Ambiguous practices and conflicting interests: why immigrants end up in uncertain employment

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study is to investigate why many immigrants end up in uncertain employment.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes a qualitative case study of three nursing homes in Oslo (Norway), which investigates immigrant employment and recruitment-related practices. Practice theory is used as the theoretical and methodological framework. The study takes an ethnographic approach and combines participant observation, semi-structured shadowing, qualitative interviews and document review.FindingsThe recruitment practice, as it is accomplished, is different from the practice that is prescribed in the formal recruitment policy. The configuration of the recruitment-related practices locks in the recruitment practice and reproduces the social order. The net effect of the recruitment-related practices is that immigrant employees remain in uncertain employment.Research limitations/implicationsA practice-theoretical approach, analyzing organizational practices as they are accomplished in space and time and not as isolated activities defined by their purpose, provides a richer understanding of the complexity and connectedness of organizational practices. Combining practice theory and institutional perspectives, the paper demonstrates how normative and regulative mediators order and align related practices. The study demonstrates the importance of examining the configuration of practices to understand how the net effect of related practices affects those who dwell in them, in this case immigrants pursuing secure and stable employment.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the field of diversity management by using practice theory to explain why measures for enhancing immigrant employment may not have the intended effect because they are interwoven in a nexus of practices with conflicting interests that (un)intentionally undermine the measures.

Managing Diversity and Inclusion in Nursing Homes: Practices and Regulations

“…When managers refrained from using care assistants as extra-staff for a longer period, immigrants faced difficulties accumulating enough work hours to acquire formal healthcare qualifications. Immigrants then remained unskilled workers in insecure employment conditions (Lindheim 2021a), and consequently, the healthcare sector continues to suffer from a lack of qualified resources. Studies on the integration of immigrants into the labor market have argued for an introductory program that grants immigrants enough time and resources to obtain formal qualifications (Djuve et al 2017), but initiatives are often inhibited by the conflict between different interests (Djuve & Kavli 2019).…”

“…Previous research has underscored the central role of managers in immigrants' experiences of inclusion at work (Kirton & Greene 2021;Sandal et al 2013). Other researchers studying organizational and managerial practices (Janssens & Steyaert 2019;Lindheim 2021a;Ortlieb & Sieben 2014) have found that these practices are ambiguous and may enhance as well as hinder the inclusion of immigrants. Despite these previous studies, we have a limited understanding of how a regulated work context shapes managers' practices.…”

Participant Validation: A Strategy to Strengthen the Trustworthiness of Your Study and Address Ethical Concerns

“…After a preliminary analysis of the data material from observation and interviews, validation meetings were held with a selected group of managers in two of the nursing homes. 1 A central finding of the study concerned the employment situation of immigrant employees without formal healthcare credentials (Lindheim, 2021). Tables that displayed the numbers and percentages of employees in different categories of healthcare positions and the size of their employment contracts were presented in the validation meetings.…”

“…When the informants examined the statistics on employee categories and employment contracts, they offered new information of how the system regulated these issues in the nursing homes, and they argued for their positions and priorities with reference to the other nursing homes. The tendency for employees without formal healthcare credentials in the nursing homes to remain in precarious employment (Lindheim, 2021) was an issue that stood out more clearly after the analysis of the data material. The validation meetings thus offered an opportunity to probe further into this issue, which had not been as evident during observations and interviews.…”

Hvem er den svake part? Om ledere og ansattes håndtering av trakassering, diskriminering og rasisme på sykehjem

“…2. Studien er en del av et større ph.d.-prosjekt om kulturelt mangfold og inkludering i arbeidslivet (Lindheim, 2021), og kun deler av det totale datamaterialet benyttes i denne artikkelen. Artikkelens tema er berørt i alle intervjuene og kommer til uttrykk i feltnotater fra observasjonsmaterialet på en slik måte at det ikke er naturlig å gjøre en ytterligere avgrensning av hvilke deler av det totale datamaterialet som benyttes.…”