Examining privilege in the context of job opportunities

What comes to our mind when we hear “privilege”? Wealth? Gender? Socioeconomic status? Whiteness? Access to health care? Social welfare? Privilege is often used to describe an unequal situation with a person being in a better position than others, usually not actively creating this. Privilege is mostly attributed with a negative connotation. Being born into a wealthy family, having access to high quality education and good job opportunities in a future career are mutually regarded as privileges. Being labelled as privileged often evokes justification and rejection due to an unbalanced setting and the privileged person seen as the delinquent.

While privilege has a negative connotation, other perspectives such as life circumstances must be carefully examined. Circumstances in life can make one privileged. It is important to recognise that privilege is a part of the reality that helps some while impeding others (Vaughan, 2019). Besides an advantage, privilege can also be the access to enjoy a right or by being a member of a group or identity. “Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of group membership and not based on what a person or group has done or failed to do” (Vaughan, 2019, 1). Privilege includes unearned advantages that are highly valued but are confined to certain groups. These benefits are on a personal, cultural, or institutional level received by identifying as a member of a specific group or being born into it.

In light of the above, can we then consider the country of our origin or the country we live in as a privilege? Where do we draw the line between a community, a group, or a nation according to the definitions above? For example, is it a privilege growing up and living in Germany compared to Spain? Writing this article confronted me with my perspective on privilege deeply. From my job experience of coordinating European projects in the field of early childhood services in Munich, and examining the topic of access to the job market in the field of educators and teachers, challenged my understanding of privilege.

There is a high demand for educators or teachers. Working with young children requires good social skills, great engagement, and a lot of responsibility. According to Cavazos (2017), the desire of becoming an educator or teacher often lays back in young years; “the childcare teachers described their inspiration for teaching as something they always wanted to do” (95). For example, love for children, feelings of being needed and doing something meaningful are motivations in choosing to work with children. Knauf (2009) mentioned four main motives for this career choice, such as relationship (joy of working with children), working conditions and perspectives, support for minorities/disadvantaged, and self-exploration. The positiveness and motivation of professionals in this field are impressive. Nevertheless, the job opportunities differ significantly according to the country one lives in.

For example, in Germany, access to employment in the field of education is enormous. There is an immense need of qualified educators and teachers. The early childhood sector has grown as the demand for families became higher. The state is investing a lot of money to provide high quality education for the majority of children. There are several job offers to find work. However, another European country, Spain, has a quite different situation. The unemployment rate for educators and teachers in Spain is rather high (EU Commission, 2020). Network partners form Barcelona that I worked with, emphasised that there are long waiting lists for vacant positions in the public sector as well as for the tests to enter the application process. They also mentioned, in the private sector the income for professionals is low and the working conditions are bad. According to their reports, Spain does not invest in early childhood education to that extent as in Germany, thus the staff-to-child ratio is low, and requirements for teachers including responsibility and workload are high.

Given the above, a Spanish teacher might see a German teacher as privileged. Both having studied hard and being extremely motivated to perform in their job, but due to their country of origin, Spanish teachers are in an unequal position regarding access to the job market. Examining the definition of privilege, the unearned advantage relates to belonging to a certain group of people. From my perspective, it is very complex to compare a citizenship, a place of residence, and a geographic location with being a member of certain group of people, and comparisons on those bases should be done delicately. In the example at hand, while the benefit of having access to the job market is not exclusive to the group of people from Germany, the privilege of not having to migrate in order to find work as an educator is indeed exclusive to the German people of this example.

While the European Union with the 27-member states enables every citizen to live, work and travel within the continent freely and unlimitedly, policies on papers are not necessarily easily lived in practice. In the EU, every person must be treated in the same way in any country as in their own country for employment, social security, and tax purposes. It is then possible for Spanish educators and teachers to take the opportunity and work in another European country. While this opportunity is clearly an advantage compared to other people of the world who do not have it, and pertains to the privilege of being an EU citizen, having to move to another country to find work is definitely a challenge that other EU citizens do not have to suffer. The crucial decision to leave your home country and family, learn a new language and integrate in a different culture and society is arduous, even for EU citizens. Nevertheless, a large number of educators make the difficult decision to migrate to a different EU country, for example from Spain to Germany, due to their wish of working as an educator.

European citizens share the advantage of being allowed to migrate for work, studies, or other personal interests, and this is a privilege. The community of Europeans earning benefits in comparison to non-European citizens clearly relates to access to jobs and status of residence. An educator or teacher from outside the European Union with no job perspective in their country would face barriers seeking for a job in Europe. There are strict restrictions for applying for a residence permit and work permit, and these make it rather difficult for non-European citizens to get a job in the field of education. Where it becomes particularly clear is within the big move of refugees towards Europe. “In 2015, more than 1.25 million refugees arrived at the borders of the European Union, many of which being in need of international protection from war, violence, and persecution in their home countries” (Greussing and Boomgaarden, 2017, 1749). Several among them are well educated and highly qualified people. They are professionals, wishing to settle in a new country and having the perspective of finding work that matches their level of qualification. Evidently, the process for asylum seekers to get recognised and fulfil the requirements of working in day care centres or schools is enormously long and straining. Being a European citizen is a privilege in comparison to a non-European citizen when it comes to job opportunities within the European Union. The benefit the group of European educators and teachers have, compared to the group of non-Europeans, is clearly related to being members of the EU.

The question asked in the beginning: can we consider the country of our origin, the country we live in as a privilege? Concluding, privilege cannot be exclusively related to where you grow up and live in general, but it rather needs to be examined in connection to the benefit or advantage earned for the members of the group. The example of a German teacher in comparison to a Spanish or non-EU teacher illustrated that what can seem to be a privilege to some can be considered a great challenge for others. Since privilege can be characterised when there is a value that is denied to a certain group of people, perceptions of privilege are in the eyes of the value beholders. This became obvious exploring access to job opportunities among EU-citizens and non-EU-citizens. Talks of privilege are often taken as black and white matters, when in fact, they should always be carefully investigated, having different perspectives in mind.

References

Cavazos, l. (2017). A basic interpretative study of educators in the childcare profession: collegiality as a base of job satisfaction. Doctor of Philosophy. University of the incarnate word.

Greussing, E., Boomgaarden, H. G. (2017). Shifting the refugee narrative? An automated frame analysis of Europe’s 2015 refugee crisis. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43:11, 1749-1774.

Knauf, H. (2009). „Ich will Erzieher/-in werden". Warum brandenburgische Fachschülerinnen und -schüler sich für den Beruf der/des Erzieher/in entscheiden. KiTa aktuell. BB, MV, SN, ST, TH, BE 18 (2009) 3, S. 52-54.

Vaughan, W. E. (2019). Preparing Culturally Responsive Educators in the 21st Century: White Pre-service Teachers Identification of Unearned Privileges. Georgia Educational Researcher: Vol. 16: Iss. 2, Article 4.

European Commission, (2020). National Policies Platform, Eurydice. https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice