The job-seeking experiences of resourceful female immigrants and the impact on their self-efficacy beliefs

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to examine how resourceful, job-seeking immigrant women in Norway perceive that the competences and education they acquired from their home country are received in Norway and how their job-seeking experiences influence their work-related self-efficacy and identity. The study is based on 26 in-depth interviews with female immigrants aged 25–67 years from 21 different countries, mostly non-Western. They have lived in Norway for an average of six years. They have clear career ambitions, have deliberately acted to achieve their goal, and are highly active in job seeking, and most of them obtained higher education in their home country. The interviewees exert considerable effort in seeking work, but their efforts are not fruitful. They experience a downgrading of their education, as well as their competences, from their home country. Because their active efforts have not led to work, they have nearly given up trying to gain entry into the Norwegian workforce, and their self-efficacy beliefs and identity regarding having a professional career are weakened. Their affiliation and position conflict with both what they expected to achieve and workfare in Norwegian society; their competences from their home countries are not perceived as valuable in terms of Norwegian expertise and employee qualities.

SAMMENDRAG

Artikkelens målsetting er å undersøke hvordan ressurssterke minoritetskvinner i Norge opplever sin jobbsøkingsprosess. Hvordan erfarer de at deres kompetanse og utdannelse fra hjemlandet blir mottatt? Og hvordan påvirker disse erfaringene deres mestringstro og identitet relatert til jobb? Studien er basert på 26 dybdeintervjuer med minoritetskvinner i alderen 26-67 år, fra 21 ulike land, i hovedsak ikke-vestlige. I utgangspunktet har informantene klare karriereambisjoner og har vært aktive for å nå sine mål, blant annet ved at de fleste har tatt høyere utdannelse i hjemlandet. I Norge har de brukt mye tid og energi på å skaffe seg arbeid, men uten resultater. Deres kompetanse fra hjemlandet ser ikke ut til å bli verdsatt i Norge i særlig grad. Dette er i konflikt med deres egne ambisjoner og forventninger. I stedet opplever de at det skjer en nedgradering av deres kompetanse og utdannelse. Informantenes utsagn kan tyde på at deres identitet knyttet til utdannelse og jobb har endret seg negativt, og at deres mestringstro rundt det å skape seg en jobbkarriere er blitt lavere. Fordi deres aktive handlinger ikke har resultert i jobb, har de nærmest gitt opp å få innpass i norsk arbeidsliv. Dette er et paradoks med tanke på forventningene om at flest mulig mennesker i arbeidsfør alder skal være i arbeid.

KEYWORDS:

• Female immigrants
• job seeking
• self-efficacy
• agency
• social mobility

NØKKELORD:

• minoritetskvinner
• jobbsøking
• mestringstro
• handlekraft
• sosial mobilitet

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Anita Røysum is Associate Professor at the Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy at Oslo Metropolitan University. She is a social worker. Her PhD in the Study of Professions (2012) and, also later research interests focuses on the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Organisation (NAV) and the municipal social service, the role of social workers and their professional role in NAV. Her main line of research is social work as professional knowledge. Her current agenda focuses on studying the challenges of workfare, work inclusion, and inclusion and exclusion of female immigrants. She is the author of several publications.

Notes

1 The population of the labour market statistics.