Katie Kuschminder (PhD) is an Assistant Professor at Maastricht Graduate School of Governance/ UNU-Merit. She has recently completed a Rubicon Research Fellowship funded by the Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) at the Global Governance Programme, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Katie has been working in research for the past ten years and has taught at the undergraduate, masters and professional level, as well as leading trainings for policy makers.
Katie’s research focuses on the following key themes:
Return Migration and Reintegration– This includes return decision making factors, assisted voluntary return, repatriation after conflict, diaspora return and knowledge transfer and defining and measuring reintegration. Katie has developed the reintegration strategies approach to understand how migrants reintegrate upon return and separate to this a return and reintegration index to measure levels of reintegration and sustainable return.
Irregular Migration Journeys– Katie’s work examines the drivers, flows, processes, experiences and decision making factors involved in irregular migration. Her work also explores the dynamics of smuggling processes and migrants experiences of human smuggling.
Migration and Development– Through her work Katie examines the relationship between migration and development. This includes how diaspora returnees contribute to knowledge transfer and capacity building for development in their countries of origin, and an examination of diaspora engagement policies. During her PhD Katie worked with Ethiopian domestic workers that had returned from the Middle East.
Email: Katie.kuschminder@maastrichtuniversity.nl