Occupational Attainment of immigrants : The case of Sweden

Abstract: Immigrants have become a big part in host country’s daily life. Pervious research study immigrants usually focus on the factors that influence the earnings of immigrants. In contrast, this paper analyzes occupational attainment of immigrants and compares occupational attainment between immigrants and natives. In general, the same as natives, nearly half of immigrants are employed in low-skilled occupations, which cover upper secondary education and tertiary level of no more than 2 years in length. However, immigrants have the less probability of being in skilled and high-skilled occupations than natives. For immigrants from western countries, their occupational attainment are similar to natives, that is, high-skilled occupations accounts for a higher proportion and they are less likely to be engaged in unskilled occupations comparing with immigrants from Africa and Asia and South America.