master of arts thesis
TRANSCRIPT
Master of Arts Thesis
Euroculture
Uppsala University
University of Groningen
August 2021
The Ambiguous Integration Concept as Reflected in the Role
of Third Sector Organisations in Highly Skilled Refugees
Employment Integration in Sweden
Submitted by
Clara Citra Mutiarasari
Supervised by
Dr. Andreaz Wasniowski
Dr. Benjamin Leruth
Uppsala, 24 August 2021
Signature
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MA Programme Euroculture
Declaration
I, Clara Citra Mutiarasari, hereby declare that this thesis, entitled “The
Ambiguous Integration Concept as Reflected in the Role of Third
Sector Organisations in Highly Skilled Refugees Employment
Integration in Sweden”, submitted as partial requirement for the MA
Programme Euroculture, is my own original work and expressed in my
own words. Any use made within this text of works of other authors in
any form (e.g. ideas, figures, texts, tables, etc.) are properly
acknowledged in the text as well as in the bibliography.
I declare that the written (printed and bound) and the electronic copy
of the submitted MA thesis are identical.
I hereby also acknowledge that I was informed about the regulations
pertaining to the assessment of the MA thesis Euroculture and about the
general completion rules for the Master of Arts Programme
Euroculture.
Signed
Date 24 August 2021
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Abstract
This thesis studies the role of the third sector organisation [TSO] in highly skilled
refugees’ employment integration in Sweden. It attempts to contribute to the migration
studies literature and nonprofit sector studies by focusing on the underresearched highly
skilled refugees and several TSOs in Sweden, one of the major receiving countries in
Europe during the refugee crisis. Using Bourdieusian capital theory, it discovers the
challenges faced by the highly skilled refugees and the TSOs solution to help them
overcome the obstacles. In doing so, the TSOs are also shaping the integration concept in
the nation, which has proven to be ambiguous. On the one hand, they preserve the
construction of refugees as needing care and their difference from Swedes as weakness.
On the other hand, they challenge the idea that integration is primarily refugees’
responsibility and attempt to change employers’ unwillingness to hire with the concept
of diversity as a strength. Still, the TSOs do not significantly challenge the dominant
integration concept in Sweden and the state. This thesis argues that it may be explained
by the strong trust between the government and civil society stemmed from the nation’s
historical development as an egalitarian welfare state.
Keywords: third sector, highly skilled refugees, labour market integration, Sweden,
Bourdieu’s capital theory
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Acknowledgement
This thesis will not be finished without the support and contribution of many people
around me. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr Andreaz Wasniowski
and Dr Benjamin Leruth. Thank you very much for dedicating your time to supervise me,
allowing me to change my topic at the last minute, and giving me valuable feedback.
Without your guidance, this thesis will never reach its full form.
I would also like to thank my supervisor and colleague in the project “Social Integration
of Highly Skilled Refugees in Sweden” from the Department of Social and Economic
Geography, Uppsala University. Thank you, Dr Micheline van Riemsdijk, for accepting
me as an intern in your project and teaching me effective literature search and interview,
which is beneficial for my thesis. I also thank Ioanna for sharing the TSOs’ list with me
and giving input for the first interview guide.
I want to express my gratitude to all my interview participants. Thank you for letting me
see and understand the integration challenge from your perspective. Your insight is
beneficial for my thesis and the whole integration discourse.
My special thanks go to my lecturers who guided me and improved my research skills
with their teaching and precious feedback, particularly Dr Lars Löfquist, as the first
lecturer who had an honest discussion about migrant integration in Sweden with me. Also,
thanks to Dr Emin Poljarevic, Dr Ine Megens and Dr Margriet van der Waal. The papers
I wrote for your classes were my training ground for this thesis. I made sure I remember
your feedback and evaluation while writing my thesis.
Writing this thesis is also made possible by the Erasmus Mundus scholarship and the EU,
who support my Euroculture master studies from 2019-2021.
I thank all my classmates in Uppsala and Groningen for being a support system, so the
study-from-home sessions did not become too lonely. Special thanks to my classmates in
Spring Semester 2021 for fighting together and support each other to finish the thesis
during the pandemic.
Finally, my endless gratitude goes to my friends and family, particularly Mutti and my
sister, Aurelia, and my life companion, Harimurti. Thank you for your unconditional and
devoted support that become my source of strength during my master studies.
.
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Preface
What does it mean to be integrated? Where is the common ground for integration between
the migrants and the host society? I believe this is a crucial question for everyone working
with migrant integration. Yet, during my previous work with migrant integration and also
for many integration actors, the focus is mainly on the migrant. The newcomers are
expected to adapt and to adopt new cultures and values. Still, integration is a big challenge
in many European countries, including Sweden. Could it be because there is a mismatch
between newcomers’ and host country’s understanding of integration? Is there a common
ground between all the involved parties about what is integration? What are the minimum
criteria to be integrated from all perspectives?
In 2019, I decided to leave the integration project I was working on and go back to
university to find the answer. Funded by the Erasmus Mundus scholarship, I had the
opportunity to learn more about migrant integration in Europe, experience and observe
the integration challenge directly in Sweden and the Netherlands. I also did an internship
in a research project called “Social Integration of Highly Skilled Refugees in Sweden” in
the Department of Social and Economic Geography, Uppsala University. The project
allowed me to develop my own research and equipped me with the necessary skills for
my thesis. In the project, I modified my research question so it can be answered in the
pandemic situation. I decided to understand the meaning of integration through the third
sector organisations’ role, which can also represent migrants’ and host society’s voices.
This thesis records all the processes and the result of the research.
I want to dedicate this thesis to the Swedish and European society, whose generous help
and hospitality enable me to gain valuable knowledge, experience multiculturality, enjoy
the freedom of speech and movement. I wish this thesis could be a humble contribution
to the integration discourse in Europe so that it can be a safe place for anyone seeking
peace, protection, better life, and freedom.
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Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Highly Skilled Refugees ........................................................................................ 2
1.2. Third Sector Organisations and Refugee Integration............................................. 3
1.2.1. Defining Third Sector Organisations .............................................................. 3
1.2.2. Research Gap in Third Sector Organisations’ Role in Refugee Integration ... 4
1.3. Research Questions ................................................................................................ 5
1.4. Research Methodology .......................................................................................... 5
1.5. Outline of the Thesis .............................................................................................. 6
Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................. 8
2.1. Bourdieusian Capital Theory ................................................................................. 8
2.1.1. Economic Capital ............................................................................................ 9
2.1.2. Cultural Capital ............................................................................................... 9
2.1.3. Social Capital ................................................................................................ 10
2.1.4. Capital Convertibility .................................................................................... 14
2.2. Understanding the Socio-Political Background: Sweden as Egalitarian Welfare
State ............................................................................................................................ 17
2.2.1. Folkhemmet, the Egalitarianism and the Welfare State ................................ 18
2.2.2. Refugee Integration and Belonging in Sweden as an Egalitarian Welfare
State ......................................................................................................................... 19
2.3. Migration to Sweden and Swedish Labour Market ............................................. 24
Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 26
3.1. European Dimension ............................................................................................ 26
3.2. Third Sector Organisations in Sweden ................................................................ 27
3.3. Highly Skilled Refugees’ Obstacles in Employment Integration ........................ 29
3.4. TSOs’ Roles in Refugees’ (Employment) Integration in Existing Studies ......... 34
Methodology .................................................................................................................. 38
4.1. Qualitative approach ............................................................................................ 38
4.2. Data Collection .................................................................................................... 39
4.2.1. Sampling........................................................................................................ 39
4.2.2. Interview........................................................................................................ 41
4.2.3. Online Observations ...................................................................................... 43
4.3. Data Analysis: Qualitative Content Analysis with Coding ................................. 44
4.4. Ethical Consideration ........................................................................................... 45
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4.5. Limitation ............................................................................................................. 46
Analysis and Discussion ............................................................................................... 48
5.1. The TSOs in Highly Skilled Refugees’ Employment Integration in Sweden ..... 48
5.1.1. Engineer to Engineer [E2E] .......................................................................... 49
5.1.2. Yrkesdörren ................................................................................................... 49
5.1.3. Mumtaz Integration ....................................................................................... 49
5.1.4. Jobbentrén ..................................................................................................... 50
5.1.5. New to Sweden.............................................................................................. 50
5.1.6. Real People .................................................................................................... 51
5.1.7. Observed Online Events ................................................................................ 51
5.2. Refugees’ Obstacles and the TSOs’ Solution ...................................................... 53
5.2.1. Lack of Cultural Capital ................................................................................ 53
5.2.2. Lack of Social Capital ................................................................................... 57
5.2.3. Capital Interdependency Creates an Endless Cycle ...................................... 60
5.2.4. Insufficient Support from Other Integration Actors ...................................... 63
5.2.5. Overqualification and Loss of Professional Identity ..................................... 66
5.2.6. Employers Negative Perception towards (Employing) Refugees ................. 68
5.3. TSOs’ Meaning of Refugees’ Integration and Belonging in Sweden and their
Positions among other Integration Stakeholders ........................................................ 73
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 79
6.1. Contributions and Suggestions for Further Studies ............................................. 80
Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 81
Appendix 1: TSOs’ Profiles ......................................................................................... 92
Appendix 2: Interview Guide ...................................................................................... 94
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Introduction
During the European refugee crisis in 2015, Sweden received 16.016 asylum applicants
per one million population, the second-highest in the EU (Eurostat 4 March 2016). Now
that six years have passed, the Swedish government urge every sector to fasten the
integration of the newcomers into society (Regeringskansliet, 2021). One of the common
markers and the potential means to achieve successful integration is employment (Ager
and Strang 2008, 170). However, integration is never a static concept. Different countries
interpret it differently, influenced by the affected people’s interests, values, and
perspectives. Various agents play a role in shaping its definition (Sigona 2005, 118).
Simultaneously, integration policy is “strictly linked to the idea of national belonging, of
how to become “one of us” (ibid., 119). It entails a definition and criteria of “us” or the
community of which one becomes part. Therefore, integration policy is an example of
practices that Yuval-Davis (2006, 204) called “politics of belonging” or “boundary
maintenance.”
Previous research on integration policies in Europe reveals the uniqueness of Sweden’s
approach towards the issue. The country is known for its decades-long multicultural
integration policy (Borevi 2014, 711; Bergmann 2017, 170) and universal access to a
“generous welfare system with the goal of full employment” (Borevi 2014, 711). This
altruistic attitude towards migration is rooted in its socio-economic policies known as the
Swedish Model, which also become part of its national identity (Shakra et al. 2018, 16).
The Swedish Model combines universal rights to welfare and responsibility to work and
pay high taxes. Sweden’s current integration policies have given the country the top place
in the most recent Migrant Integration Policy Index [MIPEX] ranking (Solano and
Huddleston, 2020). The higher a country’s position and score, the better the opportunities
for migrants and refugees to access multiple rights, from the labour market, healthcare,
and political participation. Additionally, the ideology behind the Swedish Model also
influences every element of the Swedish society, including the actors involved in
refugees’ integration.
Unfortunately, a benevolent integration policy does not always lead to a positive outcome.
Compared to other migrants and the native population, refugees are more likely to be
unemployed, have no permanent job, and have low income (Bevelander 1999; 2011).
Furthermore, the gap between the native and foreign-born working populations in Sweden
is higher than 15%, which is among the highest in the EU and OECD countries (Sandberg
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2017, 19; OECD, 2021). Refugee employment integration in Sweden is also very slow,
with less than 50% of refugees securing a job only after five years (Sandberg 2017, 19).
More research is needed to understand the refugee employment integration challenge in
Sweden and develop an evidence-based solution.
1.1. Highly Skilled Refugees
The project “Social Integration of Highly-Skilled Refugees in Sweden” is a contribution
by Uppsala University to the problem mentioned above. This thesis is an extension of the
author’s research in the project. Different groups of refugees face different obstacles in
accessing the labour market. Consequently, observing them as one group cannot achieve
accurate results to develop solutions. Following the project, this study focuses on highly
skilled refugees because most of the scholars’ and policymakers’ attention is on the low-
skilled refugees, perhaps due to their bigger need for assistance. According to Weinar and
Klekowski von Koppenfels (2020, 102), “highly-skilled” is a contested notion. Being
highly skilled is often synonymised with highly educated. For instance, Iredale (2001, 8)
defines highly skilled migrants as those who have obtained a higher education degree or
possess equivalent professional experience within their field. It is unclear how many years
of experience equals a higher education degree. Some scholars point out that tertiary
education consists of different levels, differs between countries, and is not always
equivalent to skill. Also, skill is difficult to measure objectively (Weinar and Klekowski
von Koppenfels. 2020, 102-103).
This thesis follows the definition often used in Swedish migration and labour market
policy to describe highly skilled refugees. In Sweden, highly skilled comprises of people
with at least three years of tertiary education or profession that requires further and
specialist education, such as information technology [IT] specialists, engineers, and
technicians (Statistiska centralbyrån 2016, 9; Olsson 2019, 5). This group make up
approximately 20% of all refugees in the EU (European Union and OECD 2016, 13).
Previous studies found that highly skilled refugees face considerable obstacles to get a
job that corresponds to their education and skills (see, e.g., Eggenhofer-Rehart 2018,
Mackenzie Davey and Jones 2019). Nonetheless, except for the UK, almost no research
specifically studies the highly skilled refugees in Europe (Mozetic 2018, 233).
Studying highly skilled refugees in the Swedish context becomes even more critical since
the biggest refugee group based on nationality is Syrian (Migrationsverket, 2020). A
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study by UNHCR found that Syrians who entered Europe from Greece were highly
educated (European Migration Network 2015, 9). Based on the Swedish Public
Employment Service [PES or Arbetsförmedlingen] ’s data, most refugees who seek
recognition of their qualifications are Syrian (ibid., 10). Considering the huge
unemployment gap between highly skilled foreign-born and native-born in Sweden, this
thesis wants to contribute to the existing migration literature by focusing on the highly
skilled refugees.
1.2. Third Sector Organisations and Refugee Integration
Multiple institutions and actors, including state and non-state actors, are involved in the
refugee integration process and shaping the integration concept. Among the non-state
actors are the third sector organisations [TSO], which also offer solutions to the European
refugee crisis (Galera et al. 2018, 4). However, it is far from simple to specify what kind
of organisations are included as TSO.
1.2.1. Defining Third Sector Organisations
In their extensive literature review on TSOs, Garkisch et al. (2017, 1869) found that there
is still no theoretical basis for identifying and grouping different types of TSOs.
Nevertheless, they decided to use the broad definition of TSO by Salamon and
Sokolowski (2016). They use the term third sector/social economy to group these
organisations and voluntary activities (ibid., 1530). The foundation of the broadly
encompassing definition is the common core shared by these organisations and activities:
private, public purposed, and non-compulsory (ibid., 1531). Private means that it must be
institutionally separate from the government and not controlled by the government or
other institutions even if they receive funding. Public purposed includes a significant
limitation in accumulating and distributing its profit for its gain, including the
stakeholders or investors. Lastly, non-compulsory means voluntary participation in the
organisation or activities (ibid., 1534-1536). Furthermore, the service must be conducted
for a significant period and mainly for others’ benefit (ibid., 1534, 1539). It is essential
to understand that particular countries may have characteristics in their definition of the
third sector that extends beyond this common core (ibid., 1523).
Galera et al. (2018, 5-6) noted that some third sector organisations that started as non-
profit institutions are gradually shifting towards being a social enterprise. It means that
they are “carrying out of economic activities (…) with the pursuit of an explicit social
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aim.” In this case, this study decides to include them as TSO if their primary goal is to
provide social assistance and the profit they gain is limited or reinvested into their social-
oriented activities. This thesis argues that it is still in line with the characteristics of TSOs
mentioned above.
This definition of TSO is employed because it allows this study to capture multiple
perspectives from various organisations that are neither part of the state nor the market.
It includes non-profit institutions, social enterprises, labour unions, voluntary
communities, civil society organisations, and individual volunteer activities.
1.2.2. Research Gap in Third Sector Organisations’ Role in Refugee Integration
Existing literature on refugee integration showed that during the European refugee crisis,
there were insufficient capabilities and willingness from the government side to solve
various challenges caused by the arrival of the newcomers (Garkisch et al. 2017, 1841).
In such a situation, non-state actors like TSOs are present to support and deliver the
services to fill the government’s weak action in terms of refugee integration (Hansen
2017, 271; Togral Koca 2019, 545). Some scholars critically discussed their practices
through the lenses of the European border regime (Youkhana and Sutter 2017, 2). TSOs’
activities can either challenge the government’s boundary maintenance (Togral Koca
2019, Hinger 2019) or being integrated into it and outsourced as a gap filler for tasks that
should be the government’s responsibility (Simsa 2017, Hansen 2017). Furthermore,
TSOs can also build the national integration discourse through advocacy, lobbying, and
policy implementation (Sigona 2005, 118). Nonetheless, most of these studies focus on
TSOs’ activities in the reception and early integration stages. They also look at refugees
in general instead of differentiating them based on their needs.
In Sweden, Karlsdóttir et al. (2017, 40) found that despite government agencies’
awareness, detailed and independent research of TSOs’ roles and potential in refugee
integration is needed. As a social democratic welfare state, Sweden is an interesting case
study to see how their socio-political context plays a role in TSOs’ contribution to solving
the integration issue. To the best of the author’s knowledge, there is still no study that
focuses on TSOs’ roles in helping highly skilled refugees in employment integration,
particularly in Sweden. Therefore, this thesis attempts to fill the gap in migration studies
and third sector research literature. This thesis will examine how the TSOs’ roles
contribute to forming the national integration concept to add a critical perspective. Lastly,
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this thesis will argue why the TSOs in Sweden do not significantly challenge the dominant
integration concept using the socio-political and historical context.
1.3. Research Questions
This study will be guided by two main research questions, which can be broken down as
follows:
• How do the TSOs help the highly skilled refugees secure a job in the Swedish
labour market?
• Which refugees' obstacles to employment are perceived by the TSOs?
• What are their solutions to those obstacles?
• How do the TSOs' roles in highly skilled refugees' employment integration
contribute to the national integration concept?
• How is the integration concept reflected in the TSOs' activities to help
highly skilled refugees?
• How can Sweden's socio-political and historical context as an egalitarian
welfare state explain the TSOs' contribution to the national integration
concept?
With the first question, this research aims to understand what activities and services are
provided by the TSOs for highly skilled refugees and how they help them secure
employment in the Swedish labour market. How the TSOs' help the highly skilled
refugees unveils their idea of integration, which would answer the second question. It
reveals whether they challenge the nation's boundary maintenance or being integrated
into the system and outsourced to do what should be the state's duty. Their contribution
to the integration concept will be understood by considering Sweden's socio-political and
historical context as an egalitarian welfare state.
1.4. Research Methodology
This thesis is based on the constructivist paradigm and approaches the problem using
qualitative methods. It is built on the idea that the integration concept is part of boundary
maintenance termed “politics of belonging” by Yuval-Davis (2006). In this case, the
government is not the only actor determining what it means to be integrated. Multiple
agents, including the TSOs and the refugees, continually challenge and contest the
maintenance practices (ibid., 205; Youkhana and Sutter 2017, 1). How the TSOs
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challenge the state’s notion of integration is reflected in their activities to help the
refugees.
First, this thesis collected data through semi-structured interviews with representatives of
six TSOs involved in highly skilled refugee employment integration. The TSOs were
chosen from a list drawn from a presence list of a conference titled Framtidens integration
– Det delade ansvaret held by Forum for Reforms, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability
[FORES] (see Fores.se, 2020). This conference was attended by the researchers of the
project “Social Integration of Highly Skilled Refugees in Sweden” from Uppsala
University. The list was completed with some TSOs found through LinkedIn search. The
TSOs are Engineer to Engineer [E2E], Yrkesdörren, Mumtaz Integration, Jobbentren,
New to Sweden and Real People. These TSOs offer various services and represent
multiple organisations, including nonprofits, social enterprises and the labour movement.
Three TSOs are initiated by native Swedes, and the rest by migrants and refugees. The
purpose of this selection is to give a balanced and diverse perspective to answer the
research questions.
The interview transcript will be processed with content analysis to capture the information
on the activities and services the TSOs provided for the highly skilled refugees. The data
will be analysed by employing the Bourdieusian concept of capitals to understand how
they help those newly arrived. This concept is commonly used in migration research (see
Erel, 2010; Ryan, 2011; Eggenhofer-Rehart et al., 2018; and Gericke et al., 2018) and can
explain the challenge refugees face entering host countries’ labour market and what
should be done to overcome the challenge. Next, the thesis will examine the same data to
deduct the TSOs integration concept. The result will be compared to the mainstream
notion of integration in Sweden to see how it challenges or supports the nation’s boundary
maintenance. The thesis uses secondary literature to understand the state’s concept of
integration. It builds a theoretical framework based on historical accounts of Swedish
national identity construction, Yuval-Davis’s theory of politics of belonging, and recent
studies on Sweden’s refugee integration policies.
1.5. Outline of the Thesis
This thesis is structured into six chapters. The first chapter presents the background and
research problem and briefly accounts for how the thesis answered the questions. It is
followed by the theoretical framework chapter, where key concepts such as Bourdieu’s
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capital theory, Swedish national identity as an egalitarian welfare state, and the idea of
refugee integration in Sweden will be laid out. The next section reviews relevant literature
on highly skilled refugee employment integration in Europe and Sweden and the TSOs’
role in Sweden. The framework from the previous chapter will be employed to understand
what the research in this field has found so far. After that, the research methodology used
in this thesis will be laid out in more detail. The fifth chapter presents the six TSOs chosen
for this study and the findings from their interviews. The result will be analysed and
discussed using the key concept in the theoretical framework and previous research
findings. The thesis is completed with a conclusion chapter and some ideas for further
studies.
