Vägen till sysselsättning

At a European level there is a concern about a threatening skills crisis as unemployment is high. Above all, the unemployment rate is high among newly arrived women. Meanwhile employers have a hard time finding workforce with the right skills and this problem is also found in the Swedish labor market. Research shows that women face other issues than men on their way to employment, but also that career counselors might need better strategies to develop their work with this group. The purpose of this study is to investigate which factors affect newly arrived women in Sweden on their way to occupation and how career counselors can work with the women to handle these factors. Four newly arrived women without upper secondary education and four career counselors who work with this target group were interviewed. Systems Theory Framework and Careership are the two theories that are used to analyze the results. The study identifies several factors that affect newly arrived women on their way to occupations, and these factors get new dimensions when they are influenced by gender. The identified factors can both widen and limit the women’s horizon of action. The result also showed several strategies that career counselors use while working with this group and the influencing factors, for example understanding what migration means for the women and support them in the process ahead. To be able to do this, the career counselors might need to give advice and information and use visual aids to another extent than with other groups. These strategies can also serve as opportunities for the counselor to maintain a balance in the therapeutic system and thus not risk affecting the client