1. Introduction

In today’s digitally interconnected world, access to technology and digital literacy is essential for full participation in society. Digital proficiency is crucial, as it enables individuals to search for jobs, enrol in education, navigate healthcare systems, and maintain connections with family and friends (e.g., Chohan & Hu, 2022). While the Nordic countries are among the most digitalised nations globally, certain population groups remain digitally excluded (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2022; Wendt-Lucas et al., 2024).

Simultaneously to the digitalisation of the Nordic societies, the share of the population with immigrant backgrounds in the Nordic countries has increased notably in the last twenty years, ranging from 9% in Finland, 14% in Denmark, and 17% in Norway to 22% in Iceland and 20% in Sweden in 2023 (Heleniak, 2024). Previous research has shown that some groups of immigrants are at risk of digital exclusion for various reasons, such as language barriers and disparities in digital literacy (e.g., Coles-Kemp et al., 2018; Jessen et al., 2024).

Specifically, certain groups of immigrant women face challenges of digital inclusion. These groups include newly arrived women, such as refugees, asylum seekers, and those with limited national language proficiency or lower socio­economic and educational backgrounds

It is important to clarify that in referring to ‘immigrant women’, this paper specifically addresses those groups that previous research has identified as digitally vulnerable. These include newly arrived, refugees, asylum seekers, and individuals with low educational or socioeconomic backgrounds or limited national language proficiency, rather than all immigrant women.

(Buchert et al., 2023; Kluzer & Rissola, 2009). Research from the Nordic countries has demonstrated that these immigrant women have disproportionate health challenges and limited access to healthcare services due to their lower socioeconomic status (Funge et al., 2020; Debesay et al., 2022). They also have lower labour market participation rates compared to their native-born counterparts (Calmfors & Gassen, 2019; Spehar, 2021). All these factors are impacted by the individuals’ digital competencies, which studies have found to be lower among immigrant women (e.g., Papazu et al., 2024). The highly digitalised nature of the Nordic societies (Heponiemi et al., 2020) exacerbates these challenges. Given that digital aspects are deeply embedded in daily life in the Nordic countries, possessing digital skills and literacy is crucial for successful integration into society (Hoffmann et al., 2022). Digital exclusion risks exacerbating inequality and increasing social isolation (Fung et al., 2025).

Despite the growing recognition of the importance of digital inclusion for immigrant women, relatively little is known about the Nordic strategies and initiatives to address the issue. This research project aims to shed light on the Nordic political strategies on digital inclusion of immigrants in general and immigrant women specifically. Furthermore, the research aims to shed light on barriers that prevent these women from fully accessing and engaging in the digital society.

The project will delve into the current policy landscape

With the term policy landscape, we refer to the overall framework of policies, regulations, and guidelines that shape and govern a particular area or sector, influencing decision-making and implementation processes.

and existing initiatives for the digital inclusion of immigrant women, and analyse user challenges, needs, and potential solutions. The project will emphasise the work of civil society actors and NGOs, because they are argued as particularly important for digital inclusion in the Nordic countries (Jessen et al., 2024; Wendt-Lucas et al., 2024), but also regarding the integration of immigrants in the Nordic societies since they have first-hand knowledge of challenges and needs (Karlsdóttir et al., 2020). The research project seeks to identify lessons learnt and practical approaches to include immigrant women in the digital society.

Several definitions of digital inclusion exist (Wendt-Lucas et al., 2024). A common dominator is that the definitions all tend to be related to the interplay between digital accessibility and digital capabilities barriers (Jessen & Vasilevskaya, 2025). Digital accessibility barriers refer to barriers in access to e.g., hardware, software, and internet (Digital Europe, 2024). Digital capabilities barriers, on the other hand, relate to the capabilities of the user, e.g., digital skills, dyslexia, mistrust in public institutions, unwillingness, language barriers, and more (Digital Europe, 2024). The digital accessibility and capabilities barriers are often intertwined and differ from each individual at risk of digital exclusion.

Today it is largely acknowledged that while certain groups are more likely to be at risk of digital exclusion, that digital exclusion tends to be a context-specific and intersectional phenomenon (e.g., Park, 2022; Tsatsou, 2022). This refers to the fact that digital exclusion is likely to be more prevalent if several factors are present. For example, immigrant women in general are not necessarily digitally excluded. However, the risk of digital exclusion increases if the immigrant woman is an older adult, with socio-economically weaker backgrounds, living in rural regions. Furthermore, digital inclusion tends to be largely context-specific, meaning that an individual may be digitally excluded, e.g., in terms of usage of eID, and still be comfortable in using, e.g., social media.

The study aims to understand the landscape of digital inclusion policies related to immigrant women in the Nordics. Furthermore, the aim is to understand the barriers hindering the full digital inclusion of immigrant women in the Nordic countries and identify practices and approaches for promoting their access and engagement in the digital society.

The research will explore:

This study builds on the results from the Nordregio project Digital Inclusion in Action, which aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the key aspects of digital inclusion in the Nordic and Baltic region and assess their impact on various societal groups. The Digital Inclusion in Action project, running from October 2022 to October 2025, is financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers (MR-DIGITAL). It encompasses a variety of activities and outreach efforts, examining such aspects as the policy landscape of digital inclusion (Wendt-Lucas et al., 2024) and the role of civil society actors in digital inclusion (Jessen et al., 2024) within the Nordic and Baltic regions. The current study builds upon these findings but specifically focuses on the sub-group of immigrant women.

