Veranstaltungsprogramm

This study is based on a unique qualitative panel dataset composed of four waves of yearly repeated semi-structured interviews with displaced Ukrainians in Berlin, Warsaw and Budapest We apply a life-course perspective to analyse the structural adapation strategies of displaced Ukrainians and their change over time. Considering the dynamics of displaced Ukrainians´ strategies enables us to better understand their coping strategies with this transition state between settlement and return. In particular, we shed light on how displaced Ukrainians´ perception of changes in the host and origin contexts as well as in their own lives and the lives of their beloved ones shape their adaptation strategies.

Over the past decades, migration scholars have increasingly challenged the notion of migration as a purely disruptive event. Instead, the concept of transnationalism has been introduced to emphasize how migrants sustain ties between their country of origin and country of arrival. However, research on transnational practices has faced criticism for potentially overstating their prevalence and for often relying on a descriptive and static approach that captures only a single point in time.

This paper seeks to address these shortcomings by exploring how transnational practices emerge, evolve and attenuate over time. Our analysis is based on a longitudinal qualitative panel study consisting of semi-structured interviews with displaced Ukrainians in Berlin, Warsaw, and Budapest. The sample includes 125 participants interviewed across three annual waves, beginning in early 2022, shortly after their displacement, and continuing until 2024. Notably, we continued interviewing participants who, during the data collection process, either returned to Ukraine or relocated to another country.

By focussing on interviewees who were highly engaged in transnational practices upon their arrival, we show how maintaining resource-intensive connections – such as remote employment with a Ukrainian company, online education within the Ukrainian schooling system, or maintaining long-distance intimate social relationships – becomes increasingly challenging over time. We further explore how respondents navigate these challenges and adjust their strategies in response. Our findings highlight the critical role of national structures in shaping the evolution of transnational practices, influencing both opportunities and constraints migrants face. This study contributes to the broader debates on the repercussions of transnational practices on migrant integration, shedding light on the long-term dynamics of cross-border engagement.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered Europe’s largest refugee movement since World War II, with over a million Ukrainians seeking refuge in Germany. This study examines the complex relationship between Ukrainian refugees’ uncertainty about their stay prospects and their investments in host-country-specific human capital amidst the war’s uncertain outcome and return possibilities. Guided by literature and theories on post-migration human capital investments, we explore how human capital transferability, opportunity costs, and settlement intentions as well as war-related uncertainties shape these investments. Using a vignette experiment among Ukrainian refugees within the online high frequency survey of the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Refugee Survey, we analyze refugees’ willingness to invest in vocational training. The experiment applies a rational choice model to evaluate educational decisions, factoring in training costs – like duration and lost earnings – and benefits such as improved earnings and lower unemployment risk after training. We also consider the transferability of skills to and from the Ukrainian labor market, settlement preferences and prospects, life course factors, and the influence of war-induced uncertainties. Our findings indicate that refugees make rational educational decisions, balancing costs and benefits while factoring in the usability of qualifications over time. Individual life situations, such as age, family and career stage, also play a crucial role.

Moreover, uncertainty regarding legal status, the conflict’s duration, and future outcomes significantly shape refugees’ educational strategies. These results have important implications for policies aimed at facilitating refugees’ integration and human capital development in host countries.

This study examines how Ukrainian women preferences for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict relate to their migration patterns and intentions following the Russian full-scale aggression. Drawing on the socio-psychological concepts of place utility theory and migration decision-making models, we analyze the original data from the OneUA online survey and provide consistent evidence linking Ukrainian women’s migration status and migration intentions with their preferences for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict. Our results suggest that Ukrainian women favoring a military solution to the conflict are more likely to remain in their pre-war residence in Ukraine rather than reallocating within Ukraine (i.e. becoming internally displaced persons, IDPs) or abroad (i.e. becoming refugees). Simultaneously, refugees exhibit highest support for negotiations, followed by IDPs and stayers. Moreover, among women who favor a military solution, those forced to leave the country as refugees exhibit a stronger intention to return, whereas those still in Ukraine are less likely to consider international migration. Our study advances research on self-selection into migration based on non-economic factors, emphasizing the role of political perceptions in displacement and resettlement patterns in conflict-affected regions.