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Ragna Lillevik

Researcher

Ragna Lillevik is a researcher at Fafo. Her work covers a number of topics related to the policy areas of immigration, integration and diversity. Many of the projects Lillevik has led or worked on have been evaluations of public measures within the asylum administration or the integration field. Lillevik has also researched governance of Islam in Norway for her PhD, as part of the interdisciplinary project "Muslim Politics and Governance of Islam: Interactions of Structure and Culture in Multireligious Europe".

Lillevik has extensive empirical knowledge of Norwegian immigration, integration and diversity policy. She is particularly interested in how politics is implemented and works in practice, and therefore often studies the encounters between different groups of refugees, immigrants and minorities, and public services. She has extensive experience with qualitative fieldwork and methods such as case studies, observation, focus groups and qualitative interviews, as well as experience with online surveys. Dissemination to stakeholders and the general public is an integrated part of all her projects at Fafo.

Redaktørmedlem og blogger på forskningsbloggen Religiongoingpublic.com.

Religion: Going Public har som siktemål å formidle ny forskning til et bredt publikum, drøfte religionens plass i offentligheten, samt delta i – og bidra med kunnskap til – offentlig religionsdebatt.

Education

PhD. in political science from the University of Oslo

Area of work

Immigration and integration, democratic rights and political participation, Islam in Europe.


Current projects

The future of resettlement: vulnerability revisited

This project explores changes in resettlement policies, specifically related to the concept of “vulnerability”, and how these policy changes shape the processes of how refugees are selected for resettlement.

Evaluation of the new standardized elements in Norwegian introductory programs for refugees
Fafo will, from 2021-2024, evaluate the introduction of new standardized elements in the introductory program for refugees and immigrants.

Fafo publications

Completed projects

Evaluating the quality of asylum interviews

The overall goal of the project is to investigate whether the UDI's conduct of asylum interviews is in line with current quality requirements.

To hear children in deportation cases

The project will examine how current regulations and the immigration authorities' practice safeguard children's right to be heard in deportation cases that affect them.

Children and youth in immigration

The project's overall objective is to contribute to better pediatric expertise in the immigration administration's various agencies and better meetings between children and the immigration administration. The assignment consists of evaluating whether the process for children who meet the immigration administration and the pediatric competence in the agencies UDI, UNE, and PU, has improved between 2016 and 2019 after various measures have been initiated to strengthen these target areas. The evaluation will examine both children and employees' experiences with the implemented measures and the results of these - that is, how the implementation of the measures in the agencies has contributed to change. The results from the evaluation will contribute to the agencies' continued efforts in meeting children.

Knowledge building: Measures fighting negative social control and forced marriages

This is a research project in two parts: 1) an evaluation following a measure where young people exposed to negative social control, honour based violence and/or forced marriage - have access to mentors who are volunteers. 2) an examination of civil society projects supposed to promote negative social control and forced marriages. We are going to explore how organizations evaluate their measures and how users evaluate them. An important question is whether measures fit the ambitions of authorities, civil society and volunteers.

Irregular migrants in Norwegian cities

Fafo will investigate the possibilities and limitations municipal authorities have for influencing the situation of migrants without legal residence, in five Norwegian cities.

How do municipalities provide education to refugees during the pandemic?

Refugee advisors and teachers who work with the introduction program for refugees find that they have a demanding task of keeping teaching volume and, not least, quality, up these days. Municipalities shall ensure that participants in the introductory program receive educational services, and that participants in training in Norwegian and social sciences receive training even if their place of instruction is currently closed, unless it is not possible to offer the training via digital aids or in other ways. Fafo will investigate how municipalities, among other things, use digital tools to achieve this, and how they solve their responsibilities for various participants during the pandemic.

Economic incentives and integration of refugees

In 2019, Fafo and Frisch formulated three proposals for the use of financial incentives in the integration work for refugees and immigrants.

Competence mapping and career guidance

The project examines how early competence mapping and career guidance, two recently introduced measures, can help recently settled refugees make more targeted qualification and career choices, and help municipalities to better adapt their services to refugees.

Evaluation of Church City Mission services funded by TV-aksjonen

In this project, Fafo will evaluate implementation and results in three Church City Mission projects as they are conducted from 2019 to 2022. The Church City Mission is a non-profit organization that works across Norway among people who face challenges in life for various reasons.

Evaluation of the program for financial support to immigrant entrepreneurs

In 2014, a new regime aimed at immigrant education training was introduced.

Innvandrerorganisasjoners rolle og potensial i lokalt integreringsarbeid

Immigrant organisations and voluntary work receive funding from the government. The funding is distributed through 20 muncipalites.

Muslim Politics and Governance of Islam: Interactions of Structure and Culture in Multi-religious Europe

This project addresses how Muslim political thought in Europe is affected by societal structures, and, conversely, how the development of societal structures in Europe is affected by Muslim politics and activism.