Exploring Experiences of Discrimination in the Norwegian Labour Market: The Case of Asian and African

Abstract

The study aims to explore the experiences of exclusion among international students while searching for employment in the low-skilled sectors of the Norwegian labour market. This study is qualitative and based on the philosophical paradigm of social constructivism. The empirical material has been collected from eight participants. The information was collected through semi-structured interviews. The key participants were international students from Asian and African backgrounds who came to Norway for their two-year master's study program and stayed until the completion of their studies. The international students residing in different places in Bergen were recruited purposively through snowball sampling. The empirical material was analysed using thematic analysis. The study's findings have examined international students' experiences of discrimination through their perceptions of the legitimacy of the language requirement in hiring practices. They perceive the Norwegian language as a legitimate requirement in front-stage positions where direct communication with guests is necessary. However, when the front-stage position does not require the Norwegian language and the employer rejects the international students, they perceive it as a vicarious reason not to hire a candidate of non-Western origin. A second significant finding in the study is that international students related their experiences of exclusion in the labour market to everyday racism. They experience ethnic/racial discrimination in employment and everyday racism in the workplace. They perceive employers prefer to equate the candidates from their in-groups based on ethnic membership, forming a clear hierarchy for international students. International students experience racialisation and everyday racism based on ethnic/racial categories, such as being black, being Pakistani/African and being Muslim women with hijab in the workplace. They avoided confronting this. The third significant finding in the study is that international students related their experience of exclusion in the labour market to intersectional stigma. The negative stereotypes and prejudices about their gender, physical appearance and racialised characteristics such as skin colour, national origin, culture, ethnicity, religion, and religious dress code intersect to form multiple forms of oppression and compounded forms of stigma in employment and after obtaining a job. These all contribute to the structural racism forming a clear ethnic/racial hierarchy between Asian/African/Pakistani and Norwegian/European. Keywords: International students, labour market, language, discrimination, racialisation, racism, intersectional stigma