The Acculturation Process of the Highly Educated Arabic-Speaking Refugees in Sweden

Abstract: The number of people who flee their countries because of armed conflicts increased dramatically. Recently, Sweden received a higher number of refugees than before. The issue of integration of these new refugees into the host society is a challenging process and still open for debate. The field of cross-cultural studies has paid great attention to post-migration experiences. Therefore, the integration of refugees into a new society is a complex process. It’s not limited to the receiving countries’ policies, several aspects such as social and cultural characteristics of the refugees have to be taken into consideration.  In this regard, the research aims to explore the acculturation process from the perspective of highly educated Arabic-speaking refugees who recently settled in Sweden. The data has been collected using semi-structured interviews. The research used Berry’s acculturation model and the related theoretical frameworks to discuss the integration of highly educated Arabic-speaking refugees. The results revealed that the participants adopted the integration strategy, they appreciate their home culture while they are highly interested to interact with the host society. Labor market entry and Swedish language proficiency were the major challenges faced by the participants to integrate into the Swedish society. The findings of this research can be used by policymakers, the labor market, and social workers to understand the refugees’ attitudes when designing integration tools and interventions for highly educated refugees.