Ticking boxes and clocking in: A critical view of gender mainstreaming in labour-market integration

ABSTRACT Mainstreaming is a popular approach when seeking to address societal inequalities. Gender and migrant integration are mainstreamed within EU policy, both seeking to increase labour market participation as a means to redress inequality. However, there are limited references to migrant women within gender equality or integration policies at the EU level. The study dissects a subset of migrant integration projects in Sweden – a country lauded for having Europe’s best integration policy while exhibiting the poorest results. The authors used non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews to identify pitfalls such as embedded stereotyping, undervaluation of cultural motivations, gender-washing, and methodological misalignment. Their findings show that gender and integration mainstreaming within the EU systematically position migrant women as a problem, despite the significantly important role they play within global labour markets. The authors conclude that migrant women may need to be included within gender and integration policy beyond the labour market.