Scottish Government

Annex 4 Discussion Guide for Groups

Experience of People who Relocate to Scotland

Discussion Guide for Mini Groups with In-migrants

Aim: To discuss emerging findings and to explore response to/implications of specific policy initiatives and campaigns

Objectives:

1. To validate current research findings, specifically:

• The existence of the 4 Typologies
• Whether there were any barriers that weren't identified and to get a feeling for which are more important
• Whether there were any factors that helped relocation that weren't identified and to get a feeling for which are more important

2. Groups to generate suggestions for what can be done by the Executive to:

• Encourage people to in-migrate
• Help them settle in
• Encourage them to stay on

3. To explore feelings and thoughts about the concept of the Fresh Talent Initiative and any other policies they are aware of:

• Begin by discussing what they are aware of
• Moderator to introduce Fresh Talent initiatives

Guide timings:

Intro and warm up - 10 minutes; Objective 1 - 45 minutes; Objective 2 - 45 minutes; Objective 3 - 10 minutes

Note to moderators - draw on distinctions between the needs/wants of employees, entrepreneurs and post graduates throughout

Introduction (5 mins.)

• Thank for attending and taking part in depths. Explain report will be published sometime after March by the Scottish Executive
• Moderator introduction - explain that from an independent research company that have been commissioned by Scottish Executive. Stress that looking for honest opinions from their experience as in-migrants, and that there are no right or wrong answers.
• Explain that a draft report has been written on the initial findings, this group will be used to explore whether these findings reflect their experiences, and also to get some suggestions from them as in-migrants on what can be done to encourage more people to relocate, help them settle in and retain them. Explain that their feedback will directly feed into the final report.
• Session to last about an hour and a half
• Ask for permission to tape record

Brief warm-up (5 mins.)

• Where they moved from and when
• Where they live now and what they do
• Main reason for moving to Scotland

Objective 1 (45 mins. overall for Objective 1)

Typologies (15 mins.)

(Materials - 4 typology sheets)

Talk through the 4 typologies that we devised. Main points to mention are:

T1 - Economic/Incidental Pragmatists

• Key motivation for relocating was economic/educational purposes
• Scotland as a location was secondary in decision
• Faced some barriers in settling in; but often not significant
• Generally undecided as to whether they would stay on

T2 - World citizens

• Key motivation for relocating was life experience of living in another country through employment/academic opportunity
• Lived and worked in several different countries
• Did not face many barriers to settling in
• See move to Scotland as non-permanent
• Have thoughts on where might go next

T3 - Lifestage Returners

• Born and brought up in Scotland
• Left to pursue educational or career opportunities
• Returned to Scotland for 'lifestage' reasons - to be nearer family and friends
• Often faced barriers to settling in again

T4 - Lifestyle/Dream Pursuers

• Key motivation for relocating was change in lifestyle; therefore location important
• Experienced a 'push' from their previous location (more than a 'pull' to Scotland)
• Often moved without economic opportunities arranged

Mention that typologies can rarely include very specific characteristics particular to individuals and that devising the typologies is a way of helping make sense of the plethora of experiences we have encountered during the study.

Discuss response to these; do people feel these are "about right".

Do they know people who would fit into these descriptions? What about themselves? Do they feel they identify with one/more of these?

Ask group to comment on the titles (and details of the typologies), do they feel "about right", do they have any other ideas for names/titles for these groups?

Ask group to add some more 'human' elements to the typologies - what are these people like? Where would you see / encounter them? What do they do for a living? Age etc?

Barriers and what helped them settle in (15 mins.)

Break up into two groups and each work on one of the tasks

( NB - depending on size of group and how receptive they are, may be better to do the following as a whole)

Group 1 - Barriers

(Materials - Stimulus cards listing barriers to relocating and settling in, 10 sheets)

Ask them to discuss which of these barriers were the most significant, and whether there are any missing. Then report back to all.

Does everyone agree that these are the biggest barriers?

What has made these so problematic, and what could be done to overcome them?

Are any barriers missing?

What problems do they think they have experienced which are individual to Scotland?

If cost of living comes up as a significant barrier - what specifically do they find more expensive?

Do those that have lived here longer have less negative views about life in Scotland and the barriers faced to settling in? Why?

Group 2 - Things that helped them relocate/settle in (15 mins.)

(Materials - Stimulus cards listing what helped them relocate and settle in, 8 sheets)

Ask them to discuss which of these were the most significant, and whether there are any missing. Then report back to all.

Discuss the two or three factors that helped most in more detail; why did these make such a difference?

Were there any factors that if had not been there, they would not have settled in?

Is there anything missing?

Objective 2: Suggestions for policy (45 mins. for objective)

(Materials - pens, suggestion sheet)

This is linked to the activity done with barriers and what helped them to relocate.

Use as an 'ideas generation workshop'

Tell them that they are in charge of encouraging people to relocate to Scotland at the Scottish Executive. From the barriers and the factors that helped them relocate as just discussed, what would they do to:

1. Encourage people to in-migrate to Scotland

2. Help the relocation go smoother

3. Encourage people to stay on

(Hand out Suggestion Sheet. Suggest spending just under 10 minutes on each point, and then 10 minutes for discussion. I did not make explicit whether the Suggestions Sheet is for the group or pairs, you can decide on the night depending on numbers.)

Ask for specific and relevant suggestions. Encourage respondents to be creative. Get them to draw on their own experiences.

Objective 3: Initiatives and campaigns (10 mins.)

Awareness

How aware are they of any Scottish Executive or other policy initiatives to encourage people to in-migrate to Scotland?

Where have they seen/heard about it?

Image

If they have seen/heard of any publicity for initiatives, what did they think of it?

Moderator to discuss the different strands of Fresh Talent to inform Group

(Materials - statement of Fresh Talent)

The Scottish Executive's Fresh Talent Initiative aims to attract and retain bright hard working people to Scotland. Strands of the Initiative include a Relocation Advisory service that provides information to individuals and employers about relocating to Scotland; a Working in Scotland scheme that enables graduates to remain in Scotland for up to two years after graduating; sponsorship of academic scholarships and a marketing arm that promotes Scotland in the UK and abroad.

Response to FTI

What is the initiative aiming to convey?

And how do they respond to these messages?

Who is the FTI aimed at? Refer back to typologies

"Personality" of the initiative (could use a bit of a projective technique here e.g. word board with prompt words, or just read out some suggestions e.g. authoritative, encouraging, supportive, friendly, inviting etc)

What does Fresh Talent say about Scotland as a country? How does it make Scotland sound as a country? E.g. Desperate, progressive, multi-cultural, global, growing, shrinking, land of opportunity etc

How could this initiative have helped them personally?

What effect will the initiative have? How will we know if it has been successful or not?

What effect does this initiative have on their impressions of the Scottish Executive

What should be done to optimise the effectiveness of the initiative?

Sum up: Explore whether they thought it would improve the image/encourage people to move to Scotland

Thanks and Close

Give expenses