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Theoretical Framework
This section elaborates on the concepts and builds a theoretical framework to answer the
thesis’s research questions. To understand the role of the TSOs, one needs to know the
problems that refugees face when entering the labour market. There are multiple ways to
analyse and understand refugees’ obstacles to secure employment. This thesis begins by
looking at the refugees’ themselves using Bourdieusian capital theory combined with
Granovetter’s and Putnam’s social capital theories. Instead of drawing purely from the
original work, this thesis also takes advantage of some migration scholars’ interpretation
of the theories, such as Erel (2010), Ryan (2011), Cederberg (2012), Gericke et al. (2018)
and Eggenhofer-Rehart et al. (2018). Using the capital theory, these researchers have
opened the path of understanding migrants’ and refugees’ challenges in the labour market.
Thus, following this path provides this thesis with a solid foundation. Furthermore,
starting from the refugee perspective suits this study because they are the main target
group of the TSOs studied in this research. Thus, prioritising the bigger picture to
understand refugees’ challenges, such as economic or political perspectives, may miss
the rich information on the micro-level where the main activities occur.
However, capital theory alone is not sufficient to explain the third sector contribution in
refugees labour market integration. Their role must be seen in the light of the welfare state
egalitarianism that makes Sweden one of the exceptional cases in Europe. Furthermore,
taking into account the socio-political background in Sweden can help our understanding
of the integration policies and the requirements to belong in Sweden, which relates closely
to the highly skilled refugees’ obstacles. In addition, a brief explanation about the
development of migration and the labour market in Sweden will also be included to give
a complete picture of refugees’ difficulties in the labour market.
2.1. Bourdieusian Capital Theory
The theory of capital, first developed by Pierre Bourdieu (1986) in his essay The Forms
of Capital, is chosen because it can encompass all forms of resources possessed by a
human. Bourdieu extends the concept of capital beyond the economic sense to include
the system of exchanges other than mercantile exchanges, which aims to maximise profits
(Bourdieu 1986, 46). He differentiates capitals into three forms: economic, cultural, and
social. Some researchers extracted the fourth form from Bourdieu’s writings, namely
symbolic capital. The latter is defined as “power gained by individuals through the
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mobilisation of their economic, social and cultural capital, and is manifested in social
ranking, class position etc.” (Joy et al. 2020, 2544). However, since symbolic capital is
derived from the other three capital forms, this thesis views the first three forms as the
primary.
In the following section, this study will account for each form of capital in detail and
present some examples of each in refugees' context. It will add the contribution to the
concept of each capital forms from various migration scholars.
2.1.1. Economic Capital
Economic capital includes monetary resources such as income, property, savings and
material possessions and is claimed as the most convertible (Bourdieu 1977, as cited in
Joy et al. 2020, 2544). Economic capital can easily be converted into money or used to
acquire cultural and social capital. Money itself is also an example of economic capital.
This capital can be institutionalised as property rights (Bourdieu 1986, 47). Many
refugees initially possess economic capital in their home countries in various forms,
including businesses and properties. However, they may have lost them in the war or
spent most of them on their journey to the host country. They often must rely on the host
country’s social welfare allowance to survive (Eggenhofer-Rehart et al. 2018, 36).
Therefore, throughout this thesis, the lack of focus on economic capital will be obvious
since its provision is completely the state’s responsibility, not the third sector. Being part
of the non-profit sector, the TSOs rarely have the means to provide refugees with
economic capital directly. However, refugees’ acquisition of economic capital in the form
of employment or salary is the final goal of the TSOs.
2.1.2. Cultural Capital
According to Bourdieu (1986, 47), cultural capital can be found in three forms: the
embodied, the objectified and the institutionalised. The embodied cultural capital is
personalised and tied to a person’s body and consciousness, which disappears when they
die. This cultural capital is not transferable between people and can only be acquired
through individual effort or self-improvement (ibid., 48). Some examples of embodied
cultural capitals are language, accent, bodily conduct, and talents. In refugees’
employment integration, the important embodied cultural capital includes understanding
the host country’s work cultures, job skills, and language proficiency (Eggenhofer-Rehart
et al. 2018, 38).
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The objectified cultural capital exists in the form of material objects, for example,
paintings and writings. One needs to have economic capital to acquire this form of cultural
capital. In some cases, embodied cultural capital is necessary to use the objects (Bourdieu
1986, 50). When embodied cultural capital is officially recognised by certain institutions
or someone with authority, it becomes institutionalised cultural capital. In this way, the
capital is no longer limited by its owner’s biological condition and differentiates them
from the autodidacts (ibid.) Even it may not accurately reflect the cultural capital that the
bearer has at that time (ibid., 51). Examples of institutionalised cultural capital relevant
for refugee employment integration are their academic degree and recognised job and
language skills proven by certificates (Eggenhofer-Rehart et al. 2018, 36, 39).
Institutionalised cultural capital enables employers to easily compare job seekers’
qualifications and determine their economic value in the labour market (Bourdieu 1986,
51).
2.1.3. Social Capital
Bourdieu (1986, 51) defines the social capital as “the aggregate of the actual or potential
resources which are linked to a possession of a durable network of more or less
institutionalised relationships of mutual acquaintances or recognition--- or in other words,
to membership in a group.” It can be concluded from this definition that a social network
and relationship become social capital because of the (potential) resources that the owner
can access when it is needed. Thus, the network size that one can effectively use and the
capital (economic, cultural and symbolic) that the network can give them determine the
amount of social capital they have (Bourdieu 1986, 51). Gericke et al. (2018, 48) note
that it is important to differentiate between social capital availability and the owner’s
capability to take advantage of it.
Bourdieu (1986, 52) gives some examples of social capital, which exist among others in
the family or relative ties and membership of the association. He also claims that these
social ties can be institutionalised, for example, through marriage certificates, registered
family names and official recognition of association membership (ibid., 51). However,
recent studies argue that migrants’ social capital is not static and diverse (Ryan, 2011;
Gericke et al., 2018). According to Ryan (2011, 709), migrants’ social networks will most
likely change over time, especially when they move between places or experience social
mobility in their new country. This network consists of what Putnam (2000) terms as
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“bonding” and “bridging” networks (as cited in Ryan 2011, 710). A bonding network
refers to the relationship between similar people. Meanwhile, a bridging network refers
to the connection they have with people who are different from them. According to
Putnam (2000), the bonding network helps people survive, while the bridging network
brings them to success (ibid.)
In migration studies, a bonding network is often translated as a network within one’s
ethnic or identity group, and bridging network entails contact with people from outside
their identity group, for example, friends who are citizens of their host country (see, e.g.,
Nannestad et al. 2008). However, these two types of networks are not mutually exclusive
(Ryan 2011, 710). Furthermore, bonding and bridging networks should not only be seen
based on ethnic groups or migrant versus host society community. According to Putnam
(2000), people can form bonding connections based on ethnicity but bridge across social
class (as cited in Ryan 2011, 710).
As mentioned before, what makes a social network become social capital is the potential
resources it has. Ryan (2011) uses Granovetter’s (1973; 1983) strong and weak ties theory
to explain the different possible resources available for migrants through various bonding
and bridging networks. Granovetter (1973, 1361) measures and determine the strength of
human interpersonal connection using the “combination of the amount of time, the
emotional intensity, the intimacy (mutual confiding), and the reciprocal services which
characterize the tie.” It means how strong a tie between people can be seen from how
much they invest in the relationship. Indeed, Bourdieu (1986, 52) has also stated that a
social connection does not exist naturally but is built through investment through
practices to acknowledge and recognize the relationship mutually. The stronger the
connection between people, the more similar they are in many aspects (Granovetter 1973,
1362). Therefore, a strong tie is identical to what Putnam (2000) calls a bonding network
and a weak tie to a bridging network. Interestingly, Granovetter (1973, 1371-1373)
discovers that useful information for labour market access and social mobility comes most
often from weak ties.
Nevertheless, not all weak ties can provide equally beneficial information for migrants’
occupational mobility. It also depends on the network possessed by these weak ties. In
their study, Lin et al. (1981, as cited in Granovetter 1983, 209) show that only weak ties
with people of higher position in the labour market can positively affect one’s
12
employment outcome, while those with people from similar level cannot. This is
especially true for people from lower occupational status, such as newly arrived migrants
and refugees. Due to these different impacts of weak ties on migrant’s labour market
outcome, Ryan (2011, 711) sees the necessity to add the perspective of social location
and divide weak ties into horizontal and vertical weak ties. Vertical weak ties connect
migrants with people of different backgrounds and higher occupational status. In contrast,
weak horizontal ties connect them with people of different backgrounds but in a similar
position in the labour market. Thus, it can be said that a weak vertical tie is the most
beneficial social capital for a highly skilled refugee to secure employment that is
proportionate to their experience and skills.
While the weak ties and bridging network are almost always seen positively, earlier
studies argued that bonding network is mostly associated with a negative impact on
integration, especially labour market integration. Nannestad et al. (2008, 610), for
example, states that excessive bonding can turn a community into a “superglued” group
that brings negative societal impacts. Strong ties, as in ethnic-specific networks among
migrants and refugees, may hold them back due to a lack of valuable contact and
encouragement (Cederberg 2012, 64-65). Furthermore, as Granovetter (1983, 202) says,
having only close friends (strong ties) make one “deprived of information from distant
parts of the social system and will be confined to the provincial news and views of their
close friends”, which “may put them in a disadvantaged position in the labour market,
where advancement can depend.” Existing research shows that the information about a
job opportunity from the refugees’ ethnic network often results in “ethnic niche
employment”, which tend to be low skill jobs with low salaries and miserable working
conditions (Campion 2018, 9; Nannestad et al. 2008, 614).
Nonetheless, a bonding network is still important for migrants and refugees because they
can provide material and emotional support, access to information, a sense of belonging
and security within a community, and sometimes even access to larger networks and
employment opportunities (Cederberg 2012, 63; Gericke et al. 2018, 48, 52-53). In some
cases, Gericke et al. (2018, 52-53) also found the existence of a vertical bonding network,
for example, a family member of refugees who already lived in the host country and well-
integrated for a long time, and ethnic or religion-based organisations. Although it comes
from a similar background, this type of network still has valuable information for the
newly arrived integration process.
13
Unlike human capital theory, which sees resources and capitals as something static and
innate to the person, Bourdieusian capital theory argues that resources and capitals are
dynamic and convertible. It also differentiates cultural capital in various forms
(embodied, objectified and institutionalised). These advantages of Bourdieusian capital
theory can help understand the complexity of refugees’ capital (Erel 2010, 645-646). The
capitals’ convertibility is useful to explain a refugee’s integration process into the host
country’s labour market.
When it comes to social capital, some scholars have pointed out the weaknesses of
Bourdieu’s theory. For example, he only focuses on close ties and institutionalised social
networks, such as family ties, marriage, ethnic communities, and membership in
association (Häuberer 2017, 47-48). He also does not sufficiently address these close-tie
relationships’ negative side, both for the members and the people outside (ibid., 49). On
the contrary, Putnam’s (2000) concept of social capital, categorising social capital into
bridging and bonding, can explain what the Bourdieusian capital theory fails to do. More
recent works by migration scholars, such as Ryan (2011) and Gericke et al. (2018), have
developed Putnam’s social capital theory to include all types of refugees’ social networks
and relationships. Thus, unlike Cederberg (2012), this thesis will not treat Bourdieu’s and
the recently developed Putnam’s social capital theories as an alternative but as
complementary to each other.
Despite the weakness, Bourdieusian social capital theory has an advantage due to its
awareness of the power inequality between different networks and relationships and their
exclusionary dimensions (Cederberg 2012, 60). As a boundary maintenance practice, the
concept of integration and labour market integration policy involves an act of determining
who belongs and who does not (Yuval Davis, 2006). In other words, these concepts
contain exclusion practices. These exclusion practices create challenges faced by refugees
in their trajectories towards employment. Bourdieu’s concept of social capital can explain
how the third sector organisations can help them overcome the obstacles.
Furthermore, many migration scholars have advanced Bourdieu’s capital theory and
made it more suitable to answer migration-related questions by considering the
transnational context, multi-level spatio-temporal perspective, migrants’ agency and
intersectionality with gender, class and ethnicity (Erel, 2010; Erel and Ryan, 2018;
Eggenhofer-Rehart et al., 2018). The multi-level spatio-temporal perspective provided by
14
Erel and Ryan (2018) is particularly useful within the framework of this thesis because it
considers what happens beyond the refugee’s individual and collective experience and
how it can affect their integration strategies and trajectories. For instance, on the macro
level, the labour market situation may affect how well refugees can use their capital or
which step they should take to acquire new capital. In Sweden, refugees with an IT
background may land a job quicker without Swedish language skills compared to a
doctor.
Before discussing the capital theory further, this study acknowledges that Bourdieu’s
capital theory is only a small part of his complex critical social theory. The critical social
theory has multiple criticisms (see Riley, 2017; Jenkins, 2006). However, the critiques
are mostly directed to his failure to define or explain some concepts that appear several
times in his theory, such as class (Riley, 2017) and culture (Jenkins 2006, 58). There are
also some inconsistencies in his work about culture (Riley, 2017). However, I argue that
these weaknesses in Bourdieu’s theory do not pose any problems in answering the thesis’s
research questions for some reasons. First, the thesis only borrows Bourdieu’s concept of
capital and does not use his theory on how society works and culture to explain refugees’
labour market integration. Furthermore, as Jenkins (2006, 61) suggested, one interested
in Bourdieu’s theory should not limit oneself to his original work and other people’s
interpretation of his work. It is exactly what this thesis is doing by deriving the theory
from some migration scholars’ work who already used and interpreted Bourdieu for their
studies about migrants’ labour market integration.
2.1.4. Capital Convertibility
It should be noted that resources cannot become capital if they do not exist and function
in relation to a field (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992, 101). Bourdieu defines a field as a
“place of exchange”, where agents exchange their capital for one another while
simultaneously struggle to make certain forms of capital as most legitimate within that
field (Swartz 2013, 57). In other words, resources become capitals in a field when they
function as a “social relation of power” or instrument of struggle (Bourdieu 198b, 375 as
cited in ibid. 56). Concerning refugee employment integration, the labour market is a field
where the refugees struggle to exchange and acquire new capitals and compete with native
and other migrant job seekers for jobs. Resources such as language skills, diplomas, and
15
knowledge of local job culture become the capitals determining the job seeker’s position
in the labour market.
Thus, Bourdieusian capital theory differs from other theories because the different forms
of capital can be converted into one another. Many migration scholars have found that
migrants and refugees actively convert their capitals to acquire new capital in the host
country (Eggenhofer-Rehart et al.,2018; Erel, 2010; Ryan, 2011; Erel and Ryan, 2018;
Gericke et al., 2018). It indicates that refugee capitals are dynamic and not static like what
is assumed in human capital theory. Acquisition of new capitals and converting existing
capitals is crucial for refugees’ survival in the host country because their capitals
experience devaluation as they move across borders (Eggenhofer-Rehart et al. 2018, 36).
Kelly and Lusis (2006, as cited in Erel and Ryan 2018, 249) argue that the reason behind
the devaluation is because migrants’ economic, cultural, and social resources are valued
differently in different places.
It is necessary to account for how each form of capital can be turned into one another to
understand how refugees acquire and convert new capitals. At the root of all forms of
capital is economic capital (Bourdieu 1986, 54). Some goods and services to obtain other
forms of capital are readily available by exchanging one’s economic capital. In contrast,
others require more investment that must be maintained for a long time (ibid.) Refugees’
labour market integration is one of the best fields to see how cultural and social capital
can turn into economic capital. In their study on Syrian and Afghan refugees in Austria,
Eggenhofer-Rehart et al. (2018, 41-42) describe some examples of this conversion. The
refugees use their newly-acquired German language skills to conduct a job search, apply
for volunteer work or attend work training. When these refugees get a job, it shows how
embodied cultural capital such as language skills, volunteering experience and work
competence converted into economic capital from the job salary. Some refugees also use
institutionalised cultural capital such as their diplomas and skills certificates to apply for
jobs. Furthermore, some researchers demonstrate how migrants and refugees acquire
information about job vacancies through their network and contacts, especially their
vertical bridging network (Gericke et al., 2018; Ryan, 2011; Nannestad et al., 2008).
Social capital and cultural capital can also be converted into one another. For instance,
refugees can use language skills to contact the native population and build new networks
in their new country (Eggenhofer-Rehart et al.’s 2018, 41-42). Simultaneously, refugees’
16
horizontal bridging network supports cultural knowledge acquisition and language
training (Gericke et al., 2018, 58). The explanation of refugees’ capital conversion
process reveals the interdependence of each capital form. It is often found that to acquire
one form of capital, another form of capital is a prerequisite. In other words, lacking one
form of capital may hinder a refugee from acquiring the other forms (Eggenhofer-Rehart
et al. 2018, 42). For instance, a refugee who does not have adequate language skill
(cultural capital) face difficulties to establish valuable contacts with the native population
(social capital) or understanding the job-seeking process (cultural capital), which limit
their access to a well-paid job (economic capital).
Since this research is a first exploration attempt and its scope need to be limited, it does
not specifically analyse the problem using an intersectionality perspective. Nevertheless,
it acknowledges the importance of considering this perspective since both Erel (2010)
and Ryan (2011) has found in their studies that these factors heavily influence migrants’
trajectory in converting their capitals to secure employment. Social class is a crucial factor
that may add challenges, especially for highly skilled migrants and refugees. Such is the
case for one of Erel’s (2010, 653) study participants, who came from an urban middle-
class family but had to declass by working in a factory in her new country. Gender is
another essential factor that affects migrants’ opportunities in acquiring their capital. For
instance, a migrant who is a mother may have different strategies to acquire social capital
that differ from what policymakers (and maybe also TSOs) facilitate, for example,
through her children’ daycare and school (Ryan 2011, 712, 717).
Most of the time, the conversion and acquisition of new capitals do not go smoothly for
refugees. Aside from the lack of capital itself, the dominant class or the native population
tends to preserve their position by accumulating and transmitting capitals among their
group member (Bourdieu 1986, 55; Cederberg 2012, 61). There are several ways in which
the host society can guard and preserve its capital. One of them is by turning embodied
cultural capital into national capital (Erel 2010, 648). The national capital is cultural
capital claimed only to be possessed by those considered officially part of the nation
(ibid.) This capital preservation strategy is prevalent in labour market integration. For
example, by requiring local working culture experience, the host society limits refugees’
access to employment and gives the advantage to the native-born. In the Swedish context,
social closure adds more challenges for refugees to acquire social capital. Cederberg’s
(2012, 67-68) research found that often refugees need “Swedish-specific competence” to
17
access the network necessary to get a job. Refugees who are deemed too different from
the Swedes are often excluded from social networks.
Erel and Ryan (2018, 258-259) point out that the macro socio-political context influences
the opportunities and challenges faced by migrants in capital building and conversion at
a specific place in a certain historical time. The socio-political situation places migrants
in certain social positions, either inferior or advantaged (ibid., 247). Lee et al. (2020, 200)
note that the politicisation of migration and polarising debate about welcoming and
integrating refugees frame them as competitors in the job market. Such perception may
lead to the government adapting marginalising policies that affect their employment
integration process. Even non-hostile narrative about migration, such as the care and
humanitarian discourse, can also counteractively impact their labour market integration
because of refugees’ portrayal as victims and enhance their negative stereotype (ibid.)
Thus, when discussing refugees’ obstacles in the labour market integration and TSOs’
roles in supporting them, it is crucial to look at the socio-political background behind all
that happens. In this case, Sweden’s nation-building process and its construction into an
egalitarian political project are worthy of attention. Furthermore, the development of the
Swedish labour market and the history of migration in Sweden will also be discussed.
Both of these factors can help explain many things, such as why refugees are seen as
lacking the capital to integrate and to what extent (can) the TSOs support them with regard
to their position in the egalitarian welfare state.
2.2. Understanding the Socio-Political Background: Sweden as Egalitarian Welfare State
As Anderson (1983, 6) says, a nation is “an imagined political community --- and it is
imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign.” Members of a nation collectively
imagine the same idea of the community even though they have never met each other due
to the size of the group. It is by this collective imagining process a nation is created and
sustained (ibid.) A nation is limited because it has “finite, if elastic, boundaries” that
separates them from other nations or communities (ibid., 7). Based on Anderson’s
concept of nation, Sweden does not exist by itself, but it is constructed and imagined by
its members. The definition also implies that there is an idea of which kind of person is a
member of the community of Sweden. There is a boundary between what belongs to
Sweden and what does not. This thesis will revisit the boundary issue later. First, it is
18
crucial to look back into the history and understand how the Swedish community and the
Swedish welfare state was constructed.
2.2.1. Folkhemmet, the Egalitarianism and the Welfare State
Sweden was conceived as ‘the home of the people’ or Folkhemmet during the 20th
century by the ruling party, the Social Democrats (Bergmann 2017, 164). The idea is to
create a home for every Swede, regardless of class, to enjoy universal support from the
state. Due to its universal element, everyone was able to feel represented, and
contemporary Sweden is created as a nation (ibid.) This political project adopted Nordic
egalitarianism, which is different from other European countries’ egalitarianism. The
difference is twofold. First, they are signified by a high level of trust in the state, while
European egalitarianism contains a tension between the ruling elites and the people.
