Looking Beyond Employment: Participation Profiles of Syrian Refugees in the Netherlands

There is growing support at policy level in the Netherlands for the notion that different forms of participation by newly arrived refugees should take place simultaneously, not sequentially. Using Dutch large-scale survey data on Syrian refugees with a residence permit, this study explores whether this policy idea of a parallel approach of (economic, educational and societal) participation is provided in practice. We find that Syrians on average combine two forms of participation: language lessons are the most dominant form of participation and are regularly combined with volunteering, but far less commonly with employment or education. With a latent class analysis, we found four participation profiles: two small active groups (termed active seekers and eager learners) and two less active groups (language learners and cautious starters). Higher pre-migration human capital, more activities in the asylum reception centre, more contacts with natives and being younger and male are associated with more participation.