Challenges of Professional Integration: Experiences of non-EU Highly Skilled Professional Immigrants in Gothenburg, Sweden

Abstract

Migration has been a global phenomenon. Sweden being one of the most industrious countries of Europe, with the best welfare system, Sweden has experienced considerable flow of both professional and nonprofessional immigrants. When immigrants move into another country, they meet several challenges and among them are professional employment challenges. Therefore, the aim of this research was to analyze skilled Professional non-EU immigrant’s narratives about their difficulties in finding a job in their profession in Gothenburg, Sweden, and with a view to improving their access to the job market. The research was a qualitative study that focused only on non-EU professional immigrants from Africa, Asia and Middle East. The findings presented in this study, answered two research questions. One; what are the experiences of non-EU skilled professional immigrants in accessing the labour market within their profession in Gothenburg, Sweden? And two; What Strategies have the non-EU skilled professional immigrants used to improve their access to the labour market? Findings were obtained from eight participants by use of semi-structured interview guide. Human capital theory, social capital theory and disparate treatment theory as an employment discrimination theory was used to analyze the findings. The study demonstrates that, professional non-EU immigrants face quite several difficulties in finding jobs related to their profession and academic qualifications. These challenges are mainly due to social-cultural differences, language, devaluation of their qualifications and work experience, stringent national policies, limited social networks and discrimination. The findings further indicates that non-EU skilled professional immigrants confront challenging labour market situations by; improving on the quality of their social and professional networks, learning the Swedish language, actively getting involved in voluntary work and internships, upskilling, making follow ups on application and need for reformed government programs as a suggestion was among the themes that raised. Key words: Non-EU skilled Professional immigrants, experiences, Swedish labour market, employment, human capital, social capital and low skilled jobs.