IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joimai/v23y2022i1d10.1007_s12134-021-00830-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Taking Time Seriously: Biographical Circumstance and Immigrant Labor Integration Experience

Author

Listed:
  • Erika Gubrium

    (Oslo Metropolitan University)

  • Mariann Stærkebye Leirvik

    (Oslo Metropolitan University)

Abstract

The article offers a re-conceptualization of the labor integration process which takes temporality into account as a relevant feature that, rather than following patterned frames of reference, is actively referenced through narratively and socially constructed formations of understanding. The European policy strategy regarding immigrants has shifted in the past decades from a focus on social integration to a predominant focus on labor market integration, due in part to the relatively high unemployment rates of immigrants entering and migrating within Europe. A personalized approach used throughout Europe to “empower” and move immigrants into the labor market has not been realized in practice. Norway, a “best case scenario” for a more personalized approach through comprehensive labor integration and activation measures, has also had limited success with the sustained labor integration of immigrants. We suggest that a source of the problem lies in the conceptualization of labor integration, which, in contrast to true personalization, follows a patterned notion of the process. We argue that such a conceptualization does not provide the means to explore and untangle potentially significant processes and mechanisms relevant to the labor integration experience. We introduce the concept of biographical circumstance to demonstrate how immigrant participants in a Norwegian labor activation program draw on different references from their personal histories as they make meaning of their labor integration—and how meaning-making is dialectically shaped and delimited by the structural effects of changing policy opportunities, rules, and regulations. We conducted 14 qualitative interviews with immigrants involved in the Norwegian Qualification Program, a national labor activation program. We select four participants to present as illustrative cases of biographical circumstance and meaning making. The four differently make meaning of and respond to their labor integration experiences through active reference to specific personal histories and changing policy encounters over time. The data demonstrate that accounting for biographical circumstance enables us to better understand the actions, rationalizations, and motivations of immigrants participating in labor integration and activation measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Erika Gubrium & Mariann Stærkebye Leirvik, 2022. "Taking Time Seriously: Biographical Circumstance and Immigrant Labor Integration Experience," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 303-320, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:23:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s12134-021-00830-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s12134-021-00830-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-021-00830-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12134-021-00830-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bernt Bratsberg & Oddbjørn Raaum & Knut Røed, 2018. "Job Loss and Immigrant Labour Market Performance," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 85(337), pages 124-151, January.
    2. Thomas Liebig & Kristian Rose Tronstad, 2018. "Triple Disadvantage?: A first overview of the integration of refugee women," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 216, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Graziella Bertocchi & Marianna Brunetti & Anzelika Zaiceva, 2023. "The Financial Decisions of Immigrant and Native Households: Evidence from Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(1), pages 117-174, March.
    2. Sonja Senthanar & Ellen MacEachen & Stephanie Premji & Philip Bigelow, 2020. "“Can Someone Help Me?” Refugee Women’s Experiences of Using Settlement Agencies to Find Work in Canada," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 273-294, March.
    3. Christina Boll & Andreas Lagemann, 2018. "Does Culture Trump Money? Employment and Childcare Use of Migrant and Non-Migrant Mothers of Pre-School Children in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1015, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Bratsberg, Bernt & Raaum, Oddbjørn & Røed, Knut, 2020. "Immigrant Responses to Social Insurance Generosity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    5. Edvard N. Larsen & Adrian F. Rogne & Gunn E. Birkelund, 2018. "Perfect for the Job? Overqualification of Immigrants and their Descendants in the Norwegian Labor Market," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(3), pages 78-103.
    6. Christina Boll & Andreas Lagemann, 2018. "Does Culture Trump Money? Erwerbsverhalten und Kitanutzung von Müttern mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1014, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    7. Susan Athey & Lisa K. Simon & Oskar N. Skans & Johan Vikstrom & Yaroslav Yakymovych, 2023. "The Heterogeneous Earnings Impact of Job Loss Across Workers, Establishments, and Markets," Papers 2307.06684, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2024.
    8. Jacob Nielsen Arendt, 2022. "Labor market effects of a work-first policy for refugees," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 169-196, January.
    9. Mulumeoderhwa Buhendwa & Yvonne Sliep & Gugu Gladness Mchunu & Celenkosini Thembelenkosini Nxumalo, 2022. "Exploring the Influence of Social Capital on HIV Prevention with Migrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Living in Durban, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Maissa Khatib & Tanya Purwar & Rushabh Shah & Maricarmen Vizcaino & Luciano Castillo, 2024. "Empowerment and integration of refugee women: a transdisciplinary approach," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    11. Ludovica Gambaro & Guido Neidhöfer & C. Katharina Spieß, 2019. "The Effect of Early Childhood Education and Care Services on the Social Integration of Refugee Families," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1828, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    12. Chassamboulli, Andri & Fontaine, Idriss & Gálvez-Iniesta, Ismael & Gomes, Pedro, 2024. "Immigration and labour market flows," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    13. Hoseini,Mohammad & Dideh,Mahsa Jahan, 2022. "How Do Shared Experiences of Economic Shocks Impact Refugees and Host Communities ? Evidence fromAfghan Refugees in Iran," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9915, The World Bank.
    14. Kosyakova, Yuliya & Gundacker, Lidwina & Salikutluk, Zerrin & Trübswetter, Parvati, 2021. "Arbeitsmarktintegration in Deutschland: Geflüchtete Frauen müssen viele Hindernisse überwinden (Labor market integration in Germany: Refugee women have to overcome many obstacles)," IAB-Kurzbericht 202108, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    15. Bratsberg, Bernt & Kotsadam, Andreas & Walther, Selma, 2021. "Male Fertility: Facts, Distribution and Drivers of Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 14506, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Gambaro, Ludovica & Neidhöfer, Guido & Spiess, C. Katharina, 2021. "The effect of early childhood education and care services on the integration of refugee families," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    17. Cörvers, Frank & Reinold, Julia & Chakkar, Saena & Bolzonella, Francesco & Ronda, Vera, 2021. "Literature review labour migration," ROA Technical Report 005, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    18. Goßner, Laura & Kosyakova, Yuliya, 2021. "Integrationshemmnisse geflüchteter Frauen und mögliche Handlungsansätze – eine Übersicht bisheriger Erkenntnisse," IAB-Forschungsbericht 202108, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    19. Petri Böckerman & Tuomas Kosonen & Terhi Maczulskij, 2018. "Job Displacement, Inter-Regional Mobility and Long-Term Earnings," Working Papers 323, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    20. Huanan Xu, 2018. "First fired, first hired? Business cycles and immigrant labor market transitions," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-36, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:23:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s12134-021-00830-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.