Downgrading and discounting the qualifications of migrant professionals in England: the case of overseas trained teachers

Highly trained teachers from across the world come to England expecting to practice their profession. These expectations are dashed however, if their qualifications and work experience, gained in their home countries, are not recognised as legitimate by potential employers and accreditation bodies. This type of social situation is the focus of Relative Deprivation Theory in which relative deprivation is defined as having a perception that an expectation has been dishonoured (the cognitive component) and possessing feelings of injustice, dissatisfaction
and discontent at this dishonouring (affective component). Relative Deprivation may take one of two forms. Egoistic Relative Deprivation results when a person feels that he or
she has been unjustly deprived relative to other individuals. The result of this is stress and lower life satisfaction. On the other hand, Collective Relative Deprivation, which forms the basis of this article, results when a person feels that his or her group is unjustly deprived relative to other social groups. The result of this is the basis for collective or group actions. Put simply, Relative Deprivation Theory specifies (and empirical evidence has substantiated) that affective relative deprivation is the proximal cause of engagement in protest action, which fully mediates the more distal effects of Cognitive Relative Deprivation.