Secondly, Scandinavian, including Swedish egalitarianism, is an attempt to conciliate the
contradictory nature of egalitarianism, which ironically can result in inegalitarian
conditions (Bendixsen et al. 2018, 7, 9).
Egalitarianism in Sweden also takes form in the social construction of a robust universal
welfare state. The welfare system is characterised by wealth redistribution and de-
commodification. The latter consists of state protection for all citizens from the negative
effect of the market and social investment that aims to increase intergenerational citizens’
self-sustainability (Esping-Andersen 1990, as cited in Bendixsen et al. 2018, 11). For
many decades, the state has been the sole provider of welfare assistance for the citizens.
Nonetheless, since the end of the 1990s, the welfare-oriented TSOs began to increase in
size and numbers (Jeppsson Grassman and Svedberg 2007, 149). In the latest
development, the state and the voluntary organisations work together and fill each other
roles in providing support for the people. An example of this can be seen when they
handle the refugee reception in 2015 (see Hansen, 2018; Osanami-Törngren et al., 2018).
The nonprofit sector in Sweden will be discussed in the next chapter when this thesis
reviews the existing literature on the topic.
Internationally, the Swedish welfare state model is known as the third way between
capitalism and socialism, which involves government intervention to maintain an active
labour market (Dahlstedt and Neergard 2016, 4). This middle ground socio-political
system is also possible due to the people’s social and cultural values. Bendixsen et al.
(2018, 19-20) argue, based on Stenius (2010) analysis, that the idea of universality and
19
equality is central to Scandinavian society. In the Scandinavian context, universality
means everyone conforms to the same norm or way of life. This idea is also converted
into their national policy. Equality, for Scandinavians, refers not to inclusion as a criterion
but the result of cooperation. What is equal is how everyone is expected to understand
their responsibility to ensure the labour-sharing going well. It is emphasised that everyone
must try their best to be self-sufficient and work hard. Thus, it is no surprise that
participating in the job market actively and having employment become a requirement to
be completely included and seen as an equal member of the welfare state (ibid. 2018, 20;
Breidahl 2017, 6).
In the late 20th century, neoliberalism began to influence the Swedish egalitarian welfare
state. There has been a gradual change in the government, public policy and institutions.
Public agencies are structured and organised similarly to a company (Sundström 2016,
318), and many public sectors are deregulated, privatised and opened to private
companies and competition (ibid., 320). Centralisation also took place in Swedish public
administration, with the local government losing their power in certain sectors and tasked
with implementing the national-level agencies agenda (Bendixsen et al. 2018, 10). One
of the sectors that experience this change is the employment sector. In 2008, the
municipality-level employment board was discontinued due to transferring authority to
the PES, the national public employment agency. The current management stage of the
public administration is known as “post-new public management” [post-NPM], marked
by “network administration.” This management style enables cooperation with various
external actors, including private companies, organisations, experts and individuals, to
solve problems (Sundström 2016, 319). During this time, the TSOs can play their roles
in the employment sector, including the labour market integration of refugees.
2.2.2. Refugee Integration and Belonging in Sweden as an Egalitarian Welfare State
As mentioned above, a nation has a boundary that separates its members from non-
members. This boundary is not only a physical boundary or a geographical border. Like
Delanty’s (1995, 3) concept of Europe, Sweden is a geographical space, polity, idea, and
identity. Inside the core of the concept lies two paradoxical models of collective identity,
which are based on solidarity on the one hand and exclusion on the other (ibid., 1). The
first model aligns with Anderson’s (1983, 84) concept of a nation where the imagined
communities are “entitled to their autonomous place in a fraternity of equals.” In other
20
words, everyone who belongs in the community is equally entitled to enjoy the benefit
and resources owned by the community. What brings the community together in the first
place is language (ibid., 133), which according to Anderson, is “not an instrument of
exclusion” but “fundamentally inclusive” (ibid., 122). Some researchers have criticised
this claim because it implies that the people outside the imagined community are excluded
unintentionally and spontaneously (see, e.g. Marx 2002, 105). On the contrary, Marx
argues that the state and its ruling elites often reinforce the collective feelings, which can
be seen in the institution of citizenship (ibid, 105-106). It implies that the exclusion does
not happen by chance.
The mechanism behind the institution of citizenship carried out by state rulers is what
Yuval-Davis calls “politics of belonging.” Politics of belonging is the maintenance and
reproduction of “boundaries of the political community of belonging, boundaries that
separate the world population into ‘us’ and ‘them’” (Yuval-Davis 2006, 204). In this
thesis, it is the act of determining the border that separates what is “Sweden” and “not
Sweden”. Migrant integration is part of the institution of citizenship because it is a
mechanism to make new people a member or a citizen of a nation. Within the concept of
integration lies the criterion “for a specific person for him/her to be entitled to belong, to
be considered as belonging, to collectivity” (ibid., 209). Here comes the exclusion aspect
of nation-building. As Marx (2002, 107) claims, “citizenship rights have often been
allocated selectively, not universally.” To sums up, not everyone who comes to Sweden
can directly belong in the Swedish community. Some criteria determine whether they can
be part of Swedish society or not.
Integration measures for refugee and migrants in Sweden follows the egalitarian welfare
state principle: to sustain the high welfare spending, everyone in productive age must
work (Bendixsen et al. 2018, 22). Indeed, having too many unemployed people will make
the welfare system unsustainable. Thus, the integration of refugees in Sweden is centred
around employment (ibid., Osanami-Törngren et al., 2018, 14). Furthermore, according
to Kusterer and Bernhard-Oettel (2020, 3), “paid employment is the main road towards
securing permanent residency.” It shows that to belong in the nation of Sweden
completely, a refugee must be employable. Employable means one can obtain, keep, or
change a job (ibid.) In short, employability equals belonging in Sweden.
21
The logic of an egalitarian welfare state is that everyone who cannot support themselves
must be helped to be independent and actively work, thus contributing to the collective
goals. It means that to be eligible for assistance and taking part in the labour market
integration measure, the refugees must be seen as being unemployable. The construction
of refugees’ (un)employability is built on tangible assets, but it is socially constructed and
flexible (ibid., 4). In most cases, government agencies, such as work mediation officers,
become the gatekeepers who determine employability criteria and decide who are eligible
to access resources like jobs (Flam 2011, 185). Therefore, to understand newcomers
(un)employability, it is worthy to look at the discourse of (un)employability as reflected
on governments’ integration measures for the highly skilled refugees and the obstacles
they encounter in the labour market. For instance, the government develops Swedish for
Immigrants [SFI] course and a social orientation course for refugees
(Arbetsförmedlingen, 10 April 2021). It indicates that not knowing the Swedish language,
culture, and society means unemployable. In many cases, validating a foreign degree is
also necessary to get a job in Sweden (ibid.) It implies that having an unrecognised
academic degree from abroad signifies unemployability. Construction of these
characteristics as unemployable is the explanation behind the devaluation of capital
experienced by the refugees.
From the perspective of social welfare discourse, which is central to egalitarian Sweden,
refugees are seen as needing support and care (Kusterer and Bernhard-Oettel 2020, 3).
However, the refugee integration measure is also affected by the increasing influence of
neoliberalism. As a result, the Swedish refugee integration measure gradually changes its
approach from passive to active citizenship through activation policies (Breidahl 2017,
3). While previously policies prioritised granting refugees’ rights, they are now demanded
first to fulfil duties and obligations. The change of law regarding the introduction
programme below can illustrate the activation policies. Under Law (2010:197) newly
arrived refugees from age 20 to 65 have a right to participate in an individual introduction
programme consisting of a Swedish course, society orientation course, and facilitation to
labour market integration (Shakra et al., 2018, 36-37). They can also receive an
introduction benefit allowance (Etableringsersättning) (Sveriges Riksdag, 18 March
2010). In 2018, the government updated the law. It increased the demand for refugees to
be more active in their employment integration, hoping that the PES in charge of the
programme can operate more effectively. With the new law being implemented, refugees
22
can lose their introduction benefit if they do not follow their introduction programme plan
(Shakra et al. 2018, 37). The case above shows a growing demand for refugees to make
themselves employable first before enjoying their rights.
According to the neoliberal framework, making oneself employable is also seen primarily
as individual responsibility (Kusterer and Bernhard-Oettel 2020, 3). Nonetheless, it has
been said that the capitals needed by refugees to be employable are interdependent. For
example, it is often difficult to master the local language without someone from a native
population to practice. Many refugees have claimed that it is hard to enter Swedish social
bubbles (Cederberg 2012, 67-68). This obstacle can probably be explained by
understanding the Swedish concept of equality. Sweden distinguished itself from other
European countries for many decades by implementing multicultural integration policies
(Borevi 2014, 711; Bergmann 2017, 170). Under such policies, the state supports ethnic
minorities, including refugees, to keep their culture instead of assimilating them
(Bendixsen et al. 2018, 24). This measure contradicts what the government did to the
native population, towards which they performed social engineering to create a one-norm
society (ibid.) Such action emphasises differences and positions the migrants and refugees
outside the majority population (Brekke and Borchgrenvik 2007, 16, as cited in
Bendixsen et al. 2018, 24). Simultaneously, the policies for the native population led to
what some scholars call “equality as sameness” (Norman 2004, 224; Holvino and Kamp
2009, 397). There is a tendency of the autochthonous to demand cultural homogeneity as
a prerequisite to equivalent treatment. Simply put, what is designed to accommodate
differences and treat everyone equally creates inequality between the groups. Being
different in a homogenous and one-norm society makes it hard for a refugee to be included
in the native social circle. It cuts them from access to social capital and, with that, to
employment.
The idea of equality as sameness which leads to refugees’ challenges in labour market
becomes even more crucial with the increasing visibility of right-wing populism in
Swedish political landscape. Populism in this spectrum is signified by “us versus them”
rhetoric to divide the society against the foreign, the minority groups and the elites who
support them (Halmai 2019, 298). The election in 2018 placed the right-wing populist
party Sweden Democrats [SD] as the third largest party after they politicised the refugee
crisis and mobilised the small numbers of voters who want a stricter immigration policy
(Seiler 2020, 15). Ironically, the alliance parties and even Social Democrats have also
23
played with similar rhetoric during the refugee crisis due to their fear of losing voters
(Dahlstedt and Neergaard 2016, 131). SD has attempted to reclaim and redefine
folkhemmet for their gain. Their folkhem concept implies the homogeneity of Swedish
society and “constituted a discrete marker of the welfare state’s inherent Swedishness ...
that distinguishes the Swedish “natives” from the country’s “other” inhabitant” (Norocel
2016, 375). They demand that the welfare system should be reserved only for native
population (Bergmann 2017, 176-177). This exclusion of foreign born from some
elements of the welfare system is no longer based on race in its old biological meaning
but based on cultural similarity with the native population. For instance, those who are
seen as unable to meet the Swedish standard of gender equality is considered as culturally
inferior and unworthy of welfare provision (Norocel 2016, 375). This increasingly present
narrative may affect the native population’s attitude towards refugees and influence
refugees’ integration in recent times. However, to what extent is the influence is beyond
the scope of this paper.
Ironically, the egalitarian welfare state construction of refugees needing care and help can
result in an unintended negative effect. It underlines their position as a weak and
marginalised group. This case happens particularly in European countries with strong
welfare states where the discourse of diversity management in the labour market is
imbued with moral arguments (Holvino and Kamp 2009, 396-397; Ghorashi 2020, 12).
In her studies on Iranian female refugees’ integration in the Netherlands, Ghorashi (2020,
3) identifies four common approaches to diversity used by governmental and non-state
actors. Those four approaches are:
(1) Deficit or Deficiency (minorities lack qualifications), (2) Difference (cultural
diversity as a source of conflict and enrichment), (3) Discrimination (focus on removing
the structural exclusion of minorities – based on social justice arguments) and (4)
Diversity (diversity as a business strategy).
Based on Swedish integration measures for refugees, such as the introduction programme,
it can be concluded that the government uses the deficit approach to view refugees’
differences from the native population. Different working cultures, languages, and degree
certificates are seen as lacking qualifications for the Swedish labour market. The same
approach is often used by companies as well when hiring refugees for their diversity.
Hiring refugees is seen as a moral obligation to help the weak group with limited
24
employability in society (Holvino and Kamp 2009, 397). Alternatively, some companies
and organisations may adopt a more capitalistic view towards diversity from the US,
which is reflected in the fourth approach (ibid., 396). Thus, they hire refugees as a
business strategy to compete in the market and win more profit.
To summarise, the socio-political background which defines integration and belonging in
Sweden for refugees has trapped them in a vicious cycle. When refugees arrived in
Sweden, they are demanded to integrate as quickly as possible by getting employment to
keep the welfare state sustainable for everyone. Government agencies and non-state
actors develop some measures to help them. Considering both the neoliberal influence
and the refugees’ agency to acquire and convert new capitals, many want to take the
initiative and responsibility to enter the labour market. Nevertheless, their image as weak,
marginal and culturally different resulted from the egalitarianism-based government
policies preventing them from accessing valuable capitals such as network with the native
population. Without access to social capital, it is more difficult for them to acquire
cultural capital and, eventually, jobs. Without jobs, they cannot belong in Sweden.
2.3. Migration to Sweden and Swedish Labour Market
Situating the research problem within the socio-political background in Sweden is not
sufficient without understanding the development and change in migration patterns and
the Swedish labour market. These two factors should also be considered when discussing
highly skilled refugees’ labour market integration and obstacles.
Scholars, who study migration to Sweden, often divide the Swedish migration pattern into
two main phases (e.g., Rydgren 2004; Cederberg 2012). The first phase began post World
War, signified by the inflow of labour migration and guest workers, the majority of which
come from other Nordic countries such as Finland. From the beginning of the 1970s
onwards, migrants to Sweden are mostly humanitarian and family reunification migrants.
The latter are often relatives of the refugees.
During the first phase, Rydgren (2004, 700) notes that the employment rate of migrants
in comparison to Swedes was either equal or better. However, in the early 1970s, Sweden
was affected by the world oil crisis. The crisis pushed the Swedish government to create
a more restrictive migration policy (OECD 2011, 57). From this point, the employment
gap between the native population and the foreign-born widened. It reached its peak in
1990 when the economic recession hit Sweden severely (Rydgren 2004, 700).
25
Furthermore, there is a shift in the Swedish labour market from industrial to post-
industrial. This shift is characterised by the disappearance of low-skilled jobs and
increased employment within the service sector (Cederberg 2012, 62). This type of job
requires more competence, higher education level and advanced language skills. Many of
them also require Swedish-specific competence that can only be gained after a long
residency in the country (Rydgren 2004, 702-703). With the recent massive influx of
humanitarian migrants in 2015, the wide employment gap between native and foreign-
born remains. Before this gap narrows, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Sweden and forced
many businesses to close or lay off their employees. Under the pandemic, the
unemployment rate increased by 3,5 % for foreign-born workers and 1% for native-born
workers. Now about 18% of the migrant population are unemployed, while for the native
population, it is only 4,1% (Johnson, 2021).
The situation for each refugee is varied. Although it is not the focus of this research, their
class, race, and gender also influence the obstacles they face and their trajectory to enter
the labour market. One thing is certain; the government is not alone in supporting refugee
labour market integration. Briefly restated, some non-state actors are involved in the
process as well. This thesis wants to focus on their role. What do they do to help break
the vicious cycle that trapped the refugees? To what extent do they challenge the concept
of integration and belonging in Sweden applied to the refugees? Before answering these
questions, this research will look first at previous studies on the challenges that highly
skilled refugees face in the labour market, particularly in Sweden. It will also review what
has been found about TSOs’ role in refugee labour market integration up to this date.
26
Literature Review
This chapter will examine existing studies related to the research topic and show this
thesis’s relevance and possible contribution to the concerned research fields. First, it will
broaden the perspective of the study by situating it in the European and regional context.
Hence, it will be known what this study can contribute to understanding the problem on
the European and regional levels. After that, findings from previous studies about TSOs
in Sweden will be discussed. It is followed by a review of what has been found in earlier
research on (highly skilled) refugees’ obstacles in labour market integration and TSOs’
role in supporting their integration.
3.1. European Dimension
After the refugee crisis of 2015, the number of asylum applications to European OECD
countries, including some EU member states, slowly dropped for two years. However, in
2019, this number increased by 11% and half of the applications are still lodged in
European countries (OECD 2020, 11). This data showed that Europe is still the world’s
top destination for humanitarian migration. It is urgent to understand more about
refugees’ integration process to develop a more sustainable policy to support future crises.
Most of those who came in 2015 have received their decision regarding their residency
status and went through the early stage of integration measures such as basic language
learning and resettlement. To date, the EU member states still have no common
integration policy, and refugee integration measure is still under member states’
sovereignty (McCormick 2017, 185). What is important now is to ensure that these
refugees participate fully in the host countries’ labour market. The EU commitment to
refugees’ labour market integration can be seen from one of the Asylum Reception
Condition Directive provisions, which limit the waiting time for asylum seekers to access
the labour market to nine months (Martin et al. 2016, 13). Furthermore, the EU also have
a special funding scheme called Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and
European Social Fund (ESF) that member states’ institutions can use, including TSOs, to
support refugees’ employment integration. Unfortunately, despite the EU regulation, the
unemployment rate is still high in some member states (ibid.).
Previous literature has shown how TSOs can support and fill the gap left by the European
state actors, including in employment integration (Numerato, Čada and Hoření, 2019;
Battisti, 2019). Nevertheless, Garkisch et al. (2017, 1868) found that there is still a lack
27
of literature that focuses on major refugee-receiving countries, such as Sweden. Since
Sweden was one of the European countries with the highest accepted asylum application
per capita in 2015 (Eurostat 4 March 2016), this thesis can contribute to the European
level research on TSOs role in refugees’ employment integration by adding a perspective
from the extreme case. Sweden’s similarities and differences with other Scandinavian
countries can also lead to more understanding of similar cases in Denmark and Norway.
All Scandinavian countries adopted the same egalitarianism that differs from European
egalitarianism (Bendixsen et al. 2018, 7, 9). Their political and economic system is known
as the Nordic model, with a combination of the welfare system and capitalism. Hence, on
the one hand, the finding from this thesis may serve as a representation of the
Scandinavian region in Europe. On the other hand, this research can also be a starting
point for comparative research on a regional level. Although similar in egalitarianism,
Sweden’s migration policy is more multicultural than Denmark and Norway (ibid., 22).
While Sweden opened its door for many asylum seekers in 2015, Denmark closed its
border and limited the number of refugees they accept.
Furthermore, most research on TSOs role in refugee integration often highlight a single
organisation as a case study and insufficiently explore the interplay between TSOs and
other integration actors (Garkisch et al., 1866). Thus, this research is relevant because it
contributes a new perspective by positioning the TSOs among refugees and other
stakeholders, particularly the state. It also increases the samples to six organisations so
more information about the role of TSOs can be gathered and more generalisable
conclusions can be drawn.
3.2. Third Sector Organisations in Sweden
Another relevance of this research is related to the scarcity of studies on the third sector
in Sweden. The concept of civil society (and third sector) as a separate sphere independent
of the market and the state has just arrived in Sweden in the early 1990s. It is rooted in
the Anglo-American citizenship discourse and the idea of civil society as the champion
of freedom and defender of people against the government power (Trägårdh 2007, 25,
29). Because of the recent demarcation between the state, market and third sector, the
research on civil society in Sweden is still scarce. Some scholars, such as Åmna (1995a,
1995b), Jeppsson Grassman and Svedberg (1995, 1999), have just begun to discuss its
28
definition and map and categorise various voluntary associations between the 1990s and
2000s (Trägårdh 2007, 23).
Trägårdh claims that previously, the state and the society are almost indistinguishable in
Sweden. It can be attributed to Sweden’s nation-building process, in which the state is
formed through the voice and movement of the common folk, and every class are united
and equalise by the Social Democrat (ibid., 29). This unique history creates an egalitarian
welfare state marked by high trust between the people and the state. Thus, it is not
surprising that voluntary and civil society organisations do not position themselves
against the state. In contrast, they become part of the broader democratic structure of the
state (ibid., 32).
Previous research on TSOs in Sweden resulted in some interesting discoveries. First, it is
mostly member-based and voluntary oriented rather than service-based and professional-
oriented (Jeppsson Grassman and Svedberg 2007, 135). Secondly, the Swedish civil
society sector is mainly active in sport, recreational activities, cultural activities, and
labour market organisations (labour unions). These organisations work closely with the
state and receive funding to help avoid social problems, particularly among youth, by
promoting civic education (Åmna 2007, 167-168). As stated previously, they are not
opposing the state; instead, they share the same strong interest in the nation wellbeing
(ibid., 167).
Some scholars found that TSOs in Sweden still have a marginalised role in social welfare
and mostly operate in major cities (Jeppsson Grassman and Svedberg 2007, 135;
Blomqvist and Winblad 2019, 514). Their minimum role can be explained by the state’s
dominant role in welfare service provision (Jeppsson Grassman and Svedberg 2007, 140),
rooted in the welfare state-building process. For instance, even if the third sector initiates
the eldercare service, eventually the state took it over because the third sector is seen as
unable to provide service in high standard universally, which is the principle of the
egalitarian welfare state (Blomqvist and Winblad 2019, 524). In the 1990s, the welfare
state shifted and was influenced by neoliberalism and market policy which led to the
reduction of state role and development of NPM ideology in the public sector. NPM
allows the private and third sectors to participate in welfare provision because of its
management style, which allows the state to outsource welfare provision. Still, the private
sector primarily took over the state role (ibid., 146). Blomqvist and Winblad (2019, 520)
29
argue that the third sector fails to compete with bigger private companies due to their
financial and organisational inadequacy. In short, both the historical development of the
welfare state and the neoliberal influence contribute to limiting the third sector’s role.
