Summary:

The increasing global mobility has made the integration of immigrants into labour markets a key focus in social work research and policy. However, despite Norway's well-established welfare system and employment interventions, it still faces challenges in ensuring favourable employment outcomes for immigrants. Studies show a significant employment rate gap between immigrants and the native-born population, which lessens but persists for up to a decade after their arrival in Norway. Previous research questioned standardised approaches in employment-oriented follow-up, especially for individuals with complex support needs and those outside the labour market, including immigrants. Simultaneously, there is a growing view that personalised support facilitates better employment outcomes. More recent studies emphasise the need for further investigation into the application of personalisation in employment interventions. Aiming to improve outcomes for the immigrants participating in employment interventions, this dissertation explores the personalisation of employment interventions for immigrants in Norway, particularly within the framework of the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV). This article-based dissertation addresses the following overarching research questions:
1) How do immigrants experience personalisation of the employment-oriented interventions provided to them by NAV?
2) How do NAV's interventions, intended to be personalised, reflect the principles of personalisation?
The empirical data were collected through a combination of interviews and observations with employment specialists and immigrant jobseekers participating in employment-oriented interventions at one of the NAV offices. These interventions utilised supported employment, a personalised employment-oriented method, for follow-up with immigrants participating in the Introduction Programme and Job Chance. In total, 18 immigrant jobseekers and 4 employment specialists were interviewed. Furthermore, 10 observations were conducted, focusing on the interactions between the employment specialists and immigrant jobseekers during their meetings. Concurrently, the study incorporated a systematic scoping literature review. The data collected formed the basis for the three articles comprising this dissertation. The first article, titled “Participant Engagement in Supported Employment: A Systematic Scoping Review”, presents a systematic scoping literature review aiming to conceptualise participant engagement in supported employment. It identifies key themes, such as empowerment, self-determination, and collaboration. This article proposes a comprehensive definition of participant engagement in supported employment as ‘an active, multifaceted process that involves the empowerment of participants, participants’ exercise of selfdetermined informed choice, and their collaboration with supported employment practitioners (employment specialists) in the working alliance’. The second article, named “How Congruent is Person-Centred Practice with Labour Activation Policy? Person-Centred Approach to Vocational Interventions on Immigrant Jobseekers in Norway”, delves into the congruence between person-centred practice and activation policies within NAV. It uncovers tensions between the policy-driven objectives of employment interventions and the principles of person-centred practice. This reveals the challenges in implementing truly personalised interventions within a policy framework that emphasises intervention efficiency and fast employment outcomes. The third article, titled “Career Agency of Immigrants Participating in Employment Interventions in Norway” explores the impact of disrupted life courses and experiences of temporality on the career agency of immigrants. Utilising the life-course perspective and the concept of temporality, this article offers a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by immigrants and how these influence their career decisions during the process of integration into the labour market of the country of settlement. The article suggests that immigrants might overlook job opportunities due to family obligations, or opt for low-skilled professions, seeking an exit from temporal liminality. The traumas endured, followed by temporal suspension, prompt the pursuit of vocations that are less mentally taxing. Based on the findings incorporated in the three articles, the answers to the two broad research questions posed by this dissertation can be summarised as follows: Immigrants’ experience of personalisation within employment-oriented interventions is deficient. Employment specialists often revert to standardised individualisation methods, defined as traditional or standardised methods, which previously showed positive outcomes for users within the target group. Additionally, the results indicate the presence of what I refer to as pseudo-personalisation, wherein the semblance of personalisation is maintained, yet the fundamentals such as self-determination and empowerment of the user are often lacking. Furthermore, the practice of personalised interventions within NAV is closely connected to professional discretion and coping strategies. This connection can result in attempted personalisation that ultimately reverts to standardised individualisation, while coping strategies appear to result in pseudo-personalisation. Positioned within the broader context of social work and social policy research, this dissertation contributes to the research on the personalisation of employment-oriented interventions targeting immigrant job seekers, and offers nuanced insights into their employment-related challenges. While the research is anchored in the Norwegian setting, its findings and conclusions offer perspectives and strategies that could be adapted to countries with similar welfare apparatus targeting labour market integration of immigrants.