IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0338655.html

Turning crisis into potential: Leveraging the skills of forced Ukrainian migrant women in Poland

Author

Listed:
  • José Enrique Castillo-Sánchez
  • Paul Phumpiu Chang
  • Agnieszka Olter-Castillo

Abstract

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered a large influx of highly skilled Ukrainian women into Poland, presenting both challenges and opportunities for their effective economic integration. This study employs network analysis on firm-level data from the Orbis database to identify 32 key industries – including food manufacturing, textiles, business services, wholesale trade, and healthcare – where Ukrainian managerial talent can enhance Poland’s industry space. Guided by a conceptual framework of three mechanisms for integration – (1) Matching and Complementarities, (2) Diversification via Relatedness, and (3) Gendered Sectoral Constraints – we examine how sectoral skill alignment interacts with gendered barriers to shape integration outcomes. By examining industry specialisation patterns and gender dynamics, we assess how leveraging the expertise of these skilled migrant women can drive economic diversification, fill labour shortages, and stimulate innovation. Our findings underscore that these women can strengthen market competitiveness in industries where Poland has a specialisation advantage and contribute to economic diversification in emerging industries – provided that gender-specific barriers are addressed. This study contributes to the broader discourse on migration, gender, and industrial policy, offering an empirical framework for other host countries seeking to transform skilled refugee inflows into engines of economic growth. The findings emphasise the necessity of evidence-based policies that align skilled migration integration strategies with industrial and gender equity objectives to maximise economic benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • José Enrique Castillo-Sánchez & Paul Phumpiu Chang & Agnieszka Olter-Castillo, 2026. "Turning crisis into potential: Leveraging the skills of forced Ukrainian migrant women in Poland," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 21(1), pages 1-22, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0338655
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0338655
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0338655
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0338655&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0338655?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dany Bahar & Hillel Rapoport, 2018. "Migration, Knowledge Diffusion and the Comparative Advantage of Nations," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(612), pages 273-305, July.
    2. repec:sae:mrxval:v:44:y:2010:i:2:p:376-403 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Mr. Shekhar Aiyar & Ms. Bergljot B Barkbu & Nicoletta Batini & Mr. Helge Berger & Ms. Enrica Detragiache & Allan Dizioli & Mr. Christian H Ebeke & Ms. Huidan Huidan Lin & Ms. Linda Kaltani & Mr. Sebas, 2016. "The Refugee Surge in Europe: Economic Challenges," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 2016/002, International Monetary Fund.
    4. d'Artis Kancs & Patrizio Lecca, 2018. "Long‐term social, economic and fiscal effects of immigration into the EU: The role of the integration policy," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(10), pages 2599-2630, October.
    5. Shekhar Aiyar & Bergljot B Barkbu & Nicoletta Batini & Helge Berger & Enrica Detragiache & Allan Dizioli & Christian H Ebeke & Huidan Huidan Lin & Linda Kaltani & Sebastian Sosa & Antonio Spilimbergo , 2016. "The Refugee Surge in Europe; Economic Challenges," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 16/2, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Maciej Duszczyk & Paweł Kaczmarczyk, 2022. "The War in Ukraine and Migration to Poland: Outlook and Challenges," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 57(3), pages 164-170, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Langlotz, Sarah, 2019. "The effects of foreign aid on refugee flows," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 127-147.
    2. Müller, Tobias & Pannatier, Pia & Viarengo, Martina, 2023. "Labor market integration, local conditions and inequalities: Evidence from refugees in Switzerland," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Rippy Das & Kabindra Sharma, 2023. "Security Predicament of Syrian Refugees Through Gender Lens in Line with EU–Turkey Joint Action Plan 2015," International Studies, , vol. 60(2), pages 209-230, April.
    4. Vadlamannati, Krishna Chaitanya & Kelly, Grace, 2017. "Welfare Chauvinism? Refugee Flows and Electoral Support for Populist-right Parties in Industrial Democracies," MPRA Paper 81816, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Rosario Maria Ballatore & Adele Grompone & Lucia Lucci & Patrizia Passiglia & Andrea Sechi, 2017. "Refugees and asylum seekers in Italy and in the EU," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 377, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    6. Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Luigi Minale, 2022. "(The Struggle for) Refugee integration into the labour market: evidence from Europe [Cashier or consultant? Entry labor market conditions, field of study, and career success]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 351-393.
    7. Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Luigi Minale, 2017. "The (Struggle for) Labour Market Integration of Refugees: Evidence from European Countries," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 1716, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    8. Gambaro, Ludovica & Neidhöfer, Guido & Spiess, C. Katharina, 2021. "The effect of early childhood education and care services on the integration of refugee families," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    9. Shakir, Zeeniya & Masih, Mansur, 2016. "How is the European debt crisis affecting islamic equity? challenges in portfolio diversification within the eurozone: A markov switching and continuous wavelet transform analysis," MPRA Paper 71683, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Dries Lens & Ive Marx & Sunčica Vujić, 2017. "Integrating (former) asylum seekers into the Belgian labour market. What can we learn from the recent past?," Working Papers 1710, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    11. Bernhard Riederer, 2018. "Experts’ Expectations of Future Vulnerability at the Peak of the “Refugee Crisis”," VID Working Papers 1809, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    12. Ludovica Gambaro & Guido Neidhöfer & C. Katharina Spieß, 2019. "The Effect of Early Childhood Education and Care Services on the Social Integration of Refugee Families," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1828, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    13. Christian Dustmann & Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Luigi Minale & Uta Schönberg, 2017. "On the economics and politics of refugee migration," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 32(91), pages 497-550.
    14. Ohlert, Clemens & Bruttel, Oliver, 2018. "Auswirkungen des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns auf die Beschäftigungssituation von Geflüchteten : Stand der Forschung, methodische Ansätze und Erschließung von Datenquellen," FDZ Methodenreport 201807_de, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    15. Lens, Dries & Marx, Ive & Vujic, Suncica, 2018. "Is Quick Formal Access to the Labor Market Enough? Refugees' Labor Market Integration in Belgium," IZA Discussion Papers 11905, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Giang Ho & Ms. Rima A Turk, 2018. "The Labor Market Integration of Migrants in Europe: New Evidence from Micro Data," IMF Working Papers 2018/232, International Monetary Fund.
    17. repec:iab:iabfme:201807(de is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Gina Ionela Butnaru & Marilena Mironiuc & Carmen Huian & Alina Petronela Haller, 2018. "Analysis of Economic Growth in Tourism Under the Impact of Terrorism and of the Waves of Refugees," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 20(S12), pages 885-885, November.
    19. David, Alexandra, 2017. "Migrantisches Unternehmertum: Eine Chance der Arbeitsmarkintegration für geflüchtete Menschen?," Forschung Aktuell 02/2017, Institut Arbeit und Technik (IAT), Westfälische Hochschule, University of Applied Sciences.
    20. William R Kerr, 2018. "Heterogeneous Technology Diffusion and Ricardian Trade Patterns," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 32(1), pages 163-182.
    21. Mark Gradstein & Moshe Justman, 2023. "Cultural and economic integration of immigrant minorities: Analytical framework and policy implications," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 25(6), pages 1337-1360, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0338655. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.