Allowing time to piece the puzzle together. Experiences of Norwegian service providers in supporting the empowerment of refugees with limited formal education.

Autor/inn/en	Espegren, Astrid; Valenta, Marko
Titel	Allowing time to piece the puzzle together. Experiences of Norwegian service providers in supporting the empowerment of refugees with limited formal education.
Quelle	In: European journal of social work, 28 (2025) 5, S. 999-1012 PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Beigaben	Anmerkungen; Literaturangaben
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; gedruckt; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1369-1457; 1468-2664
DOI	10.1080/13691457.2025.2480159
Schlagwörter	Bildung; Bildungsniveau; Empowerment; Soziale Benachteiligung; Soziale Dienste; Zivilgesellschaft; Empirische Untersuchung; Flüchtlingshilfe; Flüchtling; Norwegen
Abstract	Welfare services have come to increasingly prioritise the empowerment of users in the design of social services and policy measures. Drawing on qualitative interviews with programme advisers, settlement workers, teachers, and career counsellors, this article explores the experiences and coping strategies of Norwegian service providers in their efforts to contribute to empowering newly settled refugees with limited formal education. Even though all adult refugees possess a wealth of knowledge and life experiences, their diverse educational histories and past experiences influence their perceptions of their qualification prospects and potential barriers. The findings suggest that service providers perceive the haste to facilitate swift labour market integration as potentially hindering the empowerment of newly settled refugees with limited educational backgrounds. While navigating between the regulatory framework and their own discretionary space and autonomy, service providers devise various coping strategies to support the empowerment of refugees. The article also identifies and discusses strategies designed to mitigate the identified tensions. Specifically, we found that some of these strategies contribute to expanding service provision and follow-up adjustments for low-educated refugees, while others contest the legal and organisational framework to offer more flexibility in terms of timing and follow-up for those in need.
Erfasst von	Deutsches Zentralinstitut für soziale Fragen, Berlin
Update	2026/3