Shaping employability for immigrants through social entrepreneurship in Lapland

ABSTRACT Many immigrants are either underemployed or unemployed in Lapland, and indeed many of them are long-term unemployed. This unemployment rate among immigrants varies from region to region in Finland. As a disadvantaged group in the labour market, sometimes they are pushed into establishing a business; however, their motivation to do so is weak, due to a lack of market understanding along with other socio-cultural factors. As an alternative way of doing business and gaining access to the labour market, social enterprise could be another instrument for employment. We studied whether Social Entrepreneurship (SE) represents an exceptional mindset among the group. SE invention for this group of people is a less-studied area of research in Finland compared to many other European countries such as Sweden and Scotland. Our research examines whether SE could be a way to facilitate the integration of immigrants, particularly immigrant women, who are at risk of marginalisation, into the Finnish labour market in the near future, with Lapland as a case study. We analyse the factors that can be taken into account to enable immigrants to conduct their business under the guidance of a social enterprise in the northern part of Finland, thereby shaping their employability for the future.