Browsing by Author "Fortelius, Sabina Maria Blanka"

The context of the thesis is found in the sociological discussion on migration and labour market integration of immigrants. The theoretic foothold builds on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory on forms of capital and fields. The point of departure for the study is Swedish citizens’ paths to employment in Helsinki at the time recently after migration. Swedish migrants without a previous connection to Finland through kin have not been studied in the Finnish context, and the aim is to describe how these migrants gain access to the local labour market in Helsinki. What assets do the Swedish citizens use in order to gain employment in Helsinki? How are these assets achieved? Are the resources migrated from Sweden valued on the field, or do the Swedish migrants have to take further measures in Finland, in order to gain employment? By answering these questions a definition of the prevailing rules on the labour market will also be made. The thesis is written as an independent part of the research project Svenska invandrare i Finland, led by senior lecturer Östen Wahlbeck. The empirical data for the study consists of 14 semi-structured in-depth interviews with Swedish Citizens in Helsinki. The interviews were conducted in the summer and fall of 2012 and have been analysed from an inductive angle. As an immigrant group, the Swedish citizens in Finland are in a specific position as their first language is one of the national languages in Finland. The Swedish citizens actively use the Swedish-speaking labour market as a gateway to employment. The initial occupations of Swedish citizens in Helsinki are on the one hand often situated in Swedish-speaking sectors where the level of required skills or assets might be low, entry-level sectors, and sectors where the specific skills required are corresponding to the national background of the employee, ethno-specific occupations. On the other hand, the interviews also show that some of the interviewed have managed to gain employment that corresponds to their work experience from Sweden. The study shows that the Swedish immigrants only to a limited extent have to rely on unofficial channels to gain employment, and that the assets of the Swedish applicants in many cases have been recognised in their migrated state. In many cases, the applicants have also managed to mobilise their ties to or knowledge of Sweden into a valued asset which enables them to gain employment in Helsinki.