ntegration Challenges: Immigrant women's experiences (The challenges immigrants women face during the integration process via Adult Education Center)

Abstract

Integration is a key process for both institutions and immigrants. Immigrants who already have a miserable past make efforts for a stable and calm life, and the institution’s objective is to empower them to integrate into society as early as possible. Despite all these, immigrants face challenges in adapting to their new host country, integrating with the social system and society. In this study, we collect challenges faced by womens during the integration process at the Adult Education Center (AEC), facilitated by institutions for language training. This study is a subpart of a broader research project, about the immigrant’s women’s experience of health, work, and disability pensions. This study is based on qualitative data collected during my two months fieldwork at the AEC as participant observant by conducting informal interviews with the participant and my personal first hand observations. Later, I discuss how AEC facilitates the core domain component of integration into society in the framework proposed by Alastair Ager and Alison Strang. This study also correlates between observed challenges faced by immigrant women with these core domain components. The study adopts a thematic analysis and the experiences of the participants as discussed with regards to previous challenges, their own sense of improvements during the training and what this means for their integration as well as remaining challenges. Based on the findings of the study, schooling, communication, social & family obligations and better mental health emerges as the most important aspect in terms of integration into the society.