Due to the limited research, it is still unknown how big TSOs’ role in refugee integration
is. However, as the last part of this chapter will show, their presence seems not as
marginalised as other social work areas. Still, there are not many studies that specifically
focus on their role. Before reviewing those existing literature, this chapter will first review
the findings on highly skilled refugees’ barriers to employment.
3.3. Highly Skilled Refugees’ Obstacles in Employment Integration
In contrast with research on TSOs’ role, plenty of studies cover highly skilled refugees’
obstacles in entering the labour market. Understanding refugees’ barriers to employment
is necessary to know how the TSOs can help them. Which challenges are addressed and
attempted to be overcome by the TSOs with their services for refugees?
Some researchers attributed the obstacle to the stigmatisation and discrimination that
refugees’ face in labour market due to their cultural difference and insufficient Swedish
skills (Diedrich and Hellgren 2018, 18). Other studies also confirm refugees’ difficulties
in getting a job because they do not adequately know the local language, the local working
culture, are lacking vertical bridging networks that can connect them with employment
(Cederberg, 2012; Eggenhofer-Rehart, 2018; Gericke et al., 2018; Khan-Gökkaya and
Mösko, 2020). Additional hurdle includes the fact that their education and skills
qualifications from their home countries are not recognised (ibid.) In short, in
Bourdieusian terms, they are seen as lacking cultural and social capital.
Highly skilled refugees are often seen as having fewer barriers than those with limited
education and work experience. Most of them come from the middle to upper social class
in their home country, providing them with more economic capital. Precisely because of
it, they often receive less attention from researchers and policymakers. Without turning
this into a discussion about who has the harder challenges, this thesis argues that more
scholarly attention should be paid to them because they have different barriers that are
rarely considered when creating an integration measure. For instance, the lack of a
network with strong vertical ties may push them and confine them within their ethnic
niche. Although ethnic niches can provide access to jobs, they are often jobs that do not
30
commensurate to their skills (Gericke et al. 2018, 49; Campion 2018, 9; Nannestad et al.
2008, 614).
It leads to another challenge, namely overqualification, which may cause a loss in their
professional identity (Mackenzie-Davey and Jones, 2019; Bucken-Knapp et al. 2020,
121) or a confusing and contradictory process of new identity formation (Mozetič, 2018).
Professional identity is one’s self-perception as part of a certain professional group. It is
crucial for the middle class (Bucken-Knapp et al. 2020, 121) and especially for some
professions, such as healthcare professionals and teachers. Professional identity gives the
beholder a sense of valued social roles and high status in society (Mackenzie-Davey and
Jones 2019, 49). Loss of professional identity often happens due to the unrecognised
qualifications of the skills within their profession by the employers in the new country.
This situation often negatively affects refugees’ mental health (Mackenzie-Davey and
Jones 2019, 55, 58). Similarly, refugees with professions that become helpers in society,
such as doctors and teachers, often feel worthless when they cannot continue their work
(ibid., 57). On a positive note, taking the long journey of reclaiming their professional
identity through additional education and skills recognition gives the refugees a sense of
control over their identity as providers in the new society (ibid., 61). In conclusion, being
a highly skilled refugee means additional identity-building challenges, although it can
help them sustain and be resilient in their integration process. It also shows the need of
having targeted measures that consider this challenge.
Other hurdles can emerge during refugees’ attempt to convert and acquire new capitals
due to external factors, for instance, the macro socio-political context of the host country
at that time. Support from state actors, such as government agencies, may be insufficient.
The insufficient support from the public sector might be an unintended consequence of
the NPM application in the state agencies’ management. With NPM, the public sector is
organised similarly to a private company. Thus, the social welfare area becomes more
bureaucratic and causes conflict between the market principle and the workers’ value
(Askeland and Strauss 2014, 245; Hall, 2013).
Currently, the government introduction programme or the Establishment Programme is
the main initiative that supports refugees’ integration. In this programme, each refugee
between 20 to 65 is given a caseworker (handläggare), who will help them develop 40
hours per week activity plans (including language classes, social orientation course and
31
job training) with the goal of labour market integration. According to Diedrich and
Hellgren (Diedrich and Hellgren 2018, 19), it is often challenging for the caseworker to
find enough suitable activities to fill those 40 hours.
A previous study from Syrian refugees’ perspective about institutional support in Sweden
regarding their employment integration shows that many refugees have a negative
perception of it (Bucken-Knapp et al., 2020). The refugees expressed their
disappointment towards street-level bureaucrats and caseworkers for being too slow to
process their applications (ibid., 103), providing insufficient assistance and guide, and
having unrealistic expectations concerning their level of knowledge about certain
procedures (ibid., 104). Some said that the caseworkers gave them contradictory and
inaccurate information (ibid., 98). Similar findings have been voiced by Kusterer and
Bernhard-Oettel (2020, 10-11) that online information on government websites can be
inconsistent, unclear, and difficult to navigate. They also discover that the complete
information can sometimes only be found in the pages that require advanced Swedish to
understand. Some refugees recognised that caseworkers do help them with finding jobs.
However, they are usually jobs for which the refugees are overqualified (Bucken-Knapp
et al. 2020, 98). Furthermore, several refugees are also unsatisfied with SFI. They stated
that sometimes they are placed in a class with a level that is either too high or too low for
them. The Syrian refugees especially felt that there is a lack of teacher-led teaching
compared to self-study and written exercises (ibid., 117).
While the Establishment Programme is targeted at every refugee in productive ages, the
Swedish government also develop another initiative specifically for the highly skilled
refugees, namely the fast-track programme (snabbspår) and Korta Vägen. The fast-track
programme consists of validating qualifications, professional language courses,
internship, professional certification, and supplementary training (Arbetsförmedlingen,
11 May 2021; Diedrich and Hellgren 2018, 66-67). The initiative is a cooperation between
PES, employers in the relevant sector and educational service providers. Although it is
available for some highly skilled professions, such as engineers and teachers, it is limited
to professions with a lack of worker supply in Sweden (ibid.) However, prior knowledge
of Swedish is not necessary to participate in this track, as long as the caseworker decides
that the refugee may participate in it. In contrast, Korta Vägen is a similar programme
targeted specifically for academics in some fields, such as technology and engineering
(Diedrich and Hellgren 2018, 104-105). This initiative is a cooperation between PES and
32
the non-profit sector, such as Folkuniversitetet. For some fields, the main organiser is not
the PES but the non-profit organisations (ibid., 110; Academicum, 11 May 2021). To
participate in Korta Vägen, a refugee must have had a minimum of two years of academic
experience and sufficient knowledge of Swedish (Academicum, 11 May 2021). Korta
Vägen is only available in limited cities in Sweden.
Looking through the gender lens, male and female refugees may face different barriers
towards employment due to their gender. Female migrant integration trajectory,
especially mothers, may differ from the normal path supported by policymakers and
TSOs, for instance, through parenting-related activities. Some migrants also come from
a cultural background where women are primarily assigned roles as homemakers, which
hinder their opportunity to integrate into the labour market (Bucken-Knapp et al. 2020,
26). Besides, Prifti (2019, 34) finds that employment integration programmes by PES
mostly are for science professions, which in many countries are still dominated by men.
Women, who often study and work in social and humanities fields, have less opportunity
to get support.
Ethnic discrimination is also commonly suggested by some researchers as a barrier for a
refugee to employment. For instance, Norman (2004) observes that migrants who come
in the first and second phases of migration to Sweden do not receive equal treatment.
While Finnish migrants are seen as “folks like everyone else”, refugees who arrived in
the 1980s are not (Norman 2004, 207). The local people are angry, disturbed and afraid
of the refugees (ibid, 223). The unequal treatment and employment outcome might result
from the idea of equality as sameness, where migrants with a similar culture to Sweden
are more easily accepted than those with bigger differences. However, it is also possible
that the second phase arrival time under recurring economic crisis causes a negative
attitude towards these migrants. Considering the cultural difference between migrants and
Swedes, Lundborg (2013, 230) also found that migrants from Muslim countries have the
worst labour market outcome even after 20 years of residence. This finding can suggest
that they face more discrimination. Indeed, foreign-sounding names, religious attire and
darker skin tone reduce the chance of getting the job (Risberg and Romani 2021, 5),
despite that the job applicant speaks fluent Swedish (Rydgren 2004, 710). It can also be
possible that generally, migrants from such countries arrived with a worse initial situation
to be employed in Sweden compared to migrants of other origins. However, Rydgren also
shows in his research that even adoptees perform worse in the labour market than native-
33
born (ibid., 706). Between native-born and adopted children, the only visible difference
from employers’ perspective is skin colour (Rooth 2001, 1, as cited in Rydgren 2004,
706). It indicates that there is a preference to hire someone who are more similar to the
mainly native-born employers (Risberg and Romani 2021, 5). Using a Bourdieusian
perspective, this challenge can be understood as an example of how migrants’ cultural
capital is valued less than local cultural capital.
Risberg and Romani (ibid., 20-21) brought a fresh perspective from organisation studies,
citing the organisational logic of companies before and during the recruitment process as
the explanation for refugees’ unemployment and underemployment. They utilise risk
theory to extract narrative of migrant employability from field work and interview in a
mentorship provider organisation. Their findings show that companies perceive refugees
as a risk threatening their valued organisation normality in performance and everyday
work due to their perceived lack of Swedish skill, lower education, and cultural
differences. Thus, it is logical to not hire them or give them an internship or a role in
which they are overqualified to preserve the construction of their foreign background as
of lesser value (ibid., 17). Their study shows that employers or companies can also create
barrier for refugees to employment integration when they devalue refugees’ capitals and
perpetuating it through their organisational logic.
In sum, this thesis can identify seven causes of highly skilled refugees’ obstacles in
employment integration from the theoretical framework and previous literature: (1) lack
or devaluation of capitals, (2) interdependency of the capitals which traps refugees in an
endless cycle while converting them, (3) overqualification, (4) inadequate support from
other integration actors especially the public sector, (5) lack of gender-oriented support,
(6) ethnic discrimination, and (7) employers’ negative perception of hiring refugees.
These obstacles might also overlap with each other. For instance, lack of gender-oriented
support can be seen as an example of inadequate support, and ethnic discrimination can
be traced back to lack of capital. Concerning the latter, it can be assumed that the more
similar a refugee with the local population, the higher their capital will be valued.
It is assumed that the TSOs will have a similar perception regarding the challenges like
the refugees. As some existing literature found, the TSOs attempted to make the refugee
employable by helping them understanding the Swedish labour market culture. It
indicates their acknowledgement of refugees’ lack of capital. Their effort to fill the gap
34
left by the state actors also indicates their awareness of the inadequate support. However,
their understanding and solution to tackle the other problems are yet to prove.
3.4. TSOs’ Roles in Refugees’ (Employment) Integration in Existing Studies
Being part of social work, the third sector’s role in refugee integration is still
underresearched. Existing studies found that most non-profit sector activities target
asylum seekers who live in reception centres and are waiting for relocation (Osanami
Törngren et al. 2018, 16). A study by Kjell Hansen (2018) follows the rural civil society
in providing various help to the refugees in reception centres, including distributing basic
needs and organising language cafés. His study shows an example of the more common
form of civil society in Sweden, the voluntary cooperation of citizens instead of
professional organisations. The third sector tends to get stronger when the state’s role in
welfare provision diminishes, especially in rural areas (ibid., 273-274). Furthermore, it
also demonstrates that the relation between the state and the third sector is not always
good. Several months after the chaotic arrival of refugees in the reception centres, the
state moved and dispersed these refugees to other cities without consulting the rural civil
society who had worked hard to integrate the refugees into their community. The state’s
lack of transparency disappointed the rural civil society and put social trust between the
state and the people at risk (ibid., 285).
Even more scarce is literature that specifically addresses TSOs’ role in refugees’ labour
market integration. From the small number of studies, it can be understood that TSOs are
involved in refugees’ labour market integration support. Gericke et al. (2018, 52) claimed
in their article that TSOs are present on three stages of refugees’ labour market: early
integration, preparation to enter the labour market, and when entering the labour market.
In the first stage, social workers and volunteers collect and distribute basic needs to
refugees. The next step gives information about the host country labour market and
support in job applications such as translating CVs (ibid., 54). Some NGOs also help
refugees enter the labour market by hiring them as translators (ibid., 55) or referring them
to potential employers (ibid., 56).
In the Swedish context, TSOs are supporting refugees in those three stages as well. Many
researchers have studied non-profit and voluntary initiatives to help refugees in the early
integration phase (Osanami Törngren et al., 2018; Hansen, 2018). Studies by Diedrich
and Hellgren (2018) and Risberg and Romani (2021) also capture the presence of TSOs
35
in the second and third stages of labour market integration. The support for refugees on
this stage comes in mentorship, labour market integration-themed workshops, matching,
network building, internship, CV writing support, language learning and many others.
Diedrich and Hellgren (2018, 52) reported that the third sector initiative often takes the
form of projects instead of the organisation. On the one hand, this form makes them tend
to be temporary (ibid., 10). On the other, projects are seen as the best way to collaborate,
test new implementation methods, and avoid structural barriers when seeking further
funding (ibid., 52). It may explain the lack of third sector research that studies multiple
organisations. Both Diedrich and Hellgren (2018) and Risberg and Romani (2021) do not
focus on refugees but migrants in general and only on a single region or organisation.
Therefore, a further study focusing on refugees like this is necessary since they have some
specific challenges that do not apply to other migrant groups.
While Diedrich and Hellgren (2018) study explore third sector initiatives broadly, Risberg
and Romani (2021) look deeper by focusing on a single TSO which focus on mentorship
activity. Like CV writing support and labour market integration-themed workshops,
mentorship is also an attempt to make migrants employable. They claim that the
mentorship activities and mentors and mentees’ narratives of employability are about
adopting Swedish job-seeking practice, workplace behaviour, and obeying the Swedish
norm (ibid., 21). In other words, the TSO that provides this mentorship programme tries
to normalise migrants to shorten the distance between them and the standard norms in
Swedish companies to be hired in positions that are equal to their competence. In this
case, although the TSO tries to help, it also preserves the barrier for refugees by following
and maintaining the narrative of employability shaped by the employing organisations.
The TSOs in Diedrich and Hellgren’s (2018) and Risberg and Romani’s (2021) research
are located in big cities, namely Gothenburg and Malmö. Research by Hansen (2018) on
rural voluntary associations shows that they play a different role from these TSOs. A rural
civil society based its activities on compassion and used it as a political statement
regarding the integration issue (ibid., 277). The first motivates them to help the refugees
by seeing them as human beings instead of categories for bureaucratic purposes and
involving them in daily life practices. In the second motivation, rural TSOs show their
stance against anti-immigration and disprove urban prejudice about the rural society that
is often seen as narrow-minded and xenophobic (ibid., 278). Hansen (ibid.) argues that
rural and urban society sees refugees differently. For small rural societies, refugees can
36
be an opportunity for creating economic growth in their depopulated areas. In contrast, as
seen from the political narratives, urban society tends to see them as problems and
difficulties. Because of this different perspective, small rural areas and big cities approach
the integration problem also in different ways. In urban areas, integration is done through
regulation, bureaucratic processes, and numbers. Meanwhile, rural civil society integrates
the refugees through personal relationships and includes them in daily life practices.
Reviewing previous findings from research on TSOs’ roles in refugees integration gives
a guideline for this thesis about what has been known and what is missing. To conclude,
this thesis adds the number of literature that studies civil society in Sweden. It fills the
research gap by exploring the field in which third sector studies in Sweden has not
ventured much despite the urgency, namely the highly skilled refugee employment
integration. It sheds light on more welfare-oriented civil societies in the form of
professional organisations, which, although still marginalised, has increased in size
slowly since 1990.
Previous research has identified on which stage of employment integration do TSOs play
their roles. However, previous studies do not discuss further how their contribution can
help the refugees. One study by Risberg and Romani (2021) went deeper by focusing on
one organisation. Although it explains how the mentorship programme helps refugees
find employment, its main focus is on organisational perspective, and the limited sample
is not sufficient to represent TSOs in Sweden. The same limitation applies to Diedrich
and Hallgren’s study, which is limited to the Gothenburg area. Simultaneously, Hansen’s
study adds a comparative perspective between rural and urban TSOs to increase the
understanding TSOs’ roles.
Based on the examples in Diedrich and Hallgren’s and Risberg and Romani’s studies, it
seems that urban TSOs follow the narrative of employability and the concept of
integration adopted by other stakeholders (government and private sector). In contrast,
rural civil society in Hansen’s study takes a more oppositional stance regarding
integration matter from the national and urban perspective. This thesis aims to contribute
with more samples, containing TSOs with headquarter in major cities, but mainly operates
in multiple cities or even Sweden-wide. This combination makes them interesting cases
to study, especially how they position themselves among other stakeholders regarding the
integration issue.
37
In addition, refugees’ obstacles are heavily influenced by macro socio-political factors.
According to Garkisch et al. (2017, 1865), a comprehensive integration measure should
serve individuals or migrants and aim to change the system so that these migrants can be
included. They claimed that there is a research gap on TSOs role to make employers
willing and able to hire newcomers. This thesis also attempts to fill this gap by studying
some TSOs whose target groups include employers. Before presenting and discussing the
result, this thesis will first outline the methodology.
38
Methodology
This chapter will begin with the method this research used to select the sample and collect
the empirical data. It will then describe the method and approach that are used to analyse
the collected materials. Lastly, the chapter also elaborates on the ethical aspect and
limitations of the research.
4.1. Qualitative approach
This thesis used a qualitative approach to answer the research question, which was chosen
for several reasons. First, qualitative methods are most suitable since the research wants
to understand highly skilled refugees’ labour market integration from the TSOs’
perspective. The qualitative approach allows the researcher to see the topic or the
phenomenon they want to understand from the perspective of the people they studied
(Bryman 2015, 393). Qualitative research is interested in understanding social structures
or individual experiences (Winchester and Rofe 2016, 5). In doing so, qualitative research
uses data collection methods that differ from the quantitative approach, such as semi-
structured interviews and observations. The narrative character of semi-structured
interviews can gather richer data and capture multiple meanings from the source more
than a survey. Qualitative methods can give the data sources almost unlimited space to
explain their statement, which quantitative methods cannot. Hence, since this thesis
attempts to understand the third sector’s multiple perspectives on refugees’ integration,
the qualitative approach works better than the quantitative one.
The qualitative approach stands on the constructivist ontological position (Bryman 2015,
375), which suits this thesis because it views the concept of integration as dynamic and
shaped by multiple actors. Theoretically, this research was based on previous studies
about migrant and refugee integration from their perspective. Simultaneously, it aims to
fill the gaps by adding the perspective of the TSOs that support them. In other words, this
thesis did not insist on a single meaning of integration but acknowledged multiple
meanings of the concept from different actors’ perspectives. It was also what makes
qualitative methods most suitable because it tends to highlight multiple meanings and
interpretations instead of asserting that there is only one right meaning (Winchester and
Rofe 2016, 8).
In this case, how the TSOs understand and shape the meaning of refugee integration in
Sweden will be derived from multiple forms of data. It is not only described through
39
words by the TSOs but also reflected in their action. Simply put, this thesis uses
interpretation to deduct the meaning of the concept from the data. A qualitative approach,
which takes an interpretive epistemological position (Bryman 2015, 375), enables this
thesis to do so. Lastly, unlike the quantitative approach, the qualitative approach tends to
be more flexible in its method and research process (ibid., 397). It gives an advantage to
the research because flexibility in changing the course of the study increases the
possibility to gather richer and finer data based on preliminary findings and understand
the studied topic deeper.
4.2. Data Collection
This study began by using the semi-structured interview as the main method to gather
empirical data. When it was known to the researcher that there is a possibility to observe
some of the TSOs’ events directly, two online observations were added as a secondary
method to complement the interview data. Included as secondary data source were
information from the TSOs’ official websites, social media accounts, and annual reports
if available. By doing this, the researcher could gain real experience and a deeper
understanding of the studied topic. In the following passages, the two methods will be
described in detail. However, first, it will elaborate on the sampling system to get the
participants for the interview and the observation.
4.2.1. Sampling
A sampling technique that is commonly used in qualitative research is purposive
sampling. According to Patton (2002, as cited in Stratford and Bradshaw 2016, 124), there
are seven types of purposive samplings. What was used in this research is called criterion
sampling, in which cases or participants are selected based on certain criteria (ibid.) The
criterion was formed by the research question and established at the beginning of the
whole research process. Thus, there was little or no addition to the sample, which
develops along the research process. This criterion sampling method is referred to as fixed
purposive sampling (Bryman 2015, 410). Three criteria base the participant selection in
this study: being (1) a third sector organisation which (2) operates in Sweden and (3)
work with supporting highly-skilled refugees in their employment integration.
At first, the researcher searched for the TSOs that works with refugees integration from
a presence list of a conference titled Framtidens integration – Det delade ansvaret held by
Forum for Reforms, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability [Fores] (see Fores.se, 2020). The
40
researchers attended the conference in the project “Social Integration of Highly Skilled
Refugees in Sweden” from Uppsala University. Next, the researcher browsed Linkedin
to find more TSOs that possibly fulfil the criteria. The search was conducted using some
keywords such as “integration”, “refugee integration”, “employment integration”,
“labour market integration,” and the same words translated in Swedish to increase the
possibility of finding participants. In total, 24 organisations were listed. Then, the
researcher read their profile on LinkedIn and their official website and match them with
the three criteria mentioned above. The list was then reduced to 14 organisations.
