Decredentialization and Recredentialization: The Role of Governmental Intervention in Enhancing Occupational Status of Russian Immigrants in Israel in the 1990s

Abstract

This article addresses the question of the impact of governmental retraining programs on immigrants’ occupational incorporation. It proposes that immigrants’ loss of occupational status relates to decredentialization resulting from their foreign credentials’ being devalued and proposes viewing participation in governmental retraining programs as a process of recredentialization. The findings indicate the important role government can play in enhancing the occupational status of immigrants through recredentialization. Nine hundred ten immigrants from the former Soviet Union to Israel in the 1990s were interviewed in 1992 and again in 1995 to examine the effect of their participation in retraining programs on occupational integration and improving earnings. The effects were studied for salaried immigrants. The findings are discussed in light of the institutional perspective and the theories of human capital, screening theory, and credentialism.