In recent decades people in almost every developed country have experi-enced many rapid changes in society; migration and rapid technological developments. These dramatic changes have influenced adults worldwide with respect to their participation in lifelong learning. As a result great emphasis has been put on adult immigrants to participate in various courses and learning activities (Van Tubergen and Van De Werfhorst, 2007). However, there is ample evidence to show that success in attracting participants from this target group is lacking. One of the challenges lies with women from the Middle East who are scattered around the work market and in society in general. Even though state policies have set out requirements, regarding education for immigrants, and determine the importance of embracing diversity so that immigrants find it easy to integrate to the society and access their chances of participation in daily life, there is a considerable group of adults women, of foreign origin, who has a limited role in participation in the educational activities on offer.
The main purpose of this research is to highlight factors which impede participation and successful completion of courses, among women from the Middle East in lifelong learning courses in Iceland and to investigate how best to meet the variety of these women´s needs, and thus to enhance their access to the community in order to establish a safer community for their children and descendants which allows for the integration of both the existing and new culture. These aspects are an important part of making future developments possible for these women regarding participation and coexistence in the new environment.
The research question is: How do women from the Middle East explain their limited participations in lifelong learning activities in Iceland?

Sociologists have often focused and drawn pictures of how culture, identity, goals, attitudes, values, communication and even what is most important to people in life can vary between cultural areas or periods. They often put specific labels on periods of history that are supposed to describe culture of a certain period and certain groups. Today's society is no exception here, but sociologists' analysis and interpretation of the societies immigrants and refugees enter can help us understand their opportunities, challenges and the way the society reacts toward these vulnerable groups. In this study I outlined the main theories used in the interpretation of the data and their relationship to the research and its subjects. Pierre Bourdieu's theories on social, cultural and economic wealth should first be mentioned (Bourdieu, 1997; 2007), but he believes that individuals within a society are never equal, but possess varying amounts of wealth. which affects their activities and capacity for activities/participation in the society in which they live. I have also relied on Gidden's theories about the importance of education and the responsibilities that lies on both individuals and societies (Giddens, 1998; 2000).

According to his theory, it is an individual's right to have choices and to make his/her own decisions. But they also have to stop and think about the consequences of their decisions. In order to better understand the life and situation of the adult learners and their various need for practicality, I have relied on Knowles' six assumptions about the characteristics of adult students,i.e. how and why some adults take active participations in lifelong learning (Knowles, Holton and Swanson, 2005). Finally, I have used Wlodkowski's ideas about adult educators, and how he considers and interpretes the responsibility and the role of instructors, educational organizers and lifelong learning sectors to make the learning interesting, motivating, effective and accessible to everyone(Wlodkowski, 2007).

The investigation is qualitative and is based on data gleaned from interviews with eight immigrant women aged 30 to 51 and from public documents.Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2013) is used to analyze the data. This method is useful when one is trying to find commonalities in meaning among the participants’ responses. Knowledge about the reasons for their limited participation in various courses on offer. When the participants were contacted, they were ensured that all personal information that they provided would be confiderntial and other informaiton would be anonymised and deidentified. All participants who agree to take part in the study were asked to sign the letter of consent in their own language.

The findings suggest that social networking, level of education and income problems are among the factors that affect immigrants´ access to lifelong learning. It also suggests that the Icelandic society embraces different “types” of immigrants differently. The result suggests that in order to help these women, and even others, to move forwards and engage in lifelong learning activities, equal opportunities and equal access to courses need to be secured to all refugees and immigrants in Iceland. The conclusion shows that this will allow them to be more competitive in the labour market and give them access to a wider range of jobs in the society.

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