Enhanced Labour Market Opportunities for Immigrant Women : – case studies from arctic cities

• Main Authors: Sigurjónsdóttir, Hjördis Rut, Wøien, Mari, Meckl, Markus
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Nordregio 2018
• Subjects: women; labour market; integration; Human Geography; Kulturgeografi; Akureyri; Arctic; Rovaniemi; Iceland; Luleå; Lapland; University of Akureyri
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:norden:org:diva-5424; https://doi.org/10.30689/R2018:3.1403-2503

This publication is the outcome of a comparative study focusing on immigrant women’s access to the labour market in small and medium-sized cities in the Arctic region. The study is funded by the Nordic Gender Equality Fund, which supports projects aimed at knowledge sharing and problem solving with regards to gender equality across the Nordic countries. The research was carried out by the University of Akureyri, Nordregio and the University of Lapland. The project was to investigate policies and applied practices in three small and medium-sized cities in the Nordic countries: Akureyri in Iceland, Luleå in Sweden and Rovaniemi in Finland. The objective was to identify and share best practices for improving labour market integration among immigrant women. The project also sought to examine how private and public actors may improve the opportunities in the labour market for immigrant women, as well as to give these women a voice through in-depth interviews about their labour market integration experiences in the abovementioned Nordic Arctic cities. The case studies figuring in this publication are to be taken as a first explorative enquiry into the varied local circumstances regarding labour marketintegration and practices. The case studies andthe desktop research form the basis for this publication. The University of Akureyri conducted the case study in Akureyri, Nordregio in Luleå and the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi. The interviews for the case studies were carried out between September and December 2017. Subsequently, the material from each case study was analysed with desktop material, articles and documents ondifferent language and labour market measures. It is important to keep in mind that this area of research is highly dynamic, and the different initiatives in place are subject to change due to e.g.political change.