The title of this anthology Migration, Education, and Employment - Pathways to Successful Integration indicates that there is a connection between education, employment, and integration and that this connection can facilitate successful pathways for migrants into their new societies. The studies in different chapters tackle and depict these various pathways. However, the meaning of integration in relation to the labour market and to society have been articulated differently over time, as shown in Broberg and Morreno Herrera’s Chap. 6. Osman argues in Chap. 2 that the Swedish policy of multiculturalism was prevalent in the 70s, which can be understood as a rejection of the previous ‘guest worker’ strategy for importing labour. Due to this multicultural policy, migrants were not only seen as useful for fulfilling labour needs, but also as individuals with equal rights in the society and the right to maintain their own culture. There are substantial differences compared with current Swedish policy where the focus is on employability and fast tracking into the labour market is emphasised. There are also stricter requirements for developing Swedish language skills and for attending national language and establishment programmes. As Osman writes, “(i)nclusion or integration is synonymous with employment in the policies …”, where the Swedish policy of multiculturalism seems to have been the only exception. In other words, successful integration is often synonymous with gaining employment. Despite the way policy documents describe integration, there are also other perspectives. Teräs (Chap. 7) claims that researchers are not always consistent and transparent in their use of the concept of integration. In light of the discussion of policy above, one may ask whether authors presume integration means ‘being employed’ or whether they understand integration in a wider sense.

Without neglecting other aspects of successful integration, gaining employment is important, not least when migrants already have vocational education, skills, and competences from their country of origin. Those who have developed a vocational identity are often vulnerable in the new country when their skills and competences are not recognised. Recognition of prior learning and competence is a crucial factor for skilled migrants’ access to working life, but as Andersson points out in Chap. 3, this process is complex, and presents challenges for study and career counsellors, as Hertzberg’s study in Chap. 4 suggests. In Chap. 8, Gougoulakis reflects on how it is not only the recognition of their competences but also their recognition as citizens that is important.

What defines a skilled migrant’s successful pathway to employment? Previous research has identified that facilitating factors for gaining employment in their previous vocational area include managing the new language, having their own ambitions and agency, and receiving support from persons, networks, and societal frames (Eliasson et al., 2022). Bru Blixen and colleagues (Chap. 11) examine new competences from a multicultural perspective, and state that it is important for integration into traffic schools in Norway. In Chap. 5, Eliasson highlights how even chance meetings can be important turning points on pathways to education and employment, but also for integration in a wider sense, which is about being constructed as a competent individual in the eyes of other people. However, while being constructed as a competent individual is often a prerequisite for having the confidence to persist with job searching, there will always be challenges, so resilience against others’ negative constructions as well as complex new rules and structures is also necessary for successful integration. Nortvedt and colleagues (Chap. 10) use the concept of resilience to understand skilled migrants’ pathways in Norway. In line with Eliasson (Chap. 5), they claim that a strong professional identity and the belief that they have skills and competencies that are useful in the new society, are key sources of migrants’ resilience. Understanding that any professional downgrading is temporary and being able to identify pathways to upgrading skills – for example, language courses and bridging programmes – seem to be key to strengthening resilience. Stalder and colleagues (Chap. 9) examine a pre-apprentice bridging programme that supports the transition to vocational education and training.

In conclusion, the various chapters in the book show that integration via education and employment can be approached from different angles but what is understood as success varies according to context and the historical moment. Then, one can of course ask whether prescribed measures facilitate (or hinder) successful integration and from whose point of view one perceives success. Some integration measures may even result in exclusion; for example, the status of migrants determines which integration measures they are allowed to access. Kyeremeh et al. (2021) interviewed migrants about how they perceived integration and understood successful integration. They found that successful integration meant, for example, personal growth and development in a context in which migrants had options and opportunities. Their results also suggested that achieving pre-migration aspirations played a role in the integration process.

In the chapters of this book, empirical material is diverse and the voices of the migrants themselves are strong, but other’s voices can also be heard, especially of the people who meet and work with them. Multiple methods and perspectives are required for understanding what successful integration entails and for capturing the nuances of this complex phenomenon.