What Works? Family Influences on Occupational Aspirations among Descendants of Middle Eastern Immigrants on the Swedish Labour Market

Pinar Aslan,Nader Ahmadi,Eva Wikström,Stefan Sjöberg

doi:10.7577/njsr.2235

Pinar Aslan, Nader Ahmadi + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.7577/njsr.2235

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Abstract

In this article, we examine family influences on occupational aspirations among employed descendants of Middle Eastern immigrants. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with native-born descendants of Middle Eastern immigrants. We present and analyse their interpretations of their parents’ experiences and living conditions before, during and after migration and demonstrate how these interpretations shaped their own occupational aspirations. We discuss parents’ high expectations of their children in relation to ethnic-community valuations of educational and occupational achievements. These high expectations may increase the chances of social mobility but can also become a negative pressure, especially if parents set high standards but cannot help their children to meet those expectations. In these cases, older siblings who possess valuable knowledge of the educational system and labour market can function as important transferrers of resources.

Highlights

In almost every Western European country, descendants of immigrants are generally in a less favourable labour-market position than descendants of natives (Gorodzeisky & Semyonov, 2017; OECD, 2017)
We focused on these factors from the perspective of the descendants of Middle Eastern immigrants – that is, individuals born in Sweden, 137 NJSR – Nordic Journal of Social Research Vol 9, 2018 both of whose parents immigrated from the Middle East
We examined family influences on the occupational aspirations of descendants of Middle Eastern immigrants in Sweden who have managed to enter the labour market

Summary

Introduction

In almost every Western European country, descendants of immigrants are generally in a less favourable labour-market position than descendants of natives (Gorodzeisky & Semyonov, 2017; OECD, 2017). Nordic governments are aware that the social exclusion of individuals with an immigrant background is a substantial risk to social cohesion, and so tackling the social exclusion of those individuals is a high-priority goal in the Nordic countries (Nordiska ministerrådet, 2012). The gaps between immigrants and the native-born population in unemployment, employment rates and earnings are generally greater for nonWestern immigrants and their descendants than for those of Western ancestry (Hermansen, 2013; Schröder, 2010; Statistics Sweden, 2010).

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