Skilled migrants re-entering their careers in Sweden and support they received
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3384/njvet.2242-458X.2515479Keywords:
skilled migrants, re-enter, career, vocation, access, supportAbstract
This article examines the support migrants receive to access and re-enter their previous vocational areas successfully. The analytical framework builds on studies based on Coleman’s and Bourdieu’s concepts of social capital and develops the concepts of ideational support, material support, and bridging support. In the analysis of the empirical data, 20 interviews with skilled migrants, we found that although the kinds of support received by the migrants differed, there were also similarities. Their access was shaped not only by being categorised as (economic) immigrants or as refugees but also by when they came to Sweden and their vocations before arriving. Ideational support from people around them was critical, particularly from the institutional actors such as teachers they encountered in the different structures of opportunities that target migrants. In addition, serendipity – a chance meeting with someone – seemed to be a key for some individuals to successfully re-enter their vocations.
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