Constructions of inclusion at two senior nursing home units in Sweden: immigrants’ perspectives

• Date: 20 May 2019
• Published date: 20 May 2019
• Pages: 462-476
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-05-2018-0091
• Author: Solange Barros de Alcantara Hamrin
• Subject Matter: Hr & organizational behaviour,Employment law

Constructions of inclusion at two

senior nursing home units in

Sweden: immigrants’perspectives

Solange Barros de Alcantara Hamrin

Department of Media and Communication, Mid Sweden University,

Sundsvall, Sweden

Abstract

Purpose –This study is an inductive exploration of factors that are relevant to the inclusion and integration

of immigrant workers in a Swedish workplace. The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of

immigrant employees with other organisational actors at two senior nursing units in Sweden.

Design/methodology/approach –Results are drawn from the analyses of interviews with six female and

three male immigrant nursing assistants living permanently in Sweden.

Findings –Trustful relationships with other organisational actors, during both formal and informal

interactions, are considered essential facilitating inclusion of these immigrant workers. Immigrant workers

experienced inclusion when they achieved language competence (or felt supported in their attempts to do so)

and bridged cultural differences. The results also highlight conditions for interactions and leadership as

factors influencing inclusion. In addition, inclusion implied acculturation or awareness of the values of

native-born citizens.

Research limitations/implications –The study suggests that immigrants’relational dynamics with their

colleagues are essential to inclusion, despite types of studies that focus mainly onthe competences of leaders

to manage diversity.

Practical implications –The results have implications for organisations’development of a more

democratic workplace with more inclusiveness and with satisfied employees.

Originality/value –The study gives voice to immigrant workers, which is rare in Swedish andinternational

organisations that deal with the issue of immigrant integration in the workplace.

Keywords Integration, Inclusion, Leadership, Communication, Inequality, Immigrants in workplaces

Paper type Research paper

Although governments and other institutions regularly produce migration reports that

include numbers of immigrants and evaluations of their integration, these assessments are

usually quantitative and based on absolute and relative variables (Tibajev, 2016). These

documents describe the establishment of immigrants in the labour market and provide

statistics on immigrant employment compared with that of the native-born population (SCB,

2016, 2017). Another measurement of integration considers how many immigrants have

secured employment in a certain country compared with the numbers in other countries.

Employment is an important positive economic and social integration indicator for

immigrants (Drydakis, 2012), but it does not reflect how minorities relate to others in the

workplace, nor does it reveal their experiences and interplay with the organisational culture

and individuals in the workplace.

The literature on diversity management and migrant integration rarely shares the voices

of immigrants and their experiences of inclusion in the workplace. Integration and inclusion

are constructions and, as such, they take form through individual interactions (Fairhurst

and Grant, 2010), and how these individuals make sense of these interactions (Maitlis and

Sonenshein, 2010.

In 2015, Sweden was the destination for thousands of migrants, who were scattered

around the country, adding to the number of foreign-born people already living in Sweden

on a permanent basis, which corresponded to 16 per cent of the country’s population at the

time (scb.se). Sweden’s economy needs a migrant workforce to cope with the demands of the

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 38 No. 4, 2019

pp. 462-476

© Emerald PublishingLimited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-05-2018-0091

Received 30 May 2018

Revised 1 September 2018

23 December 2018

Accepted 2 January 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

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EDI

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