(MW Inc.) Migrant Work Inclusion - Increased Opportunities for Work and Entrepreneurship Through Co-Creation
The project is about the inclusion of non-Western immigrants in Norwegian society through work.
Work is important for an individual's economy and the basis for a sustainable welfare state. Meaningful work strengthens an individual's health, skills, belonging, network, and has a positive effect on trust and solidarity in society.
There are two paths to work: To be employed or to establish one’s own business. The goal of the project is to develop new knowledge about the interaction between the actors that support the labor inclusion of immigrants.
Work inclusion practice and research has only to a small extent focused on the interaction and collaboration between migrants' experiences, various support programs, and employers’ experiences/needs. The ecosystem for integration and employment concerns complementary services and actors who work together to create welfare, yet they often operate separately.
We will develop insight and methods on how the cooperation can be improved so that migrants can more easily be included in the labor market as an employee, or by creating their own job through entrepreneurship.
The project has a relational perspective and uses several methodical approaches that provide opportunities for the study of cooperation from different angles.
The project will contribute to increased competence, provide understanding and knowledge about challenges and propose solutions for cooperation between migrants, employers, and public support programs. In addition, the project will develop methodological, theoretical, and practical knowledge for increased cooperation in local and regional inclusion work. The results can be transferred to work with other societal challenges; so-called "wicked problems" in the welfare state. The project addresses challenges related to the UN's sustainability goal 10; to reduce inequality. Project partners are: USN, NHO Vestfold and Telemark, NAV Øst-Viken, NAV Vestfold and Telemark, County Municipalities Møre and Romsdal, Vestfold County Municipality and Telemark County Municipality.
Web: https://www.usn.no/english/research/our-research/economy-management-and-politics/migrant-work-inclusion-co-creating-joint-opportunities-through-employment-and-entrepreneurship-mw-inc/
There is only a moderate success in inclusion of migrants in the Norwegian working life. This is problematic for migrants themselves, as well for the economy and society. When migrants don't work, the problem is often framed one-dimensionally: either as a problem related to immigrants themselves, as problems associated with the employer or as weaknesses in support programs (private and public programs, e.g. hosted by NAV). In contrast, MW Inc. puts the spotlight on how migrants, employers and the support programs interact, cooperate and co-create. MW Inc. assumes that inclusion should be developed from more knowledge on the interplay between the different actors – and not solely on improving each of the actor’s resources and strategies. Followingly, the project aims to identifies co-creation between the actors as essential, whether it is related to include migrants seeking to be employed in an organization or migrants seeking to be entrepreneurs (creating their own work). The specific objects that the project seeks to achieve are: 1) To create knowledge on the possibilities for co-creation between migrants, employers and support programs, 2) To develop methodological, theoretical and practical knowledge in order to support co-creative innovation in work inclusion and 3) To give recommendations for new practice. MW Inc. is built on a collaborative research design, including a unique big database. Cases in which migrants, employers and support programs interact are strategically selected. All cases have been involved in the planning of this project and has confirmed their participation. As such, collaboration both in conducting the research itself, as well as in suggesting new practice, runs through the project. By using the theoretical frame of co-creation and by applying methods that are truly collaborative, MW. Inc. aims to go beyond the state of the art in the academic and practical understanding of inclusion of migrants.