This study focuses on ‘successful migrants’, who have succeeded in gaining employment in Sweden in their previous vocational area. The aim is to describe factors on various levels – individual, organisational and national – that have facilitated migrants’ way back to work as well as their inclusion at workplaces. Although Sweden is the context, the findings are relevant for all countries that receive migrants. In policies and research, finding relevant employment is emphasised as key to integration for many reasons, including financial, well-being, and health (Ager & Strang, 2008), cultural competence (Ganassin and Johnstone Young 2020), and acceptance as a full-fledged citizen (Wehrle et al. 2018). Like other migrants, the participants in this study encountered difficulties on their journeys, but by focusing on the success factors that define them, we evade the one-sided story of marginalised and incapable refugees. Twenty migrants and five employers/mentors were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The overarching theme of facilitating factors concerns language proficiency, individual factors, enabling frameworks, and supporting persons and networks. The migrants’ own ambitions and motivations, and the support they got in interpersonal encounters were especially emphasised as important. In the migrants’ narratives, a central theme in relation to the theoretical perspective was how to deal with threats to their social and professional identity in the new country. For them, maintaining a positive self-image was key to the strength needed to fight for a return to working life. People in the environment were important in this struggle – for positioning them as competent persons and for offering support. (Eliasson et al., 2022)

This presentation is based on an article: Eva Eliasson, Marianne Teräs & Ali Osman (2022): ‘Back to work’—factors facilitating migrants’ re-entry into their previous vocations, Journal of Education and Work, DOI: 10.1080/13639080.2022.2144168 Ager, A., & Strang, A. (2008). Understanding integration: A conceptual framework. Journal of Refugee Studies 21(2), 166–191. Braun, V.,& Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2), 77–101. Ganassin, S., & Johnstone Young, T. (2020). From surviving to thriving: ‘Success stories’ of highly skilled refugees in the UK. Language and Intercultural Communication 20(2),125–140. Wehrle, K., Klehe, U.-C. , Kira, M., & Zikic, J. (2018). Can I come as I am? Refugees’ vocational identity threats, coping, and growth. Journal of Vocational Behavior 105, 83–101.