New research project: Integrating Highly Educated Migrants in the Nordic Labour Market

When education is not enough

Highly educated immigrants from third countries often enter the Nordic labour markets with strong qualifications. Compared to migrants with lower levels of education, they are more likely to find employment. Yet many still face significant barriers that prevent them from working in jobs that match their skills and education.

Language requirements, limited professional networks, and difficulties in having foreign qualifications recognised can constitute significant barriers and cause these challenges to persist over time. When this happens, it often results in underemployment, wage stagnation, and a loss of valuable human capital, both for individuals and for society. Skills mismatch contributes to inefficiencies in Nordic labour markets, wastes human capital, and risks increasing social inequality. Understanding why this occurs, and how it can be addressed, lies at the core of this project.

A research project with a Nordic lens

This new research project examines the labour market integration of highly educated immigrants across the Nordic countries, with a particular focus on Sweden. By combining a Nordic comparative perspective with in‑depth analysis of national contexts, the project aims to identify both shared challenges and important differences between countries.

By looking across the Nordic countries, we can better understand the phenomenon and identify more effective ways of addressing the challenges that highly educated migrants face in the region,” says the researchers Debora Birgier and Nora Sánchez Gassen, both from Nordregio.

Key differences include migrant composition, labour market openness, levels of internationalisation, language requirements, and the design of integration policies and programmes. Comparing these factors across countries helps clarify which approaches appear most effective in supporting better job matches.

The project is organised into five interconnected work packages. Together, they combine large‑scale data analysis with qualitative insights from migrants themselves and from existing integration initiatives.

Quantitative analyses map employment, unemployment, underemployment, and education–occupation mismatch using labour force data. At the same time, interviews and focus groups capture how highly educated migrants perceive barriers and enablers in their own integration journeys. Case studies of Nordic initiatives provide insight into how targeted support can work in practice.

Supporting evidence‑based integration work

Rather than designing policies, the project focuses on producing robust and transparent research that can inform policy discussions.

Our primary responsibility in this project is to carry out high-quality research and to ensure that our findings are robust, transparent, and grounded in empirical evidence, the research team emphasizes.

Results will be shared through reports, policy briefs, webinars, and workshops, creating opportunities for knowledge exchange among municipalities, regional authorities, and adult education providers.

By identifying barriers, enablers, and effective strategies, the project aims to support authorities in developing integration measures that help highly educated migrants find work that matches their qualifications. In the longer term, this can contribute to more efficient labour markets, better use of skills, and more equal opportunities across Nordic societies.