Migrant Women and Labour Integration in Catalonia: The Impact of New Information and Communication Technologies

Abstract

This article uses data from 35 semi-structured interviews of migrant women from three different ethnic backgrounds living in Catalonia to explore the use of ICTs in their economic integration. The results show that the three groups of migrant women studied perceive ICTs as important instruments of economic integration, though they tend to use them rather marginally for this purpose. The mediating role of network capital is not forthcoming, bridging social networks being rather a consequence than a determinant of migrant women’s economic integration. Digital connectivity does not seem to cancel out the relevance of traditional variables of social inequality such as education, age, or origin. Young educated women, and particularly of Romanian and Ecuadorian origins, tend to make a better use of ICTs for their economic integration in Catalonia.

Keywords

• Mujeres migrantes
• Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TICs)
• Internet
• integración laboral
• capital social.