Against All Odds? Sami women's lower NEET experience in an Arctic Context: Education and Work Participation among Multicultural Young People in Northern-Norway, the Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Study (NAAHS)

Elisabeth Valmyr Bania; Christian Eckhoff; Stine Ekornes

doi:10.29333/ejecs/1133

Authors

Elisabeth Valmyr Bania Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare (RKBU Central Norway), Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health SciencesNTNUAssociate Professor https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4708-489X
Christian Eckhoff Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University Hospital of North Norway and an Associate Professor at the Institute of Clinical Medicine at UiT The Arctic University of Norway https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1346-1386
Stine Ekornes Associate Professor at the Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare (RKBU Central Norway), Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7694-7979

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/1133

Keywords:

Minority, young Sami females, Indigenous People, longitudinal, NEET

Abstract

The present paper explores Sami women’s lower NEET (Not engaged in Education, Employment or Training) experience in an ethnoreligious multicontext perspective. Data are derived from a cross-sectional cohort and registry follow-up study in Northern Norway, 2003–2012, and data from Statistics Norway are included for an up-to date data analysis (2021). This is a cross-sectional cohort and registry data study in Northern Norway, 2003-2012. The participants were adolescents and young people. Out of 5 877 10th graders 83% answered a questionnaire in a cross-sectional study, the Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Study (NAAHS), whereas consent-based follow-up consisted of 68% (3987 young people). There is an ethnic self-report of 9.2% with Sami ethnicity in the respondent/consent group, hence 10% in NAAHS.

The outcome variables were educational aspirations, non-completion of upper secondary school, tertiary education, and NEET experience among female Sami young adults as explained by ethnoreligious affiliation. The explanatory variables are sociodemographic factors (gender, ethnicity, residency). Stratification of the participants are made by dividing girls and boys, Sami, and non-Sami, Laestadian and non-Laestadian and residency by counties in Arctic Norway (previously Finnmark, Troms and Nordland). The results show that Sami women stood positively out compared to majority women and all men through the footprint to work participation. Some of the conclusions from the study is that sociocultural and macroeconomic factors must be considered to create means for Sami women’s work participation.

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Author Biographies

Elisabeth Valmyr Bania, Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare (RKBU Central Norway), Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health SciencesNTNUAssociate Professor

Elisabeth Valmyr Bania is a social worker and an Associate Professor at the Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare (RKBU Central Norway), Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU. Bania has served as a lecturer at different master studies and master thesis in mental health. Her research interests are gender studies, Indigenous People, mental health, religious affiliation, social work and school research.

Christian Eckhoff, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University Hospital of North Norway and an Associate Professor at the Institute of Clinical Medicine at UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Christian Eckhoff is a medical doctor at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University Hospital of North Norway and an Associate Professor at the Institute of Clinical Medicine at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Eckhoff works as a clinical doctor, lecturer and researcher in child and adolescent psychiatry. His research interests are mental health in youth, psychosomatic medicine, and Indigenous health.

Stine Ekornes, Associate Professor at the Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare (RKBU Central Norway), Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU

Ekornes is trained in pedagogy and has long experience from teaching and supervision in higher education. Her research interests are school mental health, teacher education, inter-professional collaboration, and school dropout

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