The number of immigrants living in Iceland has been steadily on the rise for the last decade; between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of immigrants living in Iceland has increased from 7.6 % to 11.9% (Statistics Iceland, 2017a, 2017b). Akureyri, the largest town in the North of Iceland with considerable industry and service, has seen its immigrant population double in the last decade, and is now home to 931 immigrants for a total of 18 488 inhabitants (Statistics Iceland, 2017a, 2017c). New research from the University of Akureyri[1]shows that immigrant women are the most vulnerable people in the labour market in Iceland. Many occupy positions that do not fit with their level of education; despite having received higher education than men. For example, in the survey conducted 30% of immigrant women in Akureyri answered that they are in employment that does not suit their background, compared to the same answer by only 8% of Icelandic women. This difference has a direct impact on the income: just 11% of immigrant women answered that they earn 300 000 ISK or more per month, compared to 37% for Icelandic women and 22% for immigrant men.
We begin the discussion by reviewing the literature on migration, labour market and gender, with an emphasis on the Icelandic context. Then, we introduce the context for this study and describe the participants and the methodology, before we explore the immigrant women’s thoughts on their employment situation.
Nemendum af erlendum uppruna hefur fjölgað mikið í íslenskum skólum. Það kallar á að skólar bregðist við námsþörfum þessa nemendahóps. Markmið þessarar greinar er að fjalla um reynslu kennara og foreldra af menntun nemenda af erlendum uppruna. Í eigindlegri rannsókn voru tekin viðtöl við þrjátíu og átta grunnskólakennara um reynslu þeirra af því að kenna nemendum af erlendum uppruna og helstu áskoranir sem því fylgja. Einnig voru tekin viðtöl við tíu erlenda foreldra um reynslu þeirra af íslenskum skólum. Niðurstöður sýna að kennarar telja sig ekki vera nægilega vel studda til þess að skilja og takast á við námsþarfir nemendanna. Upplifun foreldra litast af hugmyndum þeirra um skólann sem hinn hefðbundna stað fyrir nám og íslenska skólakerfið ögrar þessum skilningi þeirra. Skortur er á samvinnu og samskiptum milli forelda og kennara. Í niðurlagi er lagt til að skólar stuðli að markvissari umræðu um þarfir nemenda og væntingar foreldra svo að efla megi og bæta menntun nemenda af erlendum uppruna.
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