The aim was to invite a representative of these TSOs, preferably the founder, the leader,
the public relation or the programme manager, for an interview. Contacting the TSOs
occurred in two phases. The first phase was done between October to November 2020, in
which the researcher contacted 8 TSOs. Only 3 TSOs replied and was willing to be
interviewed. In February 2021, the researcher became aware of two TSOs in Linkedin
that fulfil the criteria but are not included in the targeted participant list. Together with
another TSO from the existing list, they were contacted and recruited as interviewees.
After interviewing these six TSOs’ representatives, the researcher decided not to contact
more participants because it was believed that enough data to form a solid conclusion had
been acquired. The TSOs represent various types of organisations whose founders are
also diverse. Some of the TSOs are founded or represented by native Swedes, while others
by foreign-born. Hence, it can be argued that the gathered data can already represent
multiple perspectives fairly. The table below details each participant and their diverse
type and background.
TSO’s name Type of organisation Interviewee’s
background
Engineer to Engineer
[E2E] Nonprofit organisation Native Swedes
Yrkesdörren Nonprofit organisation Native Swedes
Mumtaz Integration Social enterprise Refugee and native Swede
Jobbentrén Social enterprise Native Swedes
New to Sweden Voluntary organisation Labour migrant
Real People Digital labour movement Labour migrant (deportee)
Table 1: List of interview participants
41
4.2.2. Interview
There are several benefits offered by the interview method for this thesis. An interview
can gather diverse meanings, opinions, and experiences of the participants. The result can
unveil whether there is agreement or differences on some issues between the participants.
Interviews allow the researcher to discover more about the problem being studied deeper
than other methods such as observation or questionnaires (Dunn 2016, 150). Furthermore,
according to Dunn (ibid., 151), interviews enable the researcher to find out what is
relevant to the interviewee about the questioned topic. With an interview, the researchers’
preliminary opinions and conclusion can always be confirmed and examined. All these
strengths of interview method are crucial for the study since it wants to capture the TSOs’
concept of integration and their experience of supporting refugees’ in labour market
integration as broad and deep as possible. Is there a dominant meaning and opinion among
the TSOs or do they differ in their idea of refugees’ integration?
This study employed a semi-structured interview as a method to collect the data from the
participants. In this type of interview, the researcher asks structured open-ended questions
based on the themes in the interview guide (Gagnon 2010, 61). Flexibility is the strength
of semi-structured interviews. The researcher is free to ask the question they deem most
relevant and does not have to stick to a particular order. Semi-structured interviews give
interviewees more freedom to answer, although the researcher must redirect the
conversation if it goes too far from the relevant topic (ibid., Dunn 2016, 158). The
diversity of the TSOs makes semi-structured interviews most suitable for this research
because it allows the researcher to formulate additional questions on the spot to pursue
what is relevant for each participant. It offers flexibility in formulating an interview guide
as well.
An interview guide was prepared before each interview. The interview guide contains a
list of issues or questions to be asked (Bryman 2015, 469). The topic or questions were
mainly derived from the research questions but also previous findings of research on
refugee labour market integration. The guide was then reviewed together with the help of
other members of the researcher team of which the author was part. All interview guides
covered the topics of the interviewee’s role in the TSO, the background of the TSO, its
target group, its activities and services for highly skilled refugees, how they reach out to
their target group, the outcome of their activities, their funding source, their cooperation
42
with other integration actors, the challenges they faced in implementing their activities,
and the TSOs’ plan for future development. In addition to these topics, the researcher
conducted background research for each participant before the interview. Background
research means reading various information about the participating TSOs from different
sources, particularly the official websites and news articles about them. It was done to
avoid asking for information that can be easily obtained so the interview time can be spent
optimally to collect more high-quality data. The background research also resulted in
some specific questions for each participant based on their situation.
After three interviews, the guide was revisited and refined by adding a more explicit
question about the TSOs’ concept of integration. Initially, the researcher focused on
collecting information on TSOs’ integration concept only through implicit questions
about the implementation of their activities. In the last three interviews, the researcher
decided to try a more explicit question about the topic and what the participants say about
it. The decision turned out to be useful to enrich data which helped answer the main
research question.
Similar to the interviewee recruitment, interviews were also done in two phases. The first
phase was also between October to November 2020. In this phase, the researcher
interviewed E2E, Yrkesdörren and Mumtaz Integration. From February to March 2021,
the researcher conducted interviews with the rest of the participants, namely Jobbentrén,
New to Sweden and Real People. The interview with E2E was done with other research
team members since they also need to collect data. The other interviews were conducted
by the researcher alone. The interviewees were permitted to get the interview guide to
prepare the data to answer the questions if they requested it.
Because of the pandemic situation, all interviews were conducted online through Zoom.
However, instead of recording the online meeting directly with Zoom’s feature, the
researcher used a recording application on her phone to record the voice only. Permission
from the participants to record was obtained before starting the recording.
Simultaneously, note-taking was also used as a record-keeping strategy besides recording.
The note served as a backup in case of technical failure and to help the researcher in
concentrating.
43
4.2.3. Online Observations
After the second interview phase, the researcher asked for the TSOs’ permission to
participate in online events and observe. There are some purposes of observation in
qualitative research. One relevant to this thesis is to provide complementary evidence and
additional descriptive data besides another more controlled form of data collection, such
as interviews (Kearns 2016, 314). In other words, the researcher wanted to understand
and observe how the TSOs implement their services for highly skilled refugees directly,
as a complementary to the verbal description gained from the interview.
There was no particular selection process to determine the observation setting, or
specifically, which TSO and whose event to observe in this study. During the data
collection phase between February to May, only two TSOs’ events are open to the public,
and the researcher received permission to attend. These organisations were E2E and New
to Sweden. Both of their events were in the form of an online seminar or webinar. This
form enabled the researcher to sit in and participate as one of the attendees. In other words,
the researcher took the role of an observer-as-participant (ibid., 319).
The webinar by E2E is titled “Navigate Your Skills in Swedish Workplace Culture with
E2E!” and took place on 4 March 2021. Meanwhile, New to Sweden’s webinars, “A
Newcomer’s Guide to Finding Work in Sweden” and “Create an Awesome Job Profile”,
were held on 5 and 6 May 2021. E2E’s event targeted refugees, while New to Sweden’s
webinar was open to all foreign-born job seekers. To gain access to the webinar, the
researcher contacted the representatives of both organisations, who were also
interviewees, and asked their permission to observe as an attendee. The process to get
permission was easy, and the researcher was allowed to attend both events. The researcher
followed the same step as other participants in the observation, including registering
through an online portal to receive the link to the meeting room.
To the TSOs, the researcher’s presence as an observer was known. The main reason was
ethical consideration (see Bryman 2015, 426) since the main observation object was the
implementation of their events. However, the researcher decided not to disclose her role
to other participants in the event. The justification for this choice was related to the second
important question: to what extent should the researcher actively participate in the
phenomenon they observe (Van Maanen 1978, as cited in Bryman 2015, 438). In this
case, the researcher decided to be a minimally participating observer (ibid., 436). This
44
role took the form of a limited self-introduction comment in the chatbox during New to
Sweden’s webinar and limited participation during group discussion in E2E’s webinar.
Minimal participation by the researcher was taken not to influence the genuine interaction
between the real participants and the host during the webinar. For example, the researcher
did not ask any questions to avoid distorting the data about important issues asked by the
refugees concerning employment integration.
A role as a minimally participating observer is commonly taken by the researcher when
the observation is only a complementary method to other main sources of data, such as
interviews in the context of this study (ibid.). The data from the observation was recorded
in the form of a field note. The field note recorded the time, the title of the event, how
many are the participants, who are the speakers in the webinars, the content of the
webinar, how it happened and every interesting detail from the interaction between the
host, speaker and the participants that can answer the research questions.
4.3. Data Analysis: Qualitative Content Analysis with Coding
This study employed qualitative content analysis to analyse the data using the theoretical
framework and existing literature. According to Margrit Schreier (2014, 170), a
qualitative content analysis uses a coding frame to describe the meaning of the data
systematically. The coding technique was used in this research because it can quickly
reduce the data, categorise and analyse them according to what is looked for in the
research questions (Cope 2016, 377).
Before starting with the coding process, the interview records were transcribed verbatim
and turned into text. After that, the interview transcriptions and field notes from the
observation were read several times carefully. The researcher then created a codebook,
which consists of all codes used in the coding process. The codes were developed and
adjusted along with the reading, coding, and analysis process. Two types of code are used
for this study, which follows the approach described by Cope (ibid., 378-379). First was
the descriptive code, which labelled themes and patterns that could be seen directly on
the surface while reading the text or openly stated by the research participants. This first
step created the first layer of coding. In the second layer, each code was broken down into
categories that reflect their answer variation.
The second code type is called analytic codes. These codes revealed the themes that were
interesting for the researcher. Usually, analytical codes highlight the pattern in the
45
descriptive codes (ibid., 379). In this study, the analytical codes were drawn from the
theoretical framework and literature review, then applied inductively into the pattern
found in the first and second coding layer. In short, the interpretation process has begun
with this deeper layer of coding.
All patterns and findings were coded, understood and interpreted carefully using the
theoretical framework and existing literature. The interpretation result was summarised,
written, and presented in the analysis chapter that will come next.
4.4. Ethical Consideration
As a qualitative study whose research subjects and topics involve organisations and
people of vulnerable groups, careful ethical consideration is extremely important for this
study. In this part, the steps to ensure that the whole process of this study adheres to the
research ethic will be explained.
As Dowling (2016, 31) states, it is not unusual that qualitative methods, such as interviews
and observation, concern the research subject’s privacy. Because this thesis deals with
refugees’ integration, the TSOs representatives might even disclose some personal
experience of the refugees they encountered during their activities. The research subjects’
and their target group’s privacy must be protected, and they must be aware of what for
their shared experience will be used. Thus, the interviewees were informed about the
research topic when they were contacted and invited for the interview. They were told
that the interview would be anonymous unless the interviewee allowed name-mentioning.
They were also allowed not to answer a question if they do not want, take a break, or stop
the interview completely. As mentioned before, permission to record was obtained before
the recording began.
The ethical consideration extended beyond the interview process. After the interview was
completed, the recording was stored only on the researcher’s phone and computer,
protected with a password. The researcher transcribed the recording manually.
Transcribing software is avoided to prevent any issue with data security. If the researcher
quoted their answer in the presentation of the analysis, they would be notified.
Another aspect of research ethics is critical reflexivity. England (1994, as cited in
Dowling 2016, 34) defines the term as a “process of constant, self-conscious scrutiny of
the self as researcher and of the research process.” Critical reflexivity is important
46
because a researcher’s background, experience, and social position may influence the
research process and the data interpretation. In the context of this thesis, the researcher is
also a foreign-born who has already resided in Sweden for one and a half years. Hence,
to avoid data selection and interpretation bias, the researcher tried to present multiple
perspectives from the Swedish and foreign-born TSOs’ representatives in balance.
4.5. Limitation
This section also wants to address some limitations of the research. Refugee employment
integration in Sweden is a huge research topic that can be scrutinised from multiple
perspectives. It is impossible to use every lens for one small research project like this
thesis. However, this thesis can focus on the voice of the actors that have not been
sufficiently studied, namely the TSOs. Following the principle of qualitative research that
aims to reveal various meanings and interpretations, this thesis cannot claim that its
finding is the only correct way to understand the problem. Whatever is described by the
TSOs in this research as the reason behind the challenges refugees face is only one
perspective to see the problem. There may be other perspectives that can also explain the
problem, which is not the focus of this thesis, such as migration history and economic
perspective. The TSOs have a limited perspective about the integration issue, and so does
this thesis since it uses their experience to understand the issue.
Another limitation this thesis faces is that it cannot measure how successful the TSOs in
supporting the refugees in their integration. Although some TSOs provide the research
with some data about their project outcome, it is not sufficient to conclude the question
about their level of success. Most TSOs do not know how many refugees they help who
get a permanent and commensurate job solely because they participate in the
organisations’ activities. In some cases, the TSOs do not even differentiate their target
group based on their reason to migrate. Furthermore, the numerical data about the level
of participation cannot capture whether the refugees are satisfied and feel helped by the
TSOs.
Finally, the findings of this thesis should not be overgeneralised, which is the problem
for many qualitative studies with small numbers of participants (Bryman 2015, 399). It
certainly cannot capture and represent all the roles played by all TSOs in highly skilled
refugee employment integration in Sweden. One of the reasons is that most integration
support measures for refugees from the third sector are done in the form of projects
47
(Diedrich and Hellgren (2018, 52), which emerge and disappear according to funds
availability. It is difficult to find and follow projects instead of professionally organised
third sector initiatives with the pandemic. What qualitative research can do is to present
findings that are generalisable to theory (Bryman 2015, 399). In this study, the TSOs’
perspective on the challenges refugees face can strengthen the claims of previous
literature on the topic. The same goes for the findings that TSOs do not significantly
challenge the state actors but become a gap-filler instead and supporting their integration
measure. Other than that, the result of qualitative research such as this study can be used
for what Williams (2000, 215 as cited in Bryman 2015, 399) calls moderatum
generalisation. It refers to a temporary and limited generalisation when the research
findings are used to compare or link with a similar focus of enquiry. Thus, the result of
this study can be used to compare the Swedish case with other Nordic or European
countries or with other TSOs who work with other refugee and migrant groups.
48
Analysis and Discussion
Previous chapters have mentioned how the concept of integration is dynamic and shaped
by multiple actors, including the third sector. What and how the TSOs contribute to
solving the refugee integration issue in Sweden reflects their idea of integration. Briefly
restated, this thesis wants to understand how the TSOs help highly skilled refugees in
Sweden integrate into the labour market and how it projects their idea of integration. The
answers to these questions will be presented and discussed in this chapter, consisting of
two subsections. In the first section, the TSOs’ profiles will be presented. After that, this
thesis draws refugees’ obstacles in the labour market as perceived by the TSOs and their
solutions to the challenges from the interview. As shown in previous studies, most of the
obstacles are rooted in refugees’ lack of capital. This thesis will demonstrate how the
TSOs help the refugees converting and acquiring new capital.
The second part of the analysis scrutinises the TSOs’ support for the refugees to grasp
their concept of integration. Their integration concept reveals their position among other
stakeholders in shaping the meaning of integration in Sweden, namely whether they
challenge or conform to the nation’s dominant idea of integration and to what extent.
Lastly, this thesis will argue that the TSOs’ position among other stakeholders in the
integration discourse may be explained by the historical development of welfare state
Sweden.
5.1. The TSOs in Highly Skilled Refugees’ Employment Integration in Sweden
This research studies six organisations in the third sector that assist highly skilled refugees
in finding employment in Sweden. Briefly restated, these organisations come in different
forms, have various backgrounds and develop diverse services and activities based on the
challenges faced by the refugees. Their headquarters are in major cities, yet some services
are accessible from smaller cities and more remote regions. These small numbers of
organisations cannot represent the whole of Sweden or the Swedish third sector in
refugees’ integration. Their perspective is a contribution to understand more deeply the
phenomenon of highly skilled refugees’ social integration. Below is a summary of their
profiles. The detailed profiles can be found in the table in Appendix 1.
49
5.1.1. Engineer to Engineer [E2E]
E2E is a project organisation developed by Engineer without Border [EWB] Sweden, the
Swedish branch of the worldwide-operating non-governmental organisation [NGO] with
the same name. EWB was started by some students in Gothenburg in 2015 as a
networking platform for newcomers and students with engineering backgrounds and
Swedish companies. Now, they have 13 chapters throughout Sweden (Engineers without
Borders 2019, 2). The city chapters consist of engineering professionals, while university
chapters are mainly organised by volunteering students. Earlier, E2E offers internship
matching that successfully helps around forty newcomers. However, since 2017, the
Swedish government no longer allows asylum seekers to take an internship unless they
have received a residence permit (E2E interview, 7 October 2020). Thus, E2E hold other
events such as seminars and CV workshops.
5.1.2. Yrkesdörren
Yrkesdörren is started as part of a bigger initiative named OppnaDörren by a Swedish
nonprofit organisation called Axfoundation. Since 2020, they are integrated as part of
Axel Johnson’s cooperation and initiative for diversity for scaling purposes. Yrkesdörren
was launched in 2015, coincided with the peak of the refugee crisis. It was a result of
research done in 2013 about possible forms of support for newcomer integration. Unlike
other projects at that time, Yrkesdörren is a large scale networking platform with the
potential of scaling because of technology (Yrkesdörren interview, 18 November 2020).
It aims to broaden the newcomers’ network, increase the possibility of having a job
according to their qualification, and shorten their time integrating into the Swedish labour
market (Yrkesdörren interview, 18 November 2020). Yrkesdörren offers an online
platform for matching newcomers (participants) with established Swedes (door openers),
hoping that their meeting will open the door to more contacts. Yrkesdörren developed a
conversation guide for the matched pairs during the meeting. It contains several questions
about job seeking tips and work culture in the concerned industries. They also hold
networking events that bring companies with newcomers together.
5.1.3. Mumtaz Integration
Mumtaz Integration is a social enterprise founded by a refugee and a native Swede who
worked in Ledarna, the union for managers. Originally, the founders created free
workshops for highly skilled refugees and foreign-born academics to help them integrate
50
into the Swedish job market as part of the union. However, they realised that the problem
lies not in the refugees’ side, who readily change and adopt Swedish job-seeking
practices, but in the employers, who do not accept them easily because of cultural
differences (Mumtaz Integration interview, 24 November 2020). It prompts them to
develop intercultural leadership seminars for employers as well called Från Flykting till
Medarbetare (from a Refugee to a Colleague) to help them understand and solve potential
cultural difference issues at work when hiring refugees. Mumtaz Integration has presented
their workshops both for the refugees and the companies in many cities in Sweden, but
mostly they are hired by smaller municipalities and regions (Mumtaz Integration
interview, 24 November 2020).
5.1.4. Jobbentrén
Jobbentrén is another social enterprise in this study founded by two siblings from
Stockholm. Both have years of experience working in social sustainability projects and
decided to create their integration project with a business model to make it financially
sustainable (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021). Because Swedish law does not
recognise or differentiate social enterprise from other company types, Jobbentrén is
registered as a regular firm. However, their policy stated that they reinvest their profit
into the company. In this way, they consider themselves a social enterprise (Jobbentrén
interview, 23 February 2021). Jobbentrén offers paid recruitment for companies and
recruits job-seeking refugees from the Stockholm area. Each recruited worker received
coaching to help them perform the job well. They can also be invited to give workshops,
training, analysis, and consultation for anyone interested in creating better integration
measures (Jobbentren.se, 13 July 2021).
5.1.5. New to Sweden
New to Sweden is a new voluntary organisation created by a highly-skilled black migrant
from Canada. The organisation is operated entirely by foreign-born professionals. At first,
it was created as a platform for around 35 organisations that work with migrant and
refugee integration to meet, communicate and cooperate (New to Sweden interview, 17
February 2021). Later, New to Sweden also develops their own services to support
employment integration of foreign-born professionals, including highly skilled refugees.
They offer information and job-seeking tips seminars for newcomers and diversity
awareness seminars for employers. The latter presents the situation of foreign-born
51
employment integration in Sweden and the benefits of diversity hiring using data and
findings from existing research in Sweden and beyond. This TSO also runs some social
media channels and a Linkedin group to share job-seeking tips and promote the job
seekers to increase their opportunity.
5.1.6. Real People
Real People is a new digital labour movement that sprang from the recent issue in labour
migration called Kompetentutvisning (talent expulsion). The term refers to the case where
the Migration Agency deports a labour migrant due to employers' small administrative
mistake. The founders are Matt Kriteman and his colleague, and both are deportees in the
talent expulsion case. International professionals, including highly skilled refugees, can
join the movement and become members (Real People interview, 8 March 2021). Real
People follows the case of talent expulsion closely but also anything about Swedish labour
and migration law. They translate and explain the legal development to their members
and support them when they have problems with their residency status in Sweden. Real
People communicates through several social media channels, including Facebook,
Instagram and Linkedin. They campaign for the discontinuation of talent expulsion and
foreign-born workers inclusion in the Swedish Model. Real People also owns a blog
named The Dearly Deported and a podcast, where migrants and refugees can share their
experiences and problems regarding their residence permit in Sweden.
5.1.7. Observed Online Events
On 4 March 2021, E2E held a webinar targeted for refugees titled “Navigate Your Skills
in Swedish Workplace Culture with E2E!” E2E invited speakers from labour unions and
some recruitment companies to share information about workers’ rights and protection
law, and the cultural difference in job-seeking and at work. Participants were asked about
their migration background in the registration form. The event took place in Zoom. After
presentation from both speakers, participants were divided in breakout rooms to discuss
three questions about working culture in Sweden and the participants’ experience. The
result of the discussion is then shared in the main room. Some groups have interesting
insights, while others (including the one the researcher was placed) could do better if
more participants already established themselves at work were present. A question-and-
answer session followed the discussion. Twenty-one participants at maximum attended
the event. However, only 8 participants joined the event until the end.
