Commissioned by: United Nations University (UNU-Merit), Maastricht University (2021-ongoing)

Objective: Conduct a scientific study of ‘Highly educated migrants’ perceptions of the welcoming environment in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine.

Creating a welcoming environment is high on policy-makers’ agendas to attract highly educated migrants. It is unclear, however, which factors contribute to migrants’ feelings of being welcome in the host country. Introducing the concept of incorporation capacity, this paper analyses how societal and institutional factors, as well as migrants’ personal incorporation capacity, influence the perceived welcoming environment in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine, a cross-border region between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The study follows a mixed methods research design using survey data (n=413) and a panel of semi-structured interviews with highly educated migrants (wave 1: n=67; wave 2: n=49). Findings indicate most participants felt welcome upon arrival and that societal incorporation capacity (e.g. locals’ openness, their willingness to speak foreign languages and to help) has the greatest influence on the perceived welcoming environment. Language is a common denominator of all four incorporation capacity dimensions and higher levels of incorporation capacity in one area can counteract a lack in others.

This project is linked to the INTERREG-V-A project youRegion and part of the PhD research of Julia Reinold.

In cooperation with: Julia Reinold (UNU-Merit/ITEM) & Merve Özer (DHL)