Personal and Institutional Trajectories of Language, Employment and Integration: An Ethnography with Migrant NGO Practitioners

Abstract

This doctoral study focuses on the personal and institutional trajectories of migrants working in a non-governmental organisation [NGO] in Central Finland. The study aims to critically investigate migrant NGO practitioners’ trajectories of language, employment and integration by cross-analysing the interplay within their diverse social categories and the intersection of these categories with the social structures of the wider society and with the organisational practices of the NGO as a workplace. The study is based on ethnography, and it draws on observational, interview, textual, questionnaire and self-assessment data. The ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in the NGO’s work sites, such as a multicultural centre and four integration-related projects, as well as in several of its management sites. The data were collected and generated jointly or in close collaboration with the participants, including twenty-two migrant NGO practitioners and six Finnish NGO supervisors. Guided by the concepts of superdiversity and intersectionality, the data were analysed using the methods of analysis of narratives and narrative analysis. The findings show that the participants with a migrant background encountered different opportunities and challenges in relation to the policies and practices of language, employment and integration in the broader societal and workplace contexts of Finland. These opportunities and challenges were associated with the participants’ diverse social categories (e.g., migration status, legal status, workforce status, language, education, race, ethnicity, gender and age) and their intersection with, on the one hand, the social structures of the wider society (e.g., laws, systems, services, authorities and institutions) and, on the other, with the organisational practices of the NGO as a workplace (e.g., rules, regulations, procedures, requirements and routines). The study also reveals that the participants generally experienced inclusive integration as a two-way process involving both participation and acceptance. The participants’ social categories might affect participation while acceptance might be affected by the social structures of the wider society or by the organisational practices of the workplace. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the two-way process of participation and acceptance formed part of the different dimensions of comprehensive integration experienced by the participants. That is, in the broader societal context, the integration of participants concerned not only language and employment but also other dimensions, such as cultural, social, educational, political and civic. Similarly, in the workplace context, the participants’ integration concerned the dimensions of workplace recruitment, workplace language, workplace culture, workplace communication and workplace socialisation. The study therefore suggests that the intersection of migrants’ diverse social categories with the social structures of the wider society and with the organisational practices of the workplace should be considered when making changes in policies and practices aimed at promoting their inclusive and comprehensive integration in the broader societal and workplace contexts of the receiving country. Overall, by juxtaposing superdiversity and intersectionality, the study provides new insights into research on migration and integration in general and on language and employment in particular. The study findings can be widely used among migrants themselves, employers, policymakers, public officials, educational institutions, third sector actors and other stakeholders.