52
Meanwhile, New to Sweden’s webinars’ participants come from all of Sweden. However,
the companies are mainly from major cities in Sweden, such as Stockholm and
Gothenburg. Their participants come from various professions and sectors, as the
researcher has observed in their first and second webinar, “A Newcomer’s Guide to
Finding Work in Sweden” and “Create an Awesome Job Profile”. New to Sweden’s
webinars are advertised through their Linkedin page and group. Both took place on
LinkedIn as well. The founder presents the materials in both sessions with help from the
volunteers in the organisation. During the webinar, participants can ask questions and
interact with other participants through the chatbox. The researcher even observed that
participants were building their network by connecting on LinkedIn after the webinar.
The presence of these TSOs during refugees’ job-seeking process strengthens previous
research’s findings that TSOs are also active in the later phase of employment integration
(see Gericke et al., 2018; Diedrich and Hellgren, 2018; Risberg and Romani, 2021).
Through the interviews and their official websites, this study also discovered that the
TSOs uses the diverse term and phrases to refer to their target group, including
“refugees”, “newcomers”, “newly arrived talents”, “foreign-born” and “international
professionals”. However, it turns out that only E2E has events specifically targeted at
refugees. One of them is the webinar “Navigate Your Skills in Swedish Workplace
Culture with E2E!” the researcher attended. In the event registration form, prospective
participants are asked about their migration background. Nevertheless, even with that
question, the event is still attended by non-humanitarian migrants. The fact that they
targeted 25 participants but not every seat is filled may explain why they also welcome
some non-refugee migrants to the event. Indeed, it seems that their events are not always
fully packed by refugee engineers. As their representative said, from twenty-five to forty-
five people, which is the number of participants in normal events, “maybe five are
refugees” (E2E interview, 7 October 2020). The other TSOs target their events by
grouping refugees with migrants of other backgrounds. In other words, they do not design
an event specifically for refugees. Thus, it is not possible for this thesis to adequately
measure their impact on refugee integration since the TSOs mostly do not have a specific
record of how many refugees are participating and whether they secure a permanent job
in accordance with their qualifications.
Nevertheless, to group refugees with other migrants is in line with the categorisation by
government agencies such as PES. In Sweden, refugees are usually called “nyanlända”
53
or “newly-arrived”. Based on its categorisation, the term “newly arrived” is only applied
while the refugee is still eligible or participating in PES’s labour market integration
measures (Kusterer and Bernhard-Oettel 2020, 2). Looking at the stage of integration
where the TSOs are active, the refugee participants in these TSOs’ activities have mostly
finished with the Introduction Programme and are looking for permanent jobs. It is known
from previous research that refugees have different migration backgrounds and additional
challenges in comparison to other migrant groups. Whether they still experience the
different challenges on the later stage of employment integration and whether the current
measures in which they are grouped with other migrants are effective for their integration
can only be answered through further studies.
5.2. Refugees’ Obstacles and the TSOs’ Solution
All the TSOs in this study are aware of many obstacles experienced by the highly skilled
refugees in labour market integration. Some of them have been mentioned by the refugees
themselves in previous research, as reviewed earlier. Some TSOs know these problems
by researching before deciding on the activities they would create for the newcomers.
Others experience it by being active in social integration causes or through their personal
experience as migrants and refugees. Below are the main challenges that the TSOs in this
study perceive.
5.2.1. Lack of Cultural Capital
One of the most commonly mentioned problems by the TSOs is the lack of Swedish skills,
as captured by the following statement:
one of the research we did before was that many sectors still use Swedish as the
main language. So, knowledge of Swedish is important to enter the job market.
(Yrkesdörren interview, 18 November 2020)
Another TSO even implies that for some jobs, simply being able to speak Swedish is not
sufficient, because sometimes the employee will use an “advanced computer system all
in Swedish” or deal with “clients calling (…) from different part of Sweden speaking in
different dialects” (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021). Knowledge of Swedish is
important when looking for a job and integrating into the workplace. For instance,
Mumtaz Integration said that a refugee
can study the specific profession Swedish, for your own profession, then you start
working and your colleagues don’t feel nice around you because you don’t speak
54
the normal fika (Swedish coffee break culture, author’s translation) Swedish
(Mumtaz Integration interview, 24 November 2020).
So important is the Swedish language to get a job that Jobbentrén claimed in the interview
(23 February 2011) that it is “the biggest factor” for being hired. It is “more important
than educational level, than experience.” Their representative shared his experience as
follows:
I have had so many instances where (…) we present a few people to them (the
employers, author’s note) and the person who is more competent is not the one
that’s being chosen. It’s the one that easiest to communicates with (ibid.)
Interestingly, it is not merely a practical reason that makes Swedish skills crucial for the
refugee to get a job. Mumtaz Integration asked the employers they meet in their event:
When you’re in an interview, and someone does not speak Swedish, what comes to
your mind, why are you not hiring them? And they’re like, because we feel they
won’t belong to the team. So even if they need competence, what’s more important
in Sweden is that everyone will feel nice. Nobody will feel awkward and the fika
room will be like a nice room for everyone (Mumtaz Integration interview, 24
November 2020).
To sum up the TSOs’ perspective, they see the same problem that highly skilled refugees
struggle with when looking for jobs: the lack of Swedish skills. The required Swedish
level and variety depending on the profession. However, it will help the refugee once they
get a job to integrate well in the workplace if they know conversational Swedish.
Adequate knowledge of Swedish is necessary to perform well in the job and fit in the
team.
Existing studies have shown how knowledge and adoption of local working culture are
also important for employment integration (see Eggenhofer-Rehart et al., 2018; Khan-
Gökkaya and Mösko, 2020). Some TSOs in this study also mentioned how adapting local
working culture can affect one’s possibility of being included at the workplace and being
part of the team. For instance, sometimes the society and the employers “assuming that
you need to be every part of the company to be a good worker”, and it includes
“participate in the afterwork if there is alcohol if you don’t drink” (Jobbentrén interview,
23 February 2021). Previously, in a separate interview with Farmbrough from Forbes (31
January 2018), Jobbentrén also emphasised the importance of not being late and dressing
up accordingly. According to their representative, lateness is viewed as very rude in
Swedish workplaces, and people should not wear sticking out dress codes. It is not sure
what is the standard of “not sticking out”. However, it can be challenging for some
55
refugees. As previous studies by Risberg and Romani (2021, 5) and Rydgren (2004, 710)
stated, foreign-sounding names, religious attire and darker skin tone reduce the chance of
getting the job even if the candidate speak Swedish fluently. One of the reasons is because
people have prejudice, as one interview participant said:
People have prejudice. I think if we hire a woman with hijab, we cannot joke about
whatever we want, we cannot drink alcohol on Fridays, we can’t---- you know?
And that’s affects people’s decision making. Instead of looking this is the right
person for the job (Jobbentrén, 23 February 2021).
Thus, it is no surprise that black highly skilled refugees face more difficulty obtaining a
job that commensurates with their qualifications. One TSO stated in the interview while
showing a study from 2018 by Stockholm Region (see Wolgast et al., 2018) that
for somebody (…) who was born and raised in Sweden but has African parents.
(…) even when they have taken a PhD, they’re still getting the same average salary,
basically like a white Swede who has only three years of university (New to Sweden
interview, 17 February 2021).
The tendency of some employers to assume how one will perform and affect the
workplace interaction based on their outer appearance or identities become an obstacle
for the refugees. It increases their competition with other job applicants not only based
on their skills but also their nationality. One organisation noticed that
it’s a very very different word when you said I am a highly skilled manager from
Syria, for example, or Iraq or whatever, or a highly skilled manager from France.
(…) Just because, you know, France, England, just closer to them, and I mean with
the culture, they know everything about each other. When you say I come from a
very different place in a very different world, they’d be like, huh, that’s jobbig
(tough, author’s translation) for me. (…) They hate jobbig. They like mysig (cosy,
author’s translation), and they hate jobbig. It has to be cosy (Mumtaz Integration
interview, 24 November 2020).
The TSOs’ experience shows that knowing the local working culture is not enough. The
refugees must adopt them to be included at their workplace. It can be disadvantageous for
the refugees if they look or behave too different. The problem is that sometimes their
appearance and identity is unchangeable, such as skin colour and nationality. In job
seeking process, this visible difference can act as a determinant whether they will get the
job opportunity. It increases the competition for the refugees, not only with native Swedes
but also with migrants from other countries, such as EU member states. Employers’
preference towards those with nationality whose culture is closer to Sweden is similar to
how local people view Finnish migrants as more favourable than non-EU migrants and
refugees in Norman`s (2004) study.
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Eggenhofer-Rehart et al. (2018, 36) found that refugees’ challenge in relation to local
working culture also involves the knowledge of how the job is obtained. In Sweden, one
of the common practices is to send a CV and cover letter or use LinkedIn to showcase
one’s experience and qualification to potential employers. Yet, knowing how to create a
CV in Swedish or use LinkedIn is not sufficient. As Eggenhofer-Rehart et al.’s (2018)
revealed in their study with Syrian refugees in Austria, the employers often do not
recognise refugees’ qualifications such as academic degree and experience. This situation
is no different in Sweden, which can be proven by some statements by the TSOs as
follows:
The thing that we try to tell refugee is, say you come from Afghanistan, and you
work in a small supermarket called supermarket Al-Ahmad in Afghanistan. And
then you put it in your CV. The employer here is gonna read that and be like, what
the hell is this? They never ever gonna google and find out about it. Not to mention
that you never find information on Google about anything in those countries
(Mumtaz Integration interview, 24 November 2020).
The same interviewee also adds:
Because as a Swedish employer, after asking a lot of those people who do
interviews, they say, if I get a CV and it says Stefan from Stockholm University,
I probably relate directly to it, understanding everything Stefan went through in
his life, everything they studied (…) And I know exactly how Stefan thinks, how
he will be at work. While, when I get Ahmad, from, you know, Baghdad
University, I’ll be like, I have no clue about this person (Mumtaz Integration
interview, 24 November 2020).
The statement illustrates a refugee’s perspective about how Swedish employers often do
not recognise their work experience because they are unfamiliar with workplace or
university names. It is even more challenging for job seekers because employers often do
not have time to recognise them. This study also found it surprising that even a degree
from a more international university in a western country does not always guarantee
recognition by Swedish employers. Mumtaz Integration shared an experience where such
a problem happened with one of the refugees:
it really depends on the employers reading your CV, because one friend of mine,
she studied in Weill Cornell in the US. It was like the best medical university in the
US. Like, Weill Cornell is super known there. But here, she went and applied for a
job in a hospital and then they were like, where did you study? Where is this Weill
Cornell? In the United States. And they were like, is it big? She was like, Weill
Cornell, you don’t know Weill Cornell? (Mumtaz Integration interview, 24
November 2020).
The refugee experience indicates that only a local study and work background can give
you the maximum advantage of being recognised when applying for jobs. It also breaks
57
the assumption that education and professional background from a western country,
which is more similar to Sweden than the refugee’s country of origin, does not always
work as a highly valued capital to get a job.
From Bourdieusian point of view, it can be seen from the TSOs’ perspectives that the
highly skilled refugees they are helping experience a devaluation and lack of embodied
and institutionalised cultural capitals. The devaluation that they experience as they move
from their country of origin to Sweden is an obstacle to securing employment. The
embodied cultural capitals include Swedish proficiency, knowledge and adoption of local
working culture. As the word embodied means, it is necessary not only to know the
cultural practices but also practicing it in job application process and at the workplace.
The TSOs’ perspective also highlights how those with culture and nationality closer to
Sweden have more advantages than the refugees. Institutionalised cultural capitals, in this
case, are the academic degree, education and work experience. When the refugees arrive
in Sweden, their degrees may become worthless because the employers are not familiar
with them. The situation demonstrates how cultural capital is valued differently in
different places. Although it might depend on luck, the indication that Swedish education
and work experience can be easily recognised shows a possibility of how cultural capital
can turn into national capital (Erel 2010, 648). Even an institutionalised cultural capital
from a developed western country cannot always guarantee a job. If that happens,
refugees might need what Cederberg (2012, 67-68) called “Sweden-specific competence”
to make sure their application is understood and accepted by the employers.
5.2.2. Lack of Social Capital
Many studies cited the importance of networks for refugees’ labour market integration
(Cederberg 2012, 63; Gericke et al. 2018, 48, 52-53), especially the vertical bridging
network. In Sweden, having a network is particularly essential for labour market
integration. One TSO in this study mentioned that
it seems to have a major role, a crucial role, to have a network in a country (…) In
Sweden, specifically, like, we have statistics that like, in the private sectors, 63%
of the companies do search in their own network when they’re doing recruitment.
And that approximately 50% of those hired, seemed to be also like, through
networks, that’s in the private sector specifically. We also have (information?) from
the SCB, like the Statistical Central Bureau, that like 7 out of 10 jobs are in some
way mediated through contacts. (…) you get a tip about a job opening or hear
something, so like through different networks you get in touch with future
employment. So, it seems that it has a crucial part in attaining job but also just
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knowing what’s out there. Because a lot of jobs are not in traditional---
Arbetsförmedlingen, for example (Yrkesdörren interview, 18 November 2020).
Through their Instagram channel, New to Sweden also informs their followers the similar
information. They quoted Svenskt Näringsliv (Confederation of Swedish Enterprise) that
“over 6 in 10 employers in Sweden use networking and referrals to find new hires” (New
to Sweden Instagram, 22 February 2021).
The data cited by the TSOs shows how important is networking in Sweden to get a job.
A network provides the refugees with information about hidden job openings and
references while applying through informal channels. This knowledge also counts as one
of the local working cultures in Sweden that the refugees must know. However, just like
how the refugees lack information, they also lack a network in Sweden. Using Bourdieu’s
term, they do not have enough social capital, hindering their labour market integration.
The connection between getting useful information for (employment) integration and
having the network is reflected in some of the TSOs’ statements. For instance, New to
Sweden felt that
there’s a large communication gap between newcomers, and let’s say refugees as
well, and all these different services that are available to help them. It’s (…) one of
the biggest problems. (…) as a newcomer myself I experienced that. Because like,
I went through it without knowing anybody. (…) and there was never like
information hub to find that out. And if there was an information hub, it was never
communicated to us which is another problem. And then it’s also not communicated
to, where refugees and newcomers congregate virtually or in person (New to
Sweden interview, 17 February 2021).
As a migrant, this interviewee revealed the lack of crucial and useful information to help
them in the integration process. For refugees, the first source of information related to
labour market integration comes from the government organisations such as PES and the
municipalities. It is unknown to what extent their case officers inform them about the
available services outside the government’s programme to help the refugees. Additional
study is necessary to know that. Nonetheless, another TSO raises another issue regarding
job information and network.
Swedish managers a lot of time say, you know, we are looking for refugees to hire.
We are looking for new competence, but we don’t know how to find them or to
reach them. And they put an ad in Arbetsförmedlingen or they put an ad in Dagens
Nyheter and they’re expecting to find the refugees, while refugees are reading
Arabic website. They’re going into Facebook group and so (Mumtaz Integration
interview, 24 November 2020).
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The statement pictures how sometimes the vacancy information does not reach the
refugees because they are posted in the channels or media that most refugees do not
access. From the refugees’ perspective, it confirms what Granovetter (1983, 202) says,
that to only have horizontal bonding network make one “deprived of information from
distant parts of the social system and will be confined to the provincial news and views
of their close friends”, which “may put them in a disadvantaged position in the labour
market, where advancement can depend.” In the case above, the refugees only read
websites in their mother tongue and go to social media groups on Facebook, which rarely
gives them access to Swedish employers’ job information.
Bourdieusian capital theory argues that capital can be converted into other forms, and
new capitals can be acquired. Studies about migrants and refugees by Eggenhofer-Rehart
et al. (2018), Erel (2010), Ryan (2011), and Gericke et al. (2018) show that the newcomers
actively do so following the realisation that their capitals have been devalued. By offering
seminars, workshops, coaching and sharing content in their social media channel about
local working cultures, job application practices, workers’ rights and labour law, some
TSOs play a role of helping these refugees in acquiring new capitals. In this process,
refugees receiving new cultural capital from the TSOs which they can convert into
economic capital if they get a job. Other TSOs focus more on refugees’ lack of social
capital. Therefore, they provide a platform for networking, recruitment, and connecting
refugees with new contacts and potential employers in Sweden. These contacts can be
categorised as vertical bridging networks since they have different backgrounds and can
help refugees with positive social mobility through job information. In short, these TSOs
help refugees acquire new social capital, which they can turn into economic capital if the
new connections lead to employment.
In addition, the TSOs themselves can also play a role as social capital for the refugees, as
Gericke et al. (2018) has also found in their study with refugees in Germany. This research
discovers that the TSOs in Sweden become both a horizontal and vertical bridging
network. As a horizontal bridging network, the TSOs can provide support, for example,
when the refugees are threatened with deportation, as Real People does. They can also
connect the refugees with other foreign-born job seekers by creating a social media group
to keep in touch and share information. Mumtaz Integration, E2E and New to Sweden
have done such initiatives. The TSOs can also provide information, which does not
directly give access to jobs but is still useful for the integration process. For instance, E2E
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informs refugees about workers’ rights in Sweden and New to Sweden shares some tips
for learning Swedish in their webinars. As a vertical bridging network, the TSOs connect
the refugees directly to the jobs by recruiting them like Jobbentrén. They can also open
the gate towards a broader network with possible access to jobs, like Yrkesdörren with
its matching platform. Hence, contact with the TSOs in this study is a social capital for
the refugees, which they can convert into cultural capital by gaining useful information,
another social capital by getting more bridging network or even economic capital by
acquiring a job.
Although it has been said that it is not possible to measure the success of the TSOs, some
TSOs shares some of the outcome of their activities. They will be shown here as proof
that some refugees converted the capital into employment or economic capital. As stated
on their official website, in 2019, about 80% of the people that Jobbentrén recruited are
staying in the job, which means that the newcomers get a permanent contract
(Jobbentrén.se, 5 December 2019). Furthermore, despite their claim that it is not solely
because of their support, around 62% of newcomers who took part in Mumtaz
Integration’s workshops get a job that is commensurate to their skills (Mumtaz Integration
interview, 24 November 2020). Meanwhile, although it is unknown how many in this
group are of refugee background, 16% of Yrkesdörren’s participants are employed
through their door openers, and another 8% get an internship. Still, these numbers should
be taken carefully and cannot sufficiently serve as an indicator to measure the TSOs’
success. Besides, only the refugees understand best the TSOs’ impact on their
employment integration. Thus, a further study from their perspective is necessary to
evaluate the TSOs’ role in their integration sufficiently.
5.2.3. Capital Interdependency Creates an Endless Cycle
It has been explained before that the three capital forms are interdependent. Not having
one form of capital may obstruct a refugee from acquiring the other forms (Eggenhofer-
Rehart et al. 2018, 42). This study also discovered a similar situation with refugees in
Sweden, as one of the participants elaborated
It’s a big obstacle, this language (…) the problem is you can start speaking Swedish,
and this is the (void?) that all the refugees are falling into. Because you can start
speaking Swedish, but you need a job to enhance your Swedish skills. And you
won’t get the job if you don’t speak Swedish. And then you’re stuck in this void,
what do I do? (Mumtaz Integration interview, 24 November 2020).
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The statement illustrates a common situation for the refugees, where they cannot acquire
economic capital (job) because they do not have cultural capital (Swedish language),
which they cannot fully acquire without economic and social capital (job and the contact
with colleagues at the workplace). Similarly, this thesis argues that the biggest challenge
for the refugees to integrate into the labour market is that they are trapped in the endless
cycle in their capital conversion process. However, a bigger scheme is at play because it
is not simply due to the interdependency of the capitals but also the macro socio-political
situation behind it, which will be explained further in the latter part of this chapter.
Interestingly, some TSOs’ services can only be accessed if the refugees already have
some forms of capital at hand. When this research was conducted, the registration form
to be a participant in Yrkesdörren’s matching service is only available in Swedish
(Yrkesdörren.se, accessed 17 July 2021). The TSO explained and justified this situation
as follows:
so, in order to participate, we say that you need to speak Swedish or English,
because the meeting (will be in?) Swedish or English. I mean, it can be in another
language as well, but of course the door opener has to speak the same language. So,
(…) one of the research we did before was that many sectors still use Swedish as
the main language. So, knowledge of Swedish is important to enter the job market.
So that’s also have been the reason for not translating (…) it’s also for people who
have studied Swedish maybe, because it is easier to enter the job market. (…) but
we are looking for translating, because of course we still wanna be available and so
what we have done is that out emails, that go out (…) We have whole set of emails
when you’ve done that part when you register, and they are translatable in both
Swedish and English, so that no information gets lost in the translation because of
course that can happen (Yrkesdörren interview, 18 November 2020).
So, the TSO decided not to translate it because they follow their research finding that
Swedish is the main language in many sectors. They argued that making it only available
in Swedish would help those who have learned Swedish enter the job market. In addition,
to increase their availability and make sure all participants understand, they translate the
emails into English. This situation shows that the refugees still need to have cultural
capital in the form of a foreign language, be it Swedish or English, to fully access this
service. This study also finds it interesting that all TSOs whose founders are foreign-born
provide their service in English. Assuming that English is better known to highly skilled
refugees because of its internationality than Swedish, their service is more accessible.
However, we cannot know for certain without studying this matter from the refugees’
perspective. One TSO offers their workshop also in Arabic, which is the mother tongue
62
of many refugees. In that case, the refugees do not need to acquire new cultural capital to
take part in it.
