The tables on Diversity in research show the how immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents are represented among researchers and academic personnel in academia, compared to researchers without an immigration background (referred to as The rest of the population includes the following immigration categories: Born in Norway with two Norwegian parents, born abroad with one Norwegian-born parent, Norwegian-born with one foreign-born parent and born abroad with two Norwegian-born parents. See Statistics Norway' standard for grouping by immigration background: https://www.ssb.no/klass/klasifikasjoner/82 in the figures). Academia includes universities, university colleges, health trusts and research institutes. Researchers in the business enterprise sector are not included. The tables allow for comparisons across field of R&D, gender, and position.
Norwegian-born to immigrant parents are underrepresented among the researchers
Researchers and academic personnel in academia, hereafter referred to as researchers, consisted of approximately 39,300 people in 2021¹. Among these, almost 12,750 people were immigrants (32 per cent), while around 270 people were Norwegian-born to immigrant parents (0.7 per cent). Compared to other population groups, Norwegian-born to immigrant parents are underrepresented among researchers. Both among the population and among the employed (15–74 years), this group made up approximately 1.5 per cent. Among the students in higher education, 4.4 per cent were Norwegian-born to immigrant parents.
- A higher proportion of Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, both in the population and especially among the students, gives reason to believe that this group will make up a larger part of the research personnel population in the long term, says Erik Fjærli, section manager for R&D, technology, and dynamics statistics.
Most of the researchers with an immigration background come from Europe
Among the immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, over 60 per cent of the researchers had their background from Europe, where Germany and Sweden were among the largest countries in 2021.
24 per cent of the researchers with an immigration background came from Asia, mainly China, India, and Iran. See Figure 1. Among the Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, more than half of them had their background from Asia.
Natural sciences and engineering recruit a large proportion from abroad
In 2021, almost half of the researchers in natural sciences and engineering had an immigration background (49 per cent). This is the highest proportion among the fields of R&D. Within the humanities and social sciences and medical and health sciences, approximately one in four researchers had an immigration background. See figure 2.
Some fields of R&D have traditionally had a skewed gender distribution among researchers. In 2021, there were 38 per cent male researchers in medical and health sciences, but the gender distribution among people with and without an immigration background was different. 36 per cent of the researchers without an immigration background were men, compared to 46 per cent among the researchers with an immigration background within medical and health sciences. We do not find the same difference in the gender distribution among researchers with and without an immigration background within natural sciences and engineering and humanities and social sciences.
- Within medical and health sciences, recruitment from abroad helps to reduce the bias in the gender balance, says Fjærli.
Many internationally mobile researchers
Almost 80 per cent of researchers with an immigrant background are internationally mobile researchers. They come to Norway with a degree from abroad, typically a master's or a doctorate degree. Many enter temporary positions as postdoctoral fellows or research fellows, where immigrants made up 71 and 43 per cent of the personnel respectively in 2021. See Figure 3.
The number of Norwegian-born to immigrant parents among the researchers is increasing, but this group still made up a small proportion of the total number in 2021. At the same time, we see that almost half of them had a research fellow position in 2021. This is a high proportion compared to immigrants and the rest of the population. Many of these will probably move on to other positions in academia after completing their doctorate.
Researchers and academic personnels' position titles differ between the higher education sector, the institute sector, and the health trusts. In the Diversity in research tables, we have grouped the positions according to different levels to make comparisons across sectors easier. Position level 1: Full professor, docent, chief senior physician, research professor Position level 2: Academic director, associate professor, senior lecturer, researcher with a doctoral degree in the higher education sector, senior physician, senior researcher Position level 3: University/college lecturer, other tenured personnel, researcher without a doctoral degree in the higher education sector, psychologist, physician in specialisation Postdoctoral fellow: Postdoctoral fellow Research fellow: Research fellow, PhD student and research assistant
The tables on Diversity in research show the extent to which immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents are represented among researchers and academic personnel in Norwegian research and higher education, compared to personnel without an immigration background. The population, which includes researchers/academic personnel in the higher education sector, the institute sector and health trusts, is compiled from Statistics Norway's Research personnel register and linked with information on immigration category from Statistics Norway's population statistics. Some of the tables in the statistics bank cover the entire R&D personnel, including technical/administrative personnel with higher education. Previous editions (2007, 2010, 2014 and 2018) were prepared in collaboration between Statistics Norway and NIFU (Nordic Institute for studies of Innovation, Research and Education), and published by NIFU. From and including 2023, Diversity in research will be prepared and published annually by Statistics Norway. We have included time series where possible. We have chosen to group position levels and fields of R&D to make it possible to cross several variables and to highlight Norwegian-born to immigrant parents.
¹ From 2021, this applies to people with a minimum 25 per cent position, previously the limit was 40 per cent position.