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The issue of unemployment and labour integration of immigrants into the labour market in host countries has always been a source of debate among the public and policymakers in the host countries. This study focuses on the economic integration of highly educated Iraqi immigrants into the Swedish labour market. Based on semi-structured interviews with eight Iraqi immigrants living in Malmö, who have higher education from Iraq, this study aims to illuminate the obstacles and opportunities for Iraqi immigrants to integrate into Swedish labour market, and to find out if their position in the Swedish labour market corresponds to their academic qualifications obtained from Iraq. The theoretical framework of this study explores the concepts of integration, human capital, social capital, and discrimination. Findings of the study revealed that, lack of fluency in Swedish language, family responsibilities, and devaluation of human capital function as main obstacles for highly-educated Iraqi immigrants’ integration into Swedish labour market. The social networks of Iraqi immigrants can be considered as a tool to avoid unemployment in Sweden, but at the same time, it provides access only to a certain categories of jobs that are not in par with higher education of these immigrants. Furthermore, the finding of this study also reveals that the positions of the highly educated Iraqi immigrants have acquired in the Swedish labour market are not commensurate with the educational qualifications they have from Iraq.

The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of how second-generation immigrants with Iraqi backgrounds navigate through and adapt to their identity formation processes in relation to Swedish society.  Previous research has examined other ethnic groups of second-generation immigrants and has provided insights that contribute to our study, but there is limited research on second-generation immigrants with Iraqi backgrounds, even though Iraqis are one of the largest groups that have immigrated to Sweden since the 1980s. To achieve the study's purpose and answer the research question, we have chosen to conduct a qualitative study based on 10 qualitative semi-structured interviews with second-generation immigrants with Iraqi backgrounds between the ages of 18 and 30. The results of the study have been analyzed using the following theories: postcolonial perspective, symbolic interactionism and the following theoretically grounded conceptual definitions: identity, in-betweenness, gender patterns and gender regime. The findings of the study reveal that second-generation immigrants with Iraqi backgrounds find themselves in a state of in-betweenness, where they do not fully identify as neither Iraqis nor Swedes. Furthermore, our study shows that cultural, social, and symbolic interactions influence second-generation immigrants with Iraqi backgrounds and their identity formation process, as a symbolic act reinforces an individual's identity. Adaptation to Swedish society is limited for second-generation immigrants with Iraqi backgrounds due to the differing perceptions and expectations of these two cultures regarding what is accepted and deviant, influenced by Iraqi culture and religion.