In another case, it is not only language skills that are required from the refugees but also
cultural values. For instance, one participant stated
when I meet newcomers, I would never recommend someone to a job, if I feel
they’re acting different with me than with a woman. (…) Like I don’t care if you
shake hands, I don’t care if you don’t want, you know, like, respect religion, I am
all for it. But if you have a female boss, you better listen to her, just like the way
you do with a male boss. (…) I meet women all the time that don’t want to shake
my hand. (…) that’s fine. But you need to be able to sit in the room with me and
have a conversation (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021).
As described in the statement, a refugee needs to have cultural capital in the form of
gender equality value to be recruited through Jobbentrén. This social enterprise explained
the reason for this requirement, that they “could never present a person like that to a
customer with conscious(ness) and say, you should hire this person” (Jobbentrén
interview, 23 February 2021). This statement indicates that their measure to require
gender equality value from the refugees is also for the interest of their customers, the
Swedish employers.
None of the TSOs participating in this study offers direct help to refugees to acquire
cultural capital in the form of the Swedish language. Similarly, Jobbentrén also places
cultural education outside the scope of their service. According to them,
We talk about equality and like, as part of us talking about Sweden as a culture, but
it’s not really our job, because we work with people when they’re getting a job. I
mean, this I think is for the state to teach as SFI, like before you get a job. (…) This
should be the first thing you learn. How does democracy work, how does our
equality strategy work, or you know, antidiscrimination law. That’s not us, I mean,
that should be part of the programme at Arbetsförmedlingen, or at SFI. Of course,
we would talk about it. But I don’t feel like it’s my job to meet a guy who clearly I
feel disrespectful to women, still recommend him for a job, hoping I would change
him later on (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021).
The TSOs in this study indeed implement their initiatives on the later stage of
employment integration, when the refugees are trying to get a job. The early phase of
employment integration, where the refugees learn the language and take cultural
orientation courses, is mainly the government’s responsibility. The fact that the TSOs
only provide limited services after the government’s early measures indicates the
necessity of robust cooperation and coordination between the TSOs and other actors
outside their sector (Garkisch et al. 2017, 1866). It is important so that no refugee is
63
trapped in the endless cycle and cannot convert or acquire new capital because they have
insufficient of it in the first place.
5.2.4. Insufficient Support from Other Integration Actors
Inadequate support from the government actors has been quoted as one of the hurdles
faced by the refugees in some literature (Bucken-Knapp et al., 2020; Kusterer and
Bernhard-Oettel, 2020). Their dissatisfaction with the Introduction Programme ranges
from contradictory information to only getting job offers that are not equivalent to their
skills. One TSO confirmed this and said that “organisation working from the state are not
very efficient (…) people are still very much unemployed even though they’re part of the
programmes” (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021). The same TSO also noticed that
some refugees do not receive adequate help from multiple integration actors. Their
representative said
When we started this company, we are looking at what is being done at Swedish
workforce for newcomers. And already from the beginning, it’s quite clear to see
that many companies and organisations saw that these highly skilled people, you
know, IT, engineers, those kind of jobs, (…) and especially if they speak English,
they are picked up right away from the initiatives started by universities along the
times. So, you have Jobbsprånget for example with engineers that speak English.
But at the same time, (…) there’s a big gap of people that are ready to work, and
should work, and are competent enough to work, but they’re in between. So they
are not getting help from these programmes (…) because they have no university
degree, or they have not finished their university degree, or they don’t speak a word
of English so they need to learn Swedish (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021).
This statement reveals the gap within the available integration programmes, including
from government-affiliated actors. Highly skilled refugees who have not received their
degree, cannot prove their degree and do not speak both English and Swedish are often
left out by some integration initiatives. The same goes for those with a degree that is not
among the most wanted professions in Sweden. Coincidentally, this limitation in
professions might also unintentionally exclude many female refugees since these
professions are often still dominated by men in the refugees’ home countries (Prifti 2019,
34). Apart from E2E, the TSOs in this study are targeted at refugees within any
profession. Thus, they play another role as a gap-filler in the available integration
measures from other actors, including the government.
Some TSOs voiced their disappointment towards certain government measures. For
example, there is a subsidy scheme run by PES called nystartsjobb. In the scheme, the
employers receive compensation from the government for some part of the salary they
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paid to each refugee they hire under the subsidy programme. This solution is negatively
seen as expressed in the statement below:
Nystartsjobb (…) our finding was that this is a bad thing, not a good thing, because
instead of helping getting Abdullah into the right job, now you’re saying Abdullah
is a disabled person. I’m gonna give you money just to hire Abdullah (Mumtaz
Integration interview, 24 November 2020).
According to them, subsidy schemes such as nystartsjobb do not help refugees but
perpetuates their negative image as incapable people who cannot get a job using their
qualifications. Refugees are not seen as people with talents that can be useful for the
Swedish labour market but as disabled people who need charity. Briefly restated, when
refugees are constructed as needing care, and employment integration is permeated by a
moral responsibility to help, it will be more difficult for them to get out of their position
as a marginalised and weak group (Holvino and Kamp 2009, 396-397; Ghorashi 2020,
12).
It is not the only problem with the subsidy scheme in the TSOs’ eyes. The subsidy scheme
has a time limit, where an employer can only receive for maximum of two years for each
refugee. But then
the employers were taking advantages of it. They hired the refugee and after two
years they’re like, okay, now we don’t get support. Let’s hire another refugee
(Mumtaz Integration interview, 24 November 2020).
Such practice shows that some employers do not want to invest in the refugees. Another
TSO also point out the fault in the subsidy scheme.
I think there’s a lot of system faults with these subsidies paid where you offer the
companies this benefit without having any demands, or any requirements. I think
you should not be able to hire people with subsidies if you keep firing them and
rehiring new people. That should be a red flag in the system (Jobbentrén interview,
23 February 2021).
As a TSO that works with recruitment, Jobbentrén found a solution to minimise the abuse
of the subsidy scheme. They explained
those companies don’t work with us (…) because first of all, we would not allow
them to give them those kind of contracts. We would (…) immediately sends the
red flag if I meet the company that says great, you find us cheap people and we give
them a one-year contract. I would say, no, that’s not really how we want to do our
business. That just means you only want them because they’re cheap, not because
you really want them to be at your place for a long time, and you want to like, create
good workers. So that’s a red flag for me. But also, usually I don’t even have to say
anything, because they want to keep the whole subsidy for themselves. That’s their
whole business model is to have workers that cost half of the normal cost
(Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021).
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What they do is charge the companies who use their recruitment service through the
subsidy. It means that the company will share the compensation money with Jobbentrén
to support social sustainability. In turn, Jobbentrén will coach the refugee they hired to
perform the job well and get a permanent position. The charging system through the
subsidy serves as a gatekeeper for companies and select only those who want to invest in
their workers. As the organisation representative said, the companies they have the best
collaboration with are
companies that really see these people (the refugees, researcher’s note) as a long-
term investment. Like, the idea is not that they are perfect from the first day (…)
but that they would be the best worker they have if you give time and if you invest
in them. You let them learn the language at the job, you let them learn the skills as
the job. They will be loyal and hardworking, much more than young Swedish
people (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021).
Another TSO representative argues that many diversity and inclusion initiatives in
Sweden use the Business to Business [B2B] structure, which, in their perspective, is not
enough to support newcomers.
All of the majority organisations that you’ll be in touch, they’ll say, we work in
diversity and inclusion. We’re the only one (…) that doesn’t go to business. We go
to the worker (Real People interview, 8 March 2021).
On the contrary, if they work with B2B structure, the situation will be as illustrated below:
We will go to business. We will say, okay, listen, we can do this for your employees
and then we’ll charge you 50.000 SEK, or 100.000 SEK. We’re gonna do a survey.
We will build a programme based on it. That’s B2B. But in that process who are
we actually? Who are the clients? It’s the business. (…) Maybe the immigrants
benefit from it, but they’re not protected (Real People interview 8 March 2021).
Real People also feel that there is insufficient support from the labour unions, which is an
interesting opinion if we look at their significant presence in campaigning for workers’
rights and equality in Sweden.
I would say that all labour union in Sweden for us foreign workers have left us
behind, or for us as international professional (Real People interview, 8 March
2021).
Real People’s statements reflect another gap in the whole integration measures supported
by various actors. No organisation focuses on representing the voice of foreign-born
professionals, including highly skilled refugees. Many diversity and inclusion initiatives
go to employers or follow the market demand. Voluntary organisations such as labour
unions do not lend enough support to the newcomers. Thus, their organisation is created
to narrow this gap. They want to represent the foreign-born professionals, including
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refugees, and give them a real voice in the migration debate, as they stated in the
interview:
The reason why we call it Real People is that we want to be dignified and heard and
participate in the Swedish model of labour negotiation as real people, as workers,
as union members (Real People interview, 8 March 2021).
The last three paragraphs present some examples of the shortcomings in the available
integration services for refugees, both from government agencies and other involved
actors. The gap includes insufficient support for some groups of refugees, the unintended
effect of a government’s measure, and the lack of representatives for refugees’ voices by
other voluntary actors. Regarding this problem, the TSOs in this study become refugees’
social capital by bridging the gap left by other actors and reduce the state’s policy negative
impact on refugees’ integration into the job market.
5.2.5. Overqualification and Loss of Professional Identity
Because this study focuses on highly skilled refugees, it is vital to discuss the challenge
specific to this refugee group. One of the major hurdles experienced, especially by highly
skilled refugees, is being overqualified in their job and losing their former professional
identity (Mackenzie-Davey and Jones, 2019; Bucken-Knapp et al. 2020, 121). Some
TSOs also notice this problem among highly skilled refugees. Many of their newcomer
participants were already working when they took part in their workshops. However, their
job at that time is something that is not relevant to their qualifications, as claimed by
Mumtaz Integration in the interview:
so, we met a lot of them who were, for example HR managers, and they come here
and now they’re driving a bus for a living because they need to work. But they are
still looking for HR positions somewhere (Mumtaz Integration interview, 24
November 2020).
The same TSO then told how these refugees ended with an overqualified job.
what happens is, out of our experience, that you come here, you’re looking for a job
near your experience in your relevant degree or whatever. And then time goes by,
you’re trying and trying for the first year, like okay, new country, etc. And second
year you’re like, okay, Arbetsförmedlingen is gonna provide you, and then you give
up on Arbetsförmedlingen eventually and then you go, okay, now I have to apply.
So, after three years there is no one that is sitting on their asses and be like I am still
waiting for the relevant jobs. They’re gonna go drive a bus, cleaning, you know,
like those very easy jobs to get. (…) basically, where you don’t need to speak
Swedish (Mumtaz Integration interview, 24 November 2020).
The statements above describe how a refugee tried to apply according to their
qualifications and previous profession but to no avail. One of the reasons being mentioned
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is the insufficient Swedish skills. Nonetheless, it can also be because PES failed to help
them find a relevant job position. It is in line with the statements from refugee participants
in Bucken-Knapp et al.’s (2020, 98) study that PES caseworkers often help refugees
finding jobs where they are overqualified.
More than half of Mumtaz Integration’s participants acquire jobs equal to their
qualifications after participating in the workshop and implementing Swedish job-seeking
practices. However, another TSO in this study shed new light on the overqualification
problem. The jobs considered overqualified by the highly skilled refugees might be the
best place to start their integration journey. Jobbentrén, whose clients are mainly from the
service industry, explained
the service industry is the best employers for integration. (…) even if you’re
academic or if you want to start your academic journey in Sweden, to work a few
years within the service industry, to integrate, learn the language, learn Sweden,
you know, established yourself here, it’s a good start for anyone. (…) You learn to
collaborate, you learn how to handle stress, you learn the language, you learn
different people, you have usually a variety, you know, or different schedule. You
can study at the same time. You can work extra with something else at the same
time. (…) it’s better to do that and more motivating to learn the language, skills,
Sweden, while working than being unemployed and just go to state programmes.
(…) just because you start the job there, doesn’t mean you get to stay there. (…) no
job is better than anything else. It’s a matter of what you learn at that job at that
time that can help you in the future. And that’s so important, and I think especially,
don’t speak English, you have to learn Swedish. It’s better to learn it while making
a salary and meeting people than (…) being at home (Jobbentrén interview, 23
February 2021).
Their statement opens a new perspective for this study on the overqualification problem
of highly skilled refugees. Working with something irrelevant to one’s qualification and
former profession does not have to be a negative experience. Jobbentrén’s representative
also said that it is common for many Swedish-born to start working from such industry
while collecting work experience (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021).
Many highly skilled refugees will inevitably have to start from working overqualified
jobs with the current integration measure and labour market situation. When it happens,
it might affect the highly skilled refugees’ psychological health negatively (Mackenzie-
Davey and Jones 2019, 55, 58). TSO can play a role by giving them moral support, like
what Jobbentrén does with their coaching activity. In the interview, they told one of their
success stories.
when we just started Jobbentrén, I was a coach as well. I coached a girl from Congo,
who was a pharmacist. (…) But she has only been in Sweden for three months when
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we met her. She didn’t speak any English or Swedish when we met her. But she
was very charming and very energetic and very prestigious. So, she started working
at Mr. Cake doing dishes. And she did that for two and a half years, but at the same
time studied Swedish and English and then she got into a programme to validate
her pharmacy education and now four years later she’s working in a pharmacy. (…)
It just takes time and a big part of my coaching was to make her think long term
and patience, and make a study plan (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021).
In the described case, the TSO helps the refugees by supporting them and ensuring that
their current journey is just a part of reaching a higher goal, which is a relevant job to
their skills. For the highly skilled who participate in Jobbentrén’s recruitment for the
service industry, the coaching can be seen as compensation for their temporary
professional identity loss. After all, although it is just a single case, it “only” took four
years until the refugee in the success story can acquire her previous identity back. Those
who participate in the government programme might even take a long time and almost
without any salary. This TSO experience reveals a possible role which TSO can assume
in highly-skilled refugees labour market integration to reduce the damaging impact of
professional identity loss and the realisation that their capitals have been devalued in the
new country.
5.2.6. Employers Negative Perception towards (Employing) Refugees
Insight from the employers' perspective about hiring refugees has appeared several times
in the discussion about other challenges above. Employers are also important actors in
highly skilled refugees' labour market integration. Depends on their attitude and
perception of diversity hiring, they can support or place more obstacles for the refugees.
Risberg and Romani's (2021) study pointed out that sometimes employers view recruiting
refugees as a risk to the normality in their organisation because of their (perceived) lack
of capital. Hired refugees are placed in a position where they are overqualified to conform
to the organisational logic. Someone with low-valued skills should work in a lower
position until they acquire new capital equals to the native population's. Thus, no matter
how long the refugees have worked in the same field in their home country, it will not be
sufficient until they have working experience in the same field in the new country. This
logic creates another endless cycle for the refugees that they will always be seen as
lacking capital. This negative perception by the employer is mentioned by the labour
union speaker in E2E's webinar. According to him, refugees often experience "otherness"
due to their different sets of skills valued less by employers. They are often perceived
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differently at work and discriminated against due to their appearance signalling a "lower-
valued" competence.
Employers' fear and perception towards refugees as a threat is also reflected in some cases
that have been mentioned previously in this chapter. For instance, employers do not want
to hire refugees whose educational and professional backgrounds are unfamiliar to them.
Taking time to learn about the universities and companies where highly skilled refugees
acquire their skills in their country of origin is perceived as tough and against the cosy
normality. The fear explains why some employers hire refugees using the subsidy
programme. One participant said
our conclusion was that they’re scared of investing. People are scared of (…)
investing in hiring refugees. So, when you’re giving them for free, they are like aha,
this is nice, I will try. So, basically for them is like trying a new, I don’t know,
pants? Try a new pants for free. I like it, I’ll hire it (Mumtaz Integration interview,
24 November 2020).
The employers are afraid because they do not know “if they will fit in the team or not fit
in the team” (Mumtaz Integration interview, 24 November 2020). Again, it shows that
the employers are afraid that the comfortable normality in their organisation is being
threatened.
The TSOs play two identifiable roles in this study concerning this barrier from employers.
The first is by being a social capital for refugees who share the cultural capital to embody
so that the refugees can become “normal” in the eyes of the employers. All activities and
services that contain CV workshops, job-seeking practices, local working culture, and
building a network to increase hiring possibilities are included in this role. Similar to the
mentorship programme that Risberg and Romani (2021) studied, in these activities, the
TSOs teach the refugees how to adopt and practise the normal way of job seeking so that
Swedish employers can hire them. One TSO describe the process in detail.
So, when you do that (CV writing, researcher’s note), instead of writing
Supermarket Al-Ahmad, make it relevant to the Swedish employer. Well, yeah, it’s
just as big as, like, ICA Nära for example. It has the same amount of employees, it
makes the same revenues, so make it just relevant to the Swedish employer to be
like, aha, now I understand. When you say Damascus University, compare it to
Uppsala University. Be like same this, same that, so the Swedish employers feel it’s
easier and it’s not out of their comfort zone and stuff (Mumtaz Integration
interview, 24 November 2021).
As the statement show, the TSO guides the refugee to use references from the normality
in the Swedish job market so that the employers can understand their CV easily. Refugees
must be normalised, so the employers want to hire them.
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Secondly, the TSOs can act as a bridge that connects the refugees with the employers. It
can be done in two ways. Some TSOs become social capital that connects refugees
directly with hiring employers and companies who “like to meet potential new recruits”
and “to live according to their (diversity and inclusion, researcher’s note) values”
(Yrkesdörren interview, 18 November 2020). Other TSOs, particularly those founded by
foreign-born, choose to approach the employers directly and attempt to change their
perspectives on refugees and diversity hiring. Mumtaz Integration offers a workshop for
employers about intercultural leadership, while New to Sweden develops “Diversity
Awareness: Lunch and Learn” seminar.
After several workshops, Mumtaz Integration realised that
the problem with Swedish managers to accept refugees is not basically that they’re
racist. It’s not that they actually do not want to. (…) The problem was (…) that the
managers here in Sweden are under the impression that there is a very big difference
in culture when it comes to job culture in between, for example, the Middle East
and Sweden. (…) when you say Syria, when you say Palestine, when you say Dubai,
(…) they think, oh my God, that’s different culture. Directly they started thinking,
oh Muslims, how do they deal? How do we work with them in the job market
(Mumtaz Integration interview, 24 November 2020).
This TSO conducted research after that and asked Swedish employers how big the job
culture difference is between Sweden and the Middle East and how much they know
about Middle Eastern countries. The answers are also eye-opening.
We said (…) what do you know about Aleppo before the war? And only 3% of
Swedish managers answered they know something about Aleppo before the war.
So, they realised the lack of knowledge creates fear because (…) everything they
heard about Aleppo after the war was the bombing, was the ISIS, you know (…)
instead of thinking, wow, professional, you know, industry (Mumtaz Integration
interview, 24 November 2020).
To sums up the statements, the reluctance of Swedish employers to hire refugees is
formed by their unfamiliarity and prejudice towards their cultural background. It is,
however, not known how exactly the employers shaped this perception. It can be an
enriching topic for further study from employers’ perspectives.
An intercultural leadership seminar is then offered as a solution to this problem. In the
seminar, potential cultural differences are categorised in several aspects such as social
codes, the mandate at work, safety at work and workers’ rights. The TSO’s role can be
described as follows:
we’re acting like a channel between the refugees themselves, what they’re telling
us (…) we feel a very different culture work because this and this, for example. And
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then we go to the Swedish managers and ask them, this is what the refugees said
and then they said, oh, but I feel a very different culture because this and this. (…)
to give you one concrete example (…) a question that was raised all the times by
the Swedish managers was what do I do when a person comes to me and says I want
to pray at work. (…) We, basically taking examples or successful experience from
the Middle East where they have been praying all their lives (…) at work and try to
implement it in Sweden, saying, this is how it could work here in Sweden. (…) So,
we told [the Swedish employers], if someone needs to pray, they can either
postpone it and pray together with a later prayer or combine it to the earlier prayer.
That’s the simplest solution to praying at work (Mumtaz Integration interview, 24
November 2020).
Sometimes, TSOs gathered the refugees and recruiters or employers together. For
example, Mumtaz Integration has an event called professional fika, while E2E often
invites representatives from recruitment companies to speak at their events. The meeting
of these two sides has proven that the cultural difference at work is much smaller than
they perceived. As Mumtaz Integration’s representative claimed:
it was a groundbreaking thing for us, because we realised, though we say we came
from a very different world when it comes to work, when you go down to the
industry or the sector itself, from the same sector, people are very similar from the
way they work. So, (…) the more questions the refugees had, the more we realised,
(…) this is very similar between Syria and Sweden (…). It’s just that they’re used
here, and you can learn it like in two months. (…) Even the Swedes who were
presenting were like, oh, we didn’t know that you know all these informations. We
didn’t know that you are already ready to work in Sweden (Mumtaz Integration
interview, 24 November 2020).
Similarly, in E2E’s event discussion session, some refugees shared their perspective that
the working culture in their country does not always differ significantly from Swedish
companies. For instance, while the speakers emphasise that flat organisation and
collaboration is typical for Sweden, the refugees claimed that not all companies in their
country of origin are rigidly hierarchical with a manager who always direct everything.
These TSOs tackle the problem with employers’ negative perceptions by communicating
the cultural differences between the refugees and the employers and act as a bridge
between them.
Another TSO, New to Sweden, choose another approach to make employers interested in
hiring refugees. They use data from various research about diversity in Sweden and the
employment gap between native-born and foreign-born. The representative explained the
content of this webinar during the interview. Their presentation is completed with some
interactive quizzes so that the participants can test their knowledge about diversity and
inclusion in Sweden.
