Between Benefit and Risk: Constructions of Skill and Competency of Internationally Educated Nurses in Sweden

Highly skilled migrants in Sweden are at risk of exclusion from professions commensurate with their qualifications, particularly in regulated fields like nursing. In response, national policies and programmes have been introduced to facilitate the recognition of foreign qualifications and support the integration of skilled migrants. This paper explores how the competencies of internationally educated nurses (IENs) are constructed within bridging programmes, where professional regulators function as gatekeepers to professional re-entry. Drawing on the concept of a ‘regime of skill’, the study employs a qualitative approach to examine how university educators, administrators and supervisors in clinical training define and evaluate migrant competencies and how such constructions may enable or constrain the professional inclusion of IENs in the Swedish health care system. The analysis identifies two dominant constructions of skill and competency: IENs as an untapped resource and IENs as linguistically and professionally deficient. Both constructions position IENs as ‘others’, contrasting them with Swedish-trained nurses and reinforcing boundaries around professional belonging, albeit not exclusively through exclusionary practices. This paper argues for the importance of examining sector-specific skill regimes to better understand migrant inclusion or exclusion into the labour market.