Educational Experiences, Motivation, and Persistence of Non-EU Immigrant Women in Swedish Higher Education : An Intersectional Analysis

Sammanfattning

This study examines the influence of motivation on the persistence and academic success of non-EU immigrant women in Swedish higher education. Adopting an intersectional perspective, the research conceptualises motivation not as an individual trait but as a socially and structurally constructed process shaped by the interplay among structural conditions, intersectional positioning, and access to resources. The study investigates how migration policies, institutional practices, and labour-market expectations shape the structural conditions under which participants engage in higher education, using semi-structured qualitative interviews. These conditions determine how participants are positioned within the academic system as students, migrants, and women navigating racialised and gendered expectations, resulting in varied experiences of inclusion and exclusion. This positioning directly influences access to resources, including institutional knowledge, academic support, financial stability, and social networks. Within this context, motivation emerges as relational and collectively sustained, shaped by long-term aspirations and responsibilities. The findings demonstrate that persistence is not solely attributable to individual determination; rather, it is the outcome of continuous negotiation with structural constraints. The study contributes to the literature by integrating the frameworks of intersectionality, Community Cultural Wealth, and social capital theory, thereby providing a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms that generate motivation and persistence within systems characterised by inequality. The findings underscore the necessity of advancing beyond mere formal inclusion toward substantive equity by tackling structural barriers, enhancing support mechanisms, and acknowledging diverse forms of capital to ensure that non-EU immigrant women have access to, can persist in, and succeed in higher education.