An analysis on the Inclusivity and Integration of South Asian Women in High Skilled Job within Danish Labor Market

Thapa, Isha

4. semester

International Relations, MSc.

2024

2024-05-30

57 pages

The inclusion of women and immigrants has always been an ongoing debate and an area of study in the Danish Labor Market. This thesis attempts to analyze the reasons of why the high skilled immigrant women from South Asia are working low skilled, wage-based employment in Danish Labor Market. Denmark is a country that values social welfare among other things which is why more and more immigrants choose to settle here. In recent years, this country has seen a surge in the numbers of immigrant population. With labor scarcity in the job market and a shortage of high skilled employees Denmark is seeking workers to fill the void. In this thesis I try to understand how this void is not being met through the population who already lives here. Statistically, there is a significant gap in between native Danish women and immigrants’ women about their participation in the labor market. Many plans and policies have been implemented to bridge the gap with very little success and little impact on the overall goal. The hypothesis that has been made regarding these women is that they possess low skill or are linguistically challenged, or even having cultural and religious boundaries. But this is all just a surficial study and there is not a lot of concrete evidence to support such proposition. The women that I came across during my research are extremely qualified, intelligent, well-educated and young and yet are often times overlooked. This thesis is not about the inclusion of South Asian women in the labor market since most south Asian women are financially independent and are earning for a living. On the contrary, this study is to understand, analyze and explore the underpinning and reasoning that despite being such head-strong women why are they working low skilled menial, lower wage jobs? I chose to study about South-Asian women in particular is because of how little study is done with this group of immigrant women. Most of the research and study is conducted on Latin, African and Middle eastern women while South-Asian women are at many times unnoticed. That is why I plan to go forth with this particular group of women and explore the issues from their perspective. The theoretical framework sustaining this study is linked to Social capital, intersectional approach and Labor Market approaches and how these influences the South Asian women integrate within the Danish Labor Market. These theories will provide the groundwork in understanding the positioning of South Asian women and provide with the possible measures to overcome the barriers that they undergo in the labor market. This thesis concludes by answering the key research question and placing all the topics that we encountered during the research with possible outcomes, suggestions and approach. Most of the solutions to overcome the barriers for women in the labor market is divided into two folds. One is to accept the shortcoming within oneself and making changes to overcome them through support, guidance and confidence. The second is policy based, where more inclusive policies are needed to be implemented where the shortage of labor that is occurrent in the labor market is met with immigrants that already reside in Denmark rather than seek elsewhere.

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