Language and life-course: An exploration of the Swedish-for immigrants-program, 1990-2022

Language proficiency is widely recognized as a crucial factor in helping migrants secure employment, good income, and a sense of belonging.

This project aims to study the impact of the SFI program(Swedish for immigrants) on migrant integration into the Swedish labor market using data from national language proficiency tests and the program itself.

Combining register data, test data, and qualitative interviews, the project intends to provide a comprehensive and historical analysis of the SFI.

The project will use longitudinal data to study the role of SFI in different migrant pathways and how it correlates with factors like education, employment, family formation, and income.The project applies a life-course perspective to examine migrant language competence, educational integration, and labor market integration, considering four contexts crucial to the migrant experience: residential neighborhood, municipality, SFI provider, and the workplace.

Using latent class analysis, the project will analyze longitudinal data related to migrant trajectories and language competences.

This project also plans to supplement quantitative data with qualitative interviews to understand individual migrant experiences better.

Interviews will be conducted with students, teachers, stakeholders from SFI providers, and representatives from various municipalities to capture a comprehensive understanding of factors influencing migrant integration and host country language competence development.