In this article, we examine family influences on occupational aspirations among employed descendants of Middle Eastern immigrants. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with native-born descendants of Middle Eastern immigrants. We present and analyse their interpretations of their parents’ experiences and living conditions before, during and after migration and demonstrate how these interpretations shaped their own occupational aspirations. We discuss parents’ high expectations of their children in relation to ethnic-community valuations of educational and occupational achievements. These high expectations may increase the chances of social mobility but can also become a negative pressure, especially if parents set high standards but cannot help their children to meet those expectations. In these cases, older siblings who possess valuable knowledge of the educational system and labour market can function as important transferrers of resources.

The aim of this study was to examine how employed descendants of immigrants in Sweden perceive that interactions with public officials have benefitted their occupational aspirations and attainments. We conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with twelve female and nine male descendants of immigrants, followed by an abductive thematic analysis. Applying a theoretical framework of social capital, we found three main influences of public officials from respondents’ perspectives: 1) connectedness, 2) supporting personal goals and focusing on possibilities, and 3) mediation of knowledge and information. We discuss and analyse the symbolic resources deriving from these influences, e.g. increased motivation and self-belief, and conceptualize these resources as social capital contributing to the occupational aspirations and attainments of immigrants’ descendants.

This article explores how descendants of immigrants in Sweden understand labor market conditions, and how such understandings influence their occupational strategies. We interviewed twenty-one Sweden-born individuals with non-Western immigrant parents, and identified three strategies based on our analysis of the data: ‘choosing’ the right job, adapting the habitus, and using cultural capital in flexible ways. The first strategy covers interviewees working in jobs with labor shortages and/or high demand for employees with immigrant background. The second covers interviewees who could learn through failing, with substantial resilience and persistence. The third deals with interviewees who searched for jobs in branches that valued their particular skill set, entailing the importance of being flexible on the labor market.

This study used qualitative interviews to explore perceptions of labour market participation in relation to gender norms and parenting ideals among employed Swedish men and women of migrant descent. Using an abductive thematic approach, we demonstrate how the respondents viewed labour market participation from different perspectives. The females saw it as a source of emancipation, whereas the men primarily viewed it as a means of providing for a current/future family. While our respondents depicted themselves as dedicated to social norms of gender equality, they expressed gender-biased views on work and family. The respondents’ immigrant heritage also influenced their views on labour market participation, gender and family. Gender inequalities in the parental generation motivated them to arrange their work and family lives differently, and the Swedish social and political context offered them incentives and opportunities to be more gender-equal than their parents. We view and analyse these findings from a life course-perspective, showing how cultural and contextual influences affect respondents’ perspectives on work and family arrangements.

Cette enquête s’appuie sur des entretiens qualitatifs afin d’explorer les liens entre la perception de la participation au marché du travail et les normes de genre et idéaux de parentalité chez les actifs et actives suédois issu.e.s de l’immigration. Mobilisant une approche abductive et thématique, nous démontrons quelles sont les représentations de nos répondant.e.s sur la participation au marché du travail selon différentes perspectives. Tandis que les femmes y voyaient une source d’émancipation, les hommes la considéraient avant tout comme un moyen de provenir à leur famille, présente ou à venir. Alors que nos enquêté.e.s se décrivaient comme engagé.e.s en faveur des normes d’égalité de genre, ils et elles ont exprimé des visions genré.e.s sur le travail et la famille. Leur héritage lié à l’immigration a aussi influencé leurs représentations de la participation au marché du travail, du genre et de la famille. Les inégalités de genre caractérisant la génération de leurs parents les ont poussé.e.s à organiser leurs vies professionnelles et de famille différemment et le contexte social et politique suédois leur a offert des incitations et des opportunités pour réaliser une plus grande égalité de genre que leurs parents. Nous étudions et analysons ces résultats à partir d’une perspective sur de cycle de vie, en montrant comment les influences culturelles et contextuelles affectent les représentations des répondant.e.s sur le travail et la vie de famille.