Kick-off Meeting for the DFG-Funded Research Project “Social Ethics of International Recruitment of Healthcare Professionals”
A kick-off meeting at Hochschule Sankt Georgen marked the official launch of the new German Research Foundation (DFG)-funded research project “Social Ethics of International Recruitment of Healthcare Professionals”. Simultaneously, the website for the project was launched, as part of which three sub-projects at three universities will work together to develop a concept by 2028 that outlines ethical criteria for international recruitment practices, their governmental regulation, and their design by private actors. This concept is urgently needed: The growing shortage of skilled workers in the healthcare sector in Germany and other OECD countries has increasingly led to the recruitment of healthcare professionals from abroad, particularly from countries in the global South. This trend raises several social ethical questions. The goal of the DFG project is to provide scientifically grounded recommendations for action to national and international policymakers as well as recruiting institutions in the healthcare and social sectors.
The team led by Prof. Dr. Christof Mandry, head of Goethe University’s Social Ethics in Healthcare unit, is focusing on the level of international regulation. They are analyzing existing agreements such as the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel and examining the roles and positions of WHO, ILO, and private international recruitment organizations. The team led by Prof. Dr. Bernhard Emunds, head of the Nell-Breuning Institute at Frankfurt-based Hochschule Sankt Georgen, is studying the recruitment of skilled personnel by actors within the German healthcare system. Their research centers on the ethical profile of recruitment and integration practices by church-affiliated and other non-governmental actors, as well as their political regulation. The team led by Prof. Dr. Jonas Hagedorn, Chair of Christian Social Studies at the Faculty of Theology in Paderborn, is contributing the perspective of a country of origin for healthcare professionals by investigating the interplay between governmental and private actors in recruitment practices in Mexico and their impacts, including on the Mexican healthcare system. All three sub-projects are collaborating closely and following a shared methodological approach that moves from descriptive to evaluative and finally to normative-prescriptive steps and reflections.
“At the kick-off meeting at Hochschule Sankt Georgen, we had highly constructive discussions about key ethical, theoretical, and methodological questions,” said Professor Mandry. Collaboration across locations and disciplines is already working exceptionally well, driven by a shared purpose. “We aim to thoroughly analyze the ethical challenges of global healthcare migration and make concrete contributions to greater justice and sustainability,” emphasized Professor Hagedorn. Professor Emunds added, “We are looking forward to three years of intensive research and many enriching insights – within the team and beyond the project itself.”
A scientific advisory council is supporting the research project from a multidisciplinary perspective. Members include Prof. Dr. Brigitte Aulenbacher, Prof. Dr. Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodriguez, Prof. Dr. Marianne Heimbach-Steins, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Yolanda López Garcia, and Prof. Dr. Eva Senghaas-Knobloch.
The project website provides ongoing updates on activities and publications.
