Promising Practice

Research studies on immigrant integration in the educational system and the labour market in Spain

In these two studies immigrant integration in the labour market and the educational system in Spain was analysed, comparing their situation to those who are native-born. The aim was to gather and map existing data sources to achieve comprehensiveness and facilitate access to data to researchers and other stakeholders, as well as to offer a quantitative analysis on these topics to inspire public policies.
Ország
Spain
Guidelines
Map existing sources
Ensure comprehensiveness
Ground of discrimination
Sex

 


In this page:


Why was the practice needed?

The research studies on immigrant integration in the educational system and the labour market contributed to the design of a Strategic Framework for citizenship, inclusion and against xenophobia and racism. They were presented at a relevant moment to continue promoting integration policies to overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The two studies were developed to help the Spanish government fulfil its commitment in defining policies and strategies related to:  

  • the global economic crisis, addressing the challenges by the global economic downturn;
  • the inclusion of immigrants, ensuring immigrants are integrated and treated fairly within society; 
  • the protection of fundamental rights and human dignity, safeguarding the basic rights and dignity of all people. 

After more than twenty years of migrant arrivals to Spain, it is necessary to continue analysing the evolution of the foreign population in the Spanish labour market, as well as the evolution and overall performance of foreign students in the educational system compared with the native population.

Both studies gathered and mapped existing data sources, such as the National Statistics Institute, Sociological Investigation Centre and Labour Force Survey. The purpose was to ensure the studies were thorough and to make the data easily accessible to researchers, government officials, policymakers, and anyone else interested in understanding how immigrants are integrating into the labour market and education system in Spain.

How was it implemented?

The study on integration in the education system compares the level of integration in the Spanish educational system of students with an immigrant background with that of the native population. The objective was to provide information that allows to further develop the education system providing equal opportunities to all students regardless of their social, economic or cultural background. The report also includes analyses of secondary sources including quantitative data on access to education, scholar segregation, students’ performance, dropout rates and school environment perceptions, all with a cross-cutting gender approach. 

The study on the labour market integration shows the results of a detailed quantitative analysis of more than 60 indicators obtained from the Labour Force Survey and other secondary sources. These have been used to describe the similarities and differences between the situation of the native and foreign labour force, in relation to access to employment and labour activity, employment characteristics, working conditions, unemployment, wage income and the nationality gap, all with a cross-cutting gender approach. 

During the elaboration of both studies, stakeholders and governmental representatives were consulted to gather insights and allow researchers to improve the documents. The main challenges encountered were to achieve comparability and homogeneity between datasets regarding the following:

  • Foreign population definition: datasets usually offer disaggregate administrative status (foreign/native born population) while countries of origin are only available in the census datasets. Information on countries of origin is of interest to observe differences in integration indicators between origins.
  • Geographical disaggregation: there is a disparity in terms of geographical disaggregation among datasets, usually covering regional areas, but not municipalities and/or census tract level.
  • Time scope: the availability of data in terms of period covered varies, as well as the frequency of data collection.
  • Analysis dimensions covered: variables such as age, gender or time of stay in the country are not always available for cross-cutting analysis.

For those reasons, in the studies some variables are important to analyse the integration of the foreign population, and it was also recommended to elaborate ad hoc statistics.

Outputs

Key success factors

  • Long-term experience in quantitative analysis of the researchers participating in both studies was a key factor to success.
  • Data disaggregation in terms of gender, age, country of origin and other variables examined, when available, allowing researchers to deepen the analysis.

Technical information

  • Data sources covered: Census, Household or individual surveys
  • Areas of life covered: Employment, Education
  • Target audience: General public, Academia, practitioners, policy makers
  • Duration: 1 year
  • Geographical scope: National
  • Leading institution: Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia. Directorate General for Humanitarian Attention and Social Inclusion of Immigrants. State Secretary for Migration. Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations (Observatorio Español del Racismo y la Xenofobia. Dirección General de Atención Humanitaria e Inclusión Social de los Inmigrantes. Secretaría de Estado de Migraciones. Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones).  
  • Other organisations involved/consulted: Autonomous University of Madrid
  • Financial & human resources: Budget: 17.968,50 €, VAT included; Source of the budget: Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration and commissioned to the Autonomous University of Madrid (Prof. Ramón Mahía and Prof. Eva Medina). Cofounded by AMIF fund.

Contacts

Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia (OBERAXE).  

See Also