professionals’ Prior Learning

Abstract

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) respectively, is a broad field of practice, research, and policy. Supporting people who are migrating or have migrated from one country to another country forms a key area within this broad field of PLA/RPL. As a community, we are certain about the importance of such support and its potential positive (or negative) impact on the lives of those migrating. In our practices, we are also aware of the difficulties of giving recognition to what persons on their pathway to a new place of residence has learned. But what do we know about the research concerned with migration and recognition? The integrative literature review by Mary Baxter from the University of Georgia, Athens, USA, aims to shed some light on this question. Based on a set of different theoretical approaches to recognition (e.g., Axel Honneth, Charles Taylor, Paul Michael Garrett) and contextualized within the notions of transnationalism and mobility of knowledge, Baxter creates a solid foundation on which to examine the literature and consolidate insights on how PLAR/RPL is experienced by immigrant professionals in immigrant-receiving countries. The work is highly recommended to all who wish to sharpen their conceptual and theoretical lenses and better understand the complexity of PLA/RPL in relation to migration beyond technical rationality. While the study is set in the USA and draws conclusions in accordance with this specific geographical and socio-political context, it is certainly a foundational text with a global and generalizable character.  

Citation                  

Baxter, Mary (2025), Recognition of immigrant professionals’ prior learning: an integrative review of the literature. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 44(2), 206-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2024.2448443