This study employs a qualitative research design, using policy analysis, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews. The first analytical phase of this study is a policy overview examining the status quo of the policy landscape concerning immigrant women and digital inclusion in the Nordic countries. The policy overview takes the starting point in the policy overview report – National digital inclusion initiatives in the Nordic and Baltic countries – that Wendt-Lucas et al. (2024) produced in the project of Digital Inclusion in Action. The current policy review builds upon Wendt-Lucas et al. (2024) by including digitalisation/​digital inclusion policies published during 2024, after the study’s publication. Several national policies were published in 2020–2024, a period when digital inclusion gained increasing attention in the Nordic countries. To add to this, the study also considers policies published before 2020 still in effect. In total, 17 digitalisation/​digital inclusion-related policies were reviewed, including documents from all five Nordic countries (for a complete list of these policies, see Appendix 1). Hence, this current study provides an overview of digitalisation/​digital inclusion policies and explicitly focuses on immigrant women in these policies.

This project has only included digitalisation and digital inclusion policies. Due to time constraints, the project has not included integration, social affairs, or public health policies. These could be an interesting pathway for future research.

The second phase draws on semi-structured interviews with civil society actors, highlighting the digital inclusion of immigrant women in a Nordic context. As mentioned above, studies indicate that Nordic civil society actors play a vital role in promoting digital inclusion (e.g., Jessen et al., 2024; Wendt-Lucas et al., 2024) and in facilitating the integration of immigrants into Nordic societies (Karlsdóttir et al., 2020). Civil society actors, including NGOs (non-governmental organisations), provide one avenue of support for addressing digital issues among various societal groups. Other channels are also available (see Section 2.3).

The aim of the interviews with the NGOs was to shed light on the challenges and barriers immigrant women face in achieving digital inclusion, the solutions and initiatives currently in place, areas for improvement, and future needs. Based on their work and specific focus areas within digital inclusion of immigrant women, one civil society actor each was selected from Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark was selected. Due to time constraints, it was not possible to engage with an Icelandic NGO.

We were in contact with NGOs which offered some access to computers and basic digital skills and groups for women. However, they did not have a specific focus on digital inclusion issues. Due to the timeframe of the project, we could not include an Icelandic NGO.

 Some of the NGOs solely focused on immigrant women, while others focused on immigrants in general and also offered various activities specifically for women. During the interview phase, desk research involving document analysis was also conducted to complement the interview data. All interviews took place online during 2024. Please see the information boxes below to learn more about the NGO selected for each country.   

In Denmark, various actors provide targeted support to immigrants, including digital inclusion initiatives. Collaborating with civil society organisations and frontline employees is seen as beneficial, as they possess first-hand knowledge of participants’ challenges and needs, enhancing the overall knowledge base (The Danish Agency for Digital Government, Local Government Denmark & Danish Regions, 2024; Integrationsviden, n.d.).

In this study, we focus on one NGO that has created a network of women with ethnic minority backgrounds in Denmark. These women are primarily anchored in various associations or groups across the country, with around 50 groups operating under association-like principles. These women have learned to navigate Danish society and are eager to pass on their knowledge to newly arrived or isolated women in their communities. The NGO, in turn, offers education and training for the women, who can then pass the knowledge further.

While the Finnish state and municipalities provide assistance services to ease integration, NGOs also play a crucial role in addressing the specific needs of immigrant communities, offering tailored support, bridging gaps and providing activities, services, and promoting diversity in the workplace (Digital and Population Data Services Agency, 2024; Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, n.d.).

In this study, we take a closer look at a Finnish NGO that is dedicated to enhancing digital inclusion for immigrant women and facilitating their integration into Finnish society. The organisation actively promotes the social and economic empowerment of female immigrants, helping them to improve their position within the community. The NGO was founded by immigrant women primarily to support and empower other immigrant women in employment, education, and overall societal participation.

Norway has a fair number of NGOs that offer services aimed at improving and acquiring the skills needed to navigate the digital society digital skills, most commonly to improve people’s basic digital skills. Some NGOs focus on providing support for immigrants and their efforts of becoming part of the Norwegian society (Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, 2021).

For this study, we look at one Norwegian NGO which focuses on empowering families from diverse backgrounds, working to bridge both cultural and digital divides in Norway. The NGO offers support both to immigrant women and to immigrant parents and families. Established to improve cooperation between home and school, the NGO has since expanded its mission to empower through digital skills training. By offering tailored digital skills training and resources, the NGO helps, among others, immigrant mothers to overcome barriers to digital inclusion, fostering greater independence and participation in society.

NGOs are important for the digital inclusion of immigrants in Sweden, for they offer tailored training and support that complements public services, facilitating immigrants’ access to and use of digital tools and services (Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, 2024a).

The Swedish NGO chosen for this study enhances digital inclusion for immigrant women by providing opportunities to acquire everyday digital skills and by offering advanced IT training for further development. Technology is seen as a tool for integrating female immigrants into Swedish society and for encouraging greater participation of immigrant women in the ICT sector. Their mission is to accelerate the integration of these women into society by providing them with essential digital education and skills. This initiative is also crucial because women, particularly those from immigrant backgrounds, are significantly underrepresented in the tech sector.

While this study provides valuable insights into the experiences of civil society actors working with immigrant women and digital inclusion, it is important to acknowledge potential limitations. The small sample size of one civil society actor per Nordic country limits the generalisability of the findings. There is also a risk of selection bias if the chosen organisations do not represent the full range of experiences and approaches in the region. To mitigate these limitations, we have strived to select diverse organisations and triangulate the findings from interviews with document analysis. Importantly, however, a central aim of this qualitative research is to learn about the individual experiences from specifically selected Nordic NGOs. Therefore, the research does not aim to be representative beyond the specific setting.

Furthermore, this study primarily reviews digitalisation-related policies, without addressing integration policies which could encompass digital inclusion perspectives. An interesting point of departure for future research would be to incorporate and evaluate integration policies alongside digitalisation-related policies, and to compare various support channels.