from the hip

A new report from the the Swedish Confederation for Professional Employees (TCO) cited in Swedish online newspaper The Local, reports that there is considerable ethnic discrimination in Sweden.

The results show clearly that foreign-born graduates of Swedish universities have less chance of finding a job that equates to their qualifications than their Sweden-born counterparts. Those that do find work, are often over qualified and have to work harder to find it.

The study was performed by integration researcher Lena Schröder based on Statistics Sweden (SCB) data compiled on all those graduating from a Swedish university in 2003 and their employment situation in 2006. The Local writes:

The report does however show that education pays, for all. But a Swedish university education pays less for those born in eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America and especially for those arriving in Sweden after age of seven (when primary education begins).

These findings raise questions about the Scandinavian welfare states’ integration policies. In the US, companies are forced to monitor their hiring and promotion decisions closely in order to avoid very costly law suits. So to a large extent, non-discriminatory policies are enforced by the legal system. In Scandinavia much softer methods have been used to promote integration, relying to a large extent on labor unions and voluntary compliance.