The Satisfaction of Master Students at Gothenburg University with Swedish Labour Market: A focus on International Students in relation to their Swedish counterparts, utilizing a Human Rights Approach

Abstract

Higher education has become more globalized and international students are increasingly faced with financial pressures due to changes in welfare states. As a student, working part-time is the only practical way to ease the economic limitations of life. In this study, the human rights approach is used to establish the satisfaction of international students with the Swedish labour market compared to their Swedish counterparts. In order to achieve this goal, the study aimed at assessing the involvement of international and Swedish students in paid work during their studies; to find out the kind of jobs both international and Swedish students at Gothenburg University engage in while studying; and to investigate the level of satisfaction with Swedish labour market among both international and Swedish students at Gothenburg University. It was hypothesized that: most international students at Gothenburg University are engaged in paid work; most international students at Gothenburg University engage in blue-collar jobs; and most of the international students at Gothenburg are less satisfied with Swedish labour market. A cross sectional quantitative study using a web based survey was conducted among master students at Gothenburg University, spring 2013, in seven selected departments within faculty of Social Sciences. In total, 118 students answered the survey; however, only 100 students completed all the questions. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS 21 software. Findings show four different groups. The first group (n=39) was working. They were mainly engaged in informal, low paid jobs, not related to their academic education. They did not find their jobs intellectually challenging. The second group (n=19) had been working but stopped because of bad working conditions and a wish to focus on their studies. The third group 34 per cent (n=34) was actively searching for jobs but they had not yet found any, only 8 per cent were not interested in working while studying. International students’ level of satisfaction with Swedish labour market was different compared to Swedish counterparts. Majority of the international students were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their current/previous jobs in Sweden. This was especially due to the employers’ demand for skills in Swedish language even though the job does not demand such a skill. The work related rights of the students, especially international students need urgent attention. Research and current debates have been largely focused on immigrants such as asylum seekers and the refugees. More research is needed since international students within Swedish labour market have remained invisible despite their economic contribution. Whereas this study has some limitations, a remarkable contribution has been made to the body of knowledge on the satisfaction of students with the Swedish labour market utilizing human rights approach and it has laid a cornerstone for advocacy for this group.