Unveiling Integration: Educational Enrollment Pathways for Adult Refugees in Sweden

Samaneh Khaef , Stockholm university

Refugees often struggle in the host country's job market due to a lack of destination-specific human capital. Participating in adult education programs may offer refugees a chance to establish themselves in the labor market. This study examines the educational pathways of refugees in Sweden in the period 2000-2006 by applying sequence analysis to longitudinal register data following them 10 years after arrival. The results reveal five clusters: exclusion, characterized by large share of inactivity in the labor market; short enrollment in language courses and early establishment in the labor market, mixed, long participation in municipal adult education and late establishment in the labor market; and a pathway resulting in emigration. Using a multinomial logit model, the results indicate that refugees in the exclusion pathway are distinctly different from those in the early career pathway. Typically, individuals in the exclusion pathway are women, older, and have lower levels of education, originating from less privileged countries, while refugees in the early career pathway are more likely to be men, younger, higher educated, and coming from European, Former Soviet Union, and South American countries. Results further shows having children upon or shortly after arrival and spending long time in parental leave decrease the likelihood of an early career trajectory. Additionally, male and higher educated refugees are more likely to undertake the emigration path. These findings confirm the importance of structural factors such as discriminatory practices and gender norms, which may affect pathways to labor market establishment, despite the participation in adult educational courses.

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 Presented in Session 17. Refugees