Perfect for the Job? Overqualification of Immigrants and their Descendants in the Norwegian Labor Market

Abstract

Compared to the majority population, studies have shown that non-western immigrants are more likely to work in jobs for which they are overqualified. These findings are based on coarse measures of jobs, and an important question is how sensitive these findings are to the definition of jobs. By using detailed information from Norwegian register data 2014, we provide a methodological innovation in comparing individuals working in the same occupation, industry, sector, firm, and municipality. In this way, we measure the degree of overqualification among workers within more than 653,000 jobs. We differentiate between immigrants and their descendants originating from Western Europe, the New EU countries, other Western countries, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Africa and Asia (except MENA countries), and South and Central America, and compare their outcomes with the majority population holding the same jobs. We find that immigrants from all country of origin groups are more likely to be overqualified compared to the majority population and to descendants of immigrants. However, the prevalence of overqualification decreases with time since immigration.

Returns to Human Capital and the Incorporation of Highly-Skilled Workers in the Public and Private Sector of Major Immigrant Societies: An Introduction

“…Larsen, Rogne and Birkelund show that counter to their initial hypotheses, relative differences in overqualification do not seem to differ substantially by gender, nor by sector refuting the idea that the public sector plays a sheltering role (Larsen, Rogne, & Birkelund, 2018). They find that, while the prevalence of overqualification is generally higher for immigrants than for their descendants and majority members, these differences seem to diminish by time since immigration.…”

Exploring Employability Constructions of Migrants in Sweden and Potential Consequences for Labour Market Entrance Recommendations

“…We aimed to add to the body of research by examining constructions of individual employability and labour market induction, and the role of intersecting social categorizations in these constructions. From previous research we know that the identification of employees' transferable competencies is difficult for organizations in general (Bernhard-Oettel and Näswall 2015), and the reformulation of personal assets and revaluation of previous education and work experience between contexts is problematic (e.g., Eggenhofer-Rehart et al 2018;Larsen et al 2018;Mancinelli et al 2010;van Riemsdijk et al 2016). The importance of an intersectional perspective in interpreting these processes is corroborated by research exploring employability and perceived difficulties associated with gender, actual or assumed family responsibilities, age, class, and ethnicity for individuals in or at the margins of the labour market (e.g., Allen et al 2013;Kelan 2014;Reid and LeDrew 2013).…”

“…We recognize that our exploration is focused on a Western context that may differ from the migrants' predominantly non-Western contexts of origin. This entails a reformulation of employment opportunities and revaluation of previous education and/or work experience, usually to the disadvantage of the individual migrant (e.g., Eggenhofer-Rehart et al 2018;Larsen et al 2018;Mancinelli et al 2010;van Riemsdijk et al 2016). In the present study, we combine intersectional and discourse analytical approaches with the understanding that individual employability is subjectively constructed in order to explore labour market induction, employability constructions and categorizations in the discourse used by government agencies directly involved in the labour market integration of newly arrived migrants.…”

“…While norms and stereotypes, especially concerning parenthood, are relied on to explain the situation for (low-skilled) women, such explicit and assumed preconceptions are silently lacking regarding men. The discrimination and undervaluation that high-skilled migrants face, especially men from non-Western countries (see, e.g., Edström and Pokarzhevskaya 2017;Eggenhofer-Rehart et al 2018;Larsen et al 2018;Mancinelli et al 2010), is simply not addressed.…”

“…It is also difficult for migrants with completed university degrees to obtain employment on par with their academic levels (c.f. Larsen et al 2018). The number of unemployed Swedish-born residents has decreased in recent years, but unemployment levels among migrants has increased and remains high (Swedish Public Employment Service 2017a; 2018b).…”