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The seminar covered issues such as the percentage of the Swedish population who are a
visible minority and their unemployment rate in comparison to native-born. It clarifies
three assumed reasons why the foreign-born are unemployed: education level, language
skills, and cultural differences. Finally, according to the data they collected and showed
in the webinar, the unemployment and salary gap between native Swedes and Swedes
with foreign-born parents is still significant.
New to Sweden claimed that they receive a positive reaction from their participants.
when we talked about this with our audience, they usually feel very moved by this
and then they do feel motivated to do some changes, which is great. (…) we do
have like, coming back from the employers, especially, almost every single person
who attend was like, (…) this is very impactful, this is very important, we (will?)
refer this. And everybody says yes. There hasn’t been a no yet. So, in that way we
know that it was very successful (New to Sweden interview, 17 February 2021).
Unfortunately, despite the positive reaction towards their events, the representative also
said
I know, even those who are like really, highly participatory, whatever, (…) I am
sure they have not hired. (…) I will be surprised if they hired a lot of refugees (New
to Sweden interview, 17 February 2021).
It seems that participating and being interested in the topic does not guarantee a follow
up to hire refugees.
Another challenge is the employers who hire refugees only to brand their companies as
diverse and inclusive. One TSO explained what it means:
so, it’s not about them thinking, yeah, I need these skills because they have different
experience, they’re gonna bring an actual diversity (…) to the jobs itself. It’s more
of, look at us, we’re a diverse company. Let’s take a company picture with these
diverse refugees and put it for a PR campaign and whatever (Mumtaz Integration
interview, 24 November 2020).
To persuade the employers to hire refugees for their diverse skills, both Mumtaz
Integration and New to Sweden uses similar perspective about diversity hiring as they
elaborated in the statements below.
So, we actually needed to go and dig deep and to, okay, diversity is good, but why
are we actually looking for diversity. And then we realise, they do a lot of diversity
research in America (…) And there was this guy called Scott E. Page, that he did
something called cognitive diversity. The diversity of thoughts. (…) So that, we did
a lot experiment (…) always we take this experiment now in our workshop. (…) so
basically, we realise from that experiment (…) that if you come from a very
different experience in your life, you will add something very different to the
workplace. So, when we take this to Swedish managers, they go, that’s why we
need diversity! (Mumtaz Integration interview, 24 November 2020).
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We jumped through the benefits of equal employment. About 23% of Sweden is
foreign born or the child of someone who’s foreign born. (…) So, it’s a lot of
people. So, if you’re ignoring that part of the population or you act as a company
and you actually selecting the best candidates, you’re ignoring the third of the the
country. And as we proved, we have the same education, (…) same experience. So,
are you actually picking the best candidate? (…) and then there’s a Harvard study
that shows when a team member shows a client ethnicity, the team is twice as likely
to understand the clients’ need. (…) then we show this McKinsey graph (…) the
more diversity an executive team is, the more likely you are to outperform your
peers. So this, 36% (…) which is a huge gap. (…) most companies would want to
have this sort of, yeah, the factor to take over the other companies (New to Sweden
interview, 17 February 2021).
Both statements show that the TSOs use the capitalistic view of diversity imported from
the United States to convince employers to hire refugees for their skills. In this
perspective, instead of weakness, refugees’ different background is seen as a strength. In
other words, they are not seen as lacking “Swedish-specific competence” but possessing
competence from different backgrounds that can be a cultural capital to win more profit
for the companies.
To summarise, TSOs’ solutions for employers’ unwillingness to hire refugees are
twofold. First, they enhance migrants’ capability by helping them adopting the normal
practices in the labour market. Secondly, they approach employers, acting as a bridge
between them and the refugees, and influence them to change their perspective towards
employing refugees.
5.3. TSOs’ Meaning of Refugees’ Integration and Belonging in Sweden and their
Positions among other Integration Stakeholders
Earlier chapters have demonstrated that integration is a dynamic concept. Many actors
involved in the refugees’ integration process define the boundary between belonging and
not belonging in a nation. Government, private sector and third sector shape the
boundaries through their policies and roles in integrating newcomers. Previous studies
argue that TSOs can either be integrated into the dominant system in the country and
outsourced for delivering supports that the government should do (Simsa 2017, Hansen
2017) or challenge the existing boundary maintenance (Togral Koca 2019, Hinger 2019).
Whether they offer services for the refugees, holding activities, doing advocacy and
lobbying, they are shaping the discourse of integration in the nation.
The concept of (refugee) integration in Sweden is built upon their idea of a nation as an
egalitarian welfare state. To be a full member of the egalitarian welfare state, one must
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be employable and pay taxes to sustain the welfare system. Those who are unable should
be supported to work, be independent and contribute to the nation. To integrate refugees
means to make them employable. To receive the help, they must be seen as unemployable.
However, the government’s integration measure is often insufficient to make them
employable since it mainly covers the cultural capital (language, knowledge about
Sweden, job training) and not enough social capital (network). Nevertheless, to acquire
social capital and embody the cultural capital, they need to enter Swedish social bubbles.
It has proven challenging, which can be explained by the idea of equality as sameness
that is pervasive in Nordic countries, including Sweden. Although equal treatment is
guaranteed by law, the practice in daily social life can be far from it. Those who are
culturally different cannot easily be treated as equal, included in the social bubbles, and
access capital. It creates an endless cycle that traps refugees in their integration process.
The TSOs in this study develop various services and activities to help break the endless
cycle. They become the social capital that approaches the refugees and give them help to
acquire new cultural capital and more social capital. In doing so, they also take part in
forming the concept of integration in Sweden.
Variation in concepts of integration was discovered in the interviews with TSOs. The
TSOs’ background, either founded by a native Swede or a foreign-born, seems to correlate
with the difference. For instance, those with foreign-born founders focus primarily on
being employable and part of the Swedish model. It can be seen in their statements below:
I would say integration is actually what I would define as inclusion, or what would
they called inkludering. (…) Integration is simply including people in the Swedish
Model, particularly as workers as if they were Swedes, and that means making sure
that they know their rights and obligations according to the law (Real People
interview, 8 March 2021).
so, what we found is that (…) for many newcomers, when they talk about
immigration and when they talk about fitting in Swedish society, their primary
concern is finding work. (…) Once you find work everything else follows, right?
Because then (…) you’re gonna make friends, you’re gonna make colleagues,
you’re gonna learn the languages, you’re gonna do all these things. Your children
are then gonna be able to go to Swedish schools. They’re gonna be even further
integrated (…) in the society. Like, those things will come (New to Sweden
interview, 17 February 2021).
Both statements show that for refugees, to be integrated means to work and being part of
the Swedish welfare state model. The latter also means to be treated equally like Swedes
in the labour market and informed about their rights and obligation. For many newcomers,
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working is viewed as a pathway to other integration aspects and should be prioritised,
similar to what Ager and Strang (2008, 170) stated in their article. This definition of
integration is also in line with the egalitarianism welfare state’s integration discourse in
which being employable and sustaining the welfare system means belonging to the
Swedish nation.
Nevertheless, another TSO expressed their opinion against the construction of refugees
as needing care and support, something that is central in the egalitarian welfare state’s
integration concept.
you know, every person needs to feel respected, and it’s kind of insulting how
uninsulting Swedish people are trying to be. Because they’re trying to be nice and
they end up insulting people. Because (…) the first reaction when I tell someone I
come from Syria and they’ll go oh, I’m so sorry. How can I help you? Instead of,
oh, okay, you come from Syria. How can you help me? Because in a professional
situation, I don’t want you to feel sorry for me. I want you to respect my experience
and asking me, how can I (…) give something, and add value to this company. But
we always sit with managers and they always think of, yeah, we wanna help
refugees and give them a job. It’s not about helping them, it’s about actually giving
them an opportunity to prove themselves worthy of the job (Mumtaz Integration
interview, 24 November 2021).
This TSO’s perspective differentiates their concept of integration from the egalitarian
welfare state’s integration idea. They agree that being employable means being
integrated. Nevertheless, they refuse to be seen as unemployable because of their
background, their country of origin, and all experiences they brought from there. They do
not want their difference to be seen as weakness, so they need to be helped. They want
the difference to be viewed as a strength for the company and eventually society. Looking
at their background as foreign-born-founded TSOs shows that migrants and refugees
actively challenge the boundary maintenance set by the host country (Youkhana and
Sutter 2017, 1).
Meanwhile, other integration actors, including some TSOs, have a different idea about
integration. As a TSO who connects and partners with many integration actors, New to
Sweden said:
Unfortunately, what we found, even within some of our own partners, that’s not
always the focus of all these different organisations and all the different funding
and all the different money that’s being thrown towards these programs. Finding
works is not the main focus, which is strange I find, because it should be. (…) I
wonder sometimes if they’re actually listening to the demands of the newcomers or
they’re just implementing what they think is best without actually listening to what
the newcomer wants (New to Sweden interview, 17 February 2021).
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According to this TSO’s representative, all efforts of every integration actor should
prioritise employment integration because it is the gate to other aspects of integration
from newcomers’ perspectives. However, it is not always the case. This disparity of
integration ideas between the organisations and their target group also indicates a
necessity to strengthen their dialogue.
One TSO with Swedish founders in this study also see employment as an integral aspect
in their concept of integration, as shown in their statement below:
I don’t really know if I like the word integration, I like more inclusion. (…) I think
it needs to be done in many, many different aspects of society. And me and
Jobbentrén of course focus on the labour market. And I think the labour market is
very, it’s the most important one, because without work doesn’t matter how many
football teams you play in, or how many languages cafes you attend, you’re not
gonna feel like you’re part of the society (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021).
However, they also highlight the importance of having some common values
but when it comes to integration and inclusion, I think, of course, in some aspect
we want people to assimilate. I mean, we want people to be democratic, we want
people to be equal. So, in some aspects, we want our values to be part of integration,
without feeling like it’s assimilation, which is very tricky. (…) I am sure there are
a few more things, but I think if we don’t have democratic equal values, it doesn’t
matter, then we never gonna integrate (Jobbentrén interview, 23 February 2021).
This concept of integration is also reflected in Jobbentrén’s decision to only present
people adopting these values to hiring employers.
Generally, while TSOs with foreign-born founders did not mention cultural values and
wish to be treated equally despite the differences, Swedish TSOs draw the boundary of
belonging based on the agreement on some cultural values. Gender equality and sexuality
issues, for instance, is commonly used to draw ethnic boundaries and construct ethnic
identities (Anthias and Yuval-Davis 1996, as cited in Bendixsen et al. 2018, 25). In this
case, adopting equality as a core value becomes the “sameness” that every refugee must
adhere to to be completely included in society and get access to employment. As
Bendixsen et al. (ibid., 27) argue, it “may end with the unintended consequence that some
will be kept or constructed as an “outsider”.”
When the TSOs’ activities and roles are closely scrutinised, a contradiction emerges,
including among the TSOs with foreign-born founders. On the one hand, most TSOs in
this study offer services that aim to increase or convert refugees’ capital to get
employment, as explained previously in this chapter. The TSOs help refugees to find jobs
in the Swedish way. In other words, they attempt to “normalise” refugees so that they can
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be hired. Although their services increase refugees’ opportunity to get a job, by doing so,
they also perpetuate egalitarian welfare state’s construction of refugees as unemployable
and needing help. It is particularly contradictive to what the foreign-born TSOs in this
study think about integration, that refugees’ difference should be seen as strength or
capital.
On the other hand, most TSOs in this study become the refugees’ social capital by actively
approaching employers to a different extent. Some organisations connect refugees with
employers or established employees directly or create a platform for both sides to meet
and dialogue. Others attempt to change the employers’ perspective using the capitalistic
view of diversity, so they see the refugees’ differences as strength and capital.
Implementing diversity hiring as a business strategy is still a new thing in Scandinavia.
According to Holvino and Kamp (2009, 396-397), people usually prefer to see
(individual) differences as weakness and hiring refugees as a moral obligation. In short,
this role reflects another concept of integration, where refugees’ diversity is seen as
employable, and employment integration should be a two-way process. It stands in
contrast to the neoliberal influence on the egalitarian welfare state’s integration idea
where refugees first must adapt and be employable to enjoy being a full member of the
host country. In the TSOs’ integration concept, refugees should adapt to the Swedish way
of work. However, employers should also give them the opportunities to prove
themselves employable even with diverse backgrounds.
Based on their roles and concept of integration mirrored in it, no TSOs in this study
significantly challenge the boundary maintenance in Sweden as an egalitarian welfare
state. While helping refugees acquiring new capital, they still maintain the construction
of refugees as unemployable and needing help. TSOs also function as complementary to
the states’ integration measures willingly. They see the shortcomings of the state, and
they create initiatives to fill the gap. If the integration process is seen as a journey, starting
from arrival to employment integration, TSOs present in the stage where the state is no
longer the dominant source of integration support, namely at the later stage of
employment integration. In some cases, the state outsources them to provide some
services to help the refugees. It is similar to what Simsa (2017) and Hansen (2017) found
in their studies. However, they also become a social capital that bridges the refugees with
employers, implying that integration should be a two-way process. Integration measures
should focus on refugees’ side but also helping the employers to view diversity as a
78
strength. In other words, the TSOs only challenge the neoliberal influence on the welfare
state of Sweden, both by implying that integration is not only the refugees’ responsibility
but also reducing the negative impact of NPM on the public sector by supporting their
work.
TSOs’ mild position against the dominant integration concept and the state is not
surprising if seen through the lens of TSOs’ history in Sweden. As stated by Trädgårdh
(2007, 32), there is a strong trust between the state and the society in Sweden, including
the TSOs. Thus, it is unlikely that TSOs position themselves against the state. Instead,
they become part of the state’s broader democratic structure, which may explain why the
TSOs in this study can also have diverse views of integration and act based on it. In
addition, the TSOs in this study are located and started in major cities or urban areas.
They also provide their services for anyone in Sweden does not affect their position
towards the dominant integration concept and the state. It confirms the hypothesis that
urban TSOs seems to share a similar narrative of employability and integration concept
with the public and private sector, which differs from rural civil societies in Hansen’s
(2017) study that tend to have a more oppositional perspective of integration against the
national and the urban.
There is, however, an alternative way to understand the ambiguous roles and concept of
integration of the TSOs in this study. The first role, where they help refugees acquire new
cultural capital, is a short-term solution to refugees’ employment integration problem.
The second role, where they approach employers, is an attempt to create a more long-
term and sustainable solution, where refugees’ difference is seen as a strength in the
labour market. Once the refugees’ backgrounds can be valued equally as capital like
native Swedes, they will be more appreciated and easily integrated into the labour market.
Maybe Garkisch et al. (2017, 1864) suggestion is right, that the successful integration and
inclusion of refugees may require TSOs to play this double role.
79
Conclusion
Refugee integration is an urgent matter in Sweden after receiving the second-highest
number of refugees per capita during the 2015 crisis in Europe. In Sweden, the dominant
idea of integration equals being employable. However, this concept is dynamic, formed
and challenged by multiple actors. The egalitarianism in Sweden constructed refugees
needing help because they are unemployable due to their difference from the native
population. The neoliberalism influence adds to the concept that integration is refugees’
individual responsibility. This concept creates an endless cycle that hinder refugees’
employment integration. TSOs are present to help refugees integrate into the Swedish
labour market. In doing so, they contribute to building the national integration concept
and boundary maintenance.
This thesis wants to understand the role of TSOs in highly skilled refugee employment
integration and how it reflects their integration concept in relation to the dominant one.
Thus, it asks what services they offer to help the refugees and how it helps them. It
employs Bourdieusian capital theory to answer this question. TSOs perceived lack of
capital and interdependency as explanations for refugees’ difficulty securing a job
commensurate to their skills. They develop services to help refugees convert and acquire
new cultural and social capital by being their social capital. However, TSOs also found
that refugees’ capital conversion process is influenced by macro socio-political factors,
such as the insufficient support from the public sector and employers’ negative perception
of hiring them. To solve the first, the TSOs support and fill the gap left by the public
sector in their integration measure. Concerning the second, the TSOs help refugees adopt
Swedish work culture to make them recognised by employers while also persuading
employers to hire them.
What TSOs do shows their integration concept, which is ambiguous. On the one hand,
their services perpetuate the dominant idea that refugees are unemployable because they
are different. On the other hand, they challenge the idea of integration as individual
responsibility. They also bring a new idea from the capitalistic view that refugees’
difference is strength in the labour market. Furthermore, TSOs with foreign-born
founders emphasise employment and equal treatment with Swedish workers as the main
signifier of integration. In contrast, TSOs with Swedish founders imply that integration
includes adopting some Swedish values.
80
With such role and concept, TSOs do not significantly challenge the dominant or the
state’s integration concept. Thus, this thesis confirms previous literature that TSOs in
Sweden differ. It can be explained by the historical development of Sweden as an
egalitarian welfare state, which built strong trust between civil society and the state. What
TSOs seem to challenge is the influence of neoliberalism on the welfare state Sweden
with its idea of integration as refugees’ responsibility and the NPM ideology that weakens
the public sector.
6.1. Contributions and Suggestions for Further Studies
By focusing on the third sector and highly skilled refugees with more samples, this thesis
covered underresearched topics in migrant integration studies in Sweden and increased
the generalisability of the findings. The choice to highlight Sweden, an extreme case of a
refugee-receiving country in Europe, can be a point of departure for further studies on a
similar case in regional and continental scope. This thesis also strengthens previous
findings from the studies on refugees’ perspective regarding their obstacles in labour
market integration, especially their lack of capital problem. Moreover, this study shows
that TSOs’ roles in Sweden are limited to increasing refugees’ employability and
attempting to change the system to be more inclusive towards them. Until now, it is a
research blind spot based on Garkisch et al. (2017) extensive review on TSOs’ role in
migrant integration.
Finally, the researcher wants to suggest two ideas for further studies which can use this
thesis as a starting point. First, a longitudinal study from the perspective of the refugees’
who participate in the TSOs’ activities can measure the TSOs’ success and the impact of
their role. A quantitative study may work better for this research because of its capability
to collect huge amount of data and quantifying the successfulness indicators. The second
idea is a study from the employers’ perspective on hiring refugees, especially how they
formed their ideas and judged refugees’ different backgrounds. Employers’ perspective
is another under-researched topic in refugee integration literature that can contribute to
the understanding of this urgent issue.
81
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Appendix 1: TSOs’ Profiles
TSO Name Engineer to Engineer
[E2E] Yrkesdörren Mumtaz Integration Jobbentrén New to Sweden Real People
Type of
organisation NGO Nonprofit organisation Social enterprise Social enterprise
Voluntary and
nonprofit organisation
Digital labour
movement
Location of
service
implementation
13 Swedish major
cities and universities
in Stockholm, Malmö
and Uppsala
Whole of Sweden
Multiple Swedish cities
but mainly small
municipalities and
regions
Stockholm and
surrounding areas
Whole of Sweden (for
participating
newcomers),
Stockholm and
Gothenburg (for
companies)
Whole of Sweden
Activities /
Services
• Internship
matching with
companies
(discontinued)
• CV, job
culture, and
workers’ right
workshop
• Company
visits
• Matching
service
between job-
seeking
newcomers
(participants)
and
established
Swedes and
employees
• CV and job
culture
workshop for
newcomers
• Intercultural
leadership
workshop and
consultation for
employers
• Combination
events, for
• Recruitment
service for
companies
• Coaching
for the
recruited
newcomers
• CV and
seminar
• Information
seminar
about
available
services for
newcomers
• Diversity
awareness
• Information
sharing about
migration and
labour law.
• Advocacy
and
amplification
of foreign-
born
professionals’
voice.
93
• Case study
workshop
• Social media
group to
follow the
participants’
progress and
networking
(door
openers)
• Networking
event with
companies
instance
professional
fika
seminar for
employers
• Social media
group and
channel to
share job
seeking tips,
promoting
newcomers,
and
networking
• Blog and
podcast as
foreign-born
professionals’
experience
sharing
platform
Target group • Foreign-born
job seekers
• Foreign-born
job seekers
• Employers
• Refugees job
seekers
• Employers
• Foreign-
born job
seekers
• Employers
• Foreign-born
job seekers
• Employers
• Organisations
working in
migrant
integration
• International
professionals
• General
public and
related
institution (in
advocacy)
Professions Engineer Various professions
Various professions, but
mostly within finance,
accounting, engineering,
telecommunication, and
healthcare
Mostly service and
hospitality sector Various professions
Highly skilled
professions
94
Appendix 2: Interview Guide
1. Tell me about yourself and your role in your organisation!
2. What inspired you or the founder to create the organisation? Can you tell me the
background story of your organisation?
3. Who are your target groups? Are there highly skilled refugees among the participants
of your activities? What are their professions?
4. What are your organisation’s activities and services for the newcomers?
5. What are the outcome of your activities? How many highly skilled refugees get a job
equivalent to their skills after taking part in your activities?
6. How do you reach and promote your activities to your target group?
7. Where do you hold your activities? Where do your participants come from or live in
Sweden? Can your participants take part in the activities even though they come from
other cities?
8. Do you cooperate in other institutions that work with refugees, including state actors
or other TSO? Which institutions and in what form is the cooperation?
9. How do you fund your activities?
10. What are the biggest challenge for a refugee in the Swedish labour market in your
opinion?
11. What are the biggest challenge in implementing your activities?
12. What does “integration” mean according to you or your organisation? (added for
the second interview phase in 2021).
13. How do you visualise your organisation in the future? How can it develop to help
highly skilled refugees in employment integration?
14. Is there something you think I should have asked that I have not asked?