Pathways to Integration: The Second Generation in Education and Work in Norway

Project Aim

What pathways to integration characterise the transition from education to work among descendants of immigrants in Norway? Are they socially isolated and incorporated into marginalized sectors of the economy? Or are their achievements in education translated into relevant work and prominent positions in social life, contributing to a ‘remaking’ of mainstream society, in which ethnic background will play a less significant role in determining individual life chances in the future?

In this project, an interdisciplinary team of sociologists, economists and anthropologists will use both quantitative and qualitative data to explore the dynamics of generational change, focusing on the pathways to integration experienced by male and female descendants of immigrants in Norway.

Project Approach

The project has four closely related subprojects. First, we will investigate whether the immigrant parents’ success or failure in the Norwegian labour market affect the labour market integration of the second generation.

Second, we will study the extent to which descendants of immigrants’ efforts in the educational sector is transferred into relevant work, and how family obligations and transnational marriages affect employment patterns of second generation men and women.

Third, we will explore whether an elite of descendants of immigrants is in the making, by conducting comprehensive qualitative case studies among students in medicine, law and economics, as well as among lawyers, doctors and economists that have managed to gain positions in the labour market. Fourth, we will study descendants of immigrants enrolled in vocational education, following 1) those who invest in more education, 2) those who end up working in vocational professions, and 3) those who are tracked into less privileged positions or even into permanent positions outside the labour market. The project will provide new and highly policy-relevant knowledge about the processes of integration and ultimately on the long-term effects of migration on the Norwegian society.

The third subproject is part of an ongoing, comparative study of elite formation among descendants of immigrants in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden and the US. This project,ELITES: Pathways to Success, is led by Professor Maurice Crul at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Professor Crul is also part of the Norwegian project’s international advisory board, along with Professor Richard Alba from the Graduate Centre at the City University of New York and Dr. Katharine Charsley from the University of Bristol.

Participants

Ragni Hege Kitterød Dr. polit. Research Professor +47 950 50 375 Send e-mail

Hilde Lidén Dr. polit. Research Professor +47 951 23 660 Send e-mail

Jørn Ljunggren PhD Senior Research Fellow +47 419 21 291 Send e-mail

Arnfinn H. Midtbøen PhD Research Professor +47 920 82 553 Send e-mail

Marjan Nadim PhD Senior Research Fellow +47 916 09 108 Send e-mail

Julia Orupabo PhD Senior Research Fellow +47 976 66 787 Send e-mail

Marianne Røed Dr. polit. Research Professor +47 480 39 594 Send e-mail

Pål Schøne PhD Research Director, Work and Welfare +47 986 22 125 Send e-mail

Sahra Ali Abdullahi Torjussen M. Sc. Research Assistant +47 980 17 240 Send e-mail

Janis Umblijs PhD Senior Research Fellow +47 925 27 810 Send e-mail