‘I Feel Like the Most Important Thing Is to Ensure That Women Feel Included…’: Immigrant Women’s Experiences of Integration and Gender Equality in Iceland During Times of Crisis

Abstract

Enabling gender equality by empowering women to fully engage in modern society is fundamental for building resilient and sustainable communities. While Iceland is recognized as a global leader in gender equality, the experiences of various immigrant groups can differ considerably, especially during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery. Given the rapid increase in the immigrant population in Iceland, it is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of the processes surrounding immigrant women’s integration strategies, with an emphasis on gender equality through the lens of intersectionality. The main objective of this qualitative study is to explore the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on female immigrants by examining how intersecting identities—including gender, ethnicity, religion, motherhood, and immigration status—shape their integration experiences in Iceland. Focusing on small, remote urban and rural communities in the Northeastern Region of Iceland (Norðurland eystra), this study draws on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with immigrant women conducted in 2022 and 2023, using both strength-based and deficit analyses. The study reveals key constraints and strengths in the integration of immigrant women, examined through the lens of underlying and pandemic-driven factors influencing immigrant women’s experiences in personal and social domains of integration. The findings indicate that, despite government gender equality standards and support programs, as well as the considerable resilience demonstrated by immigrant women during the pandemic, they continue to encounter significant barriers to achieving full integration. The findings suggest that acknowledging immigrant women as important constituents in policy development is a crucial step toward formulating and implementing more comprehensive, gender-responsive, and locally adaptive decentralized integration policies. Such policies are vital for securing Iceland’s long-term social sustainability and reinforcing its stature as a global leader in gender equality.

1. Introduction

1.1. Background

Throughout history, Iceland has been one of the most ethnically and culturally homogeneous countries in the world [1]. Over the past 25 years, Iceland has experienced the most pronounced increase in the proportion of immigrants within its population among OECD member countries [2]. The proportion of first- and second-generation immigrants in Iceland has increased from 2.1% in 1996 to 20.1% in 2024—the highest rate recorded to date. The largest immigrant groups are originating from Poland (32.1% of the immigrant population), Denmark (5.4%), Ukraine (5.3%), Lithuania (5.1%), Romania (4.3%), the United States (3.9%), Philippines (3.8%), and Sweden (3.5%) [3].

In alignment with trends observed in other Nordic countries, initial patterns of female immigration to Iceland have been influenced by a variety of factors; primarily, labor shortages in low-wage service sectors and expanding economic opportunities in industries such as hospitality—driven by a significant tourism boom—have played crucial roles [4]. Among other notable trends, marriage-based immigration has emerged as a significant factor, alongside more recent developments marked by the growing presence of degree-mobile students, highly skilled female immigrant professionals in health services, science, and research, as well as refugees engaged in humanitarian resettlement programs. There are significant differences in the gender composition of the immigrant population in Iceland, depending on both the type of immigration and countries of origin, thereby highlighting gendered migration pathways. For instance, men are disproportionately represented among migrants from most Eastern European countries, primarily entering through labor migration channels. In contrast, immigrants from major sending Asian countries (Thailand, Philippines) are predominantly women and are primarily categorized under family migration [3,4,5].

Given that international migration is a relatively recent phenomenon in Iceland [3,4,6], the country is still in the process of developing a comprehensive integration model. The first government policy on the integration of immigrants, adopted in 2007, largely followed a “one-size-fits-all” approach, lacking both a gender-responsive framework and consideration of the diverse needs of different immigrant groups with varying backgrounds [7]. The forthcoming Parliamentary Resolution on a Policy on Matters of Immigrants for 2025–2038, set to be adopted in the fall of 2025, aims to establish a comprehensive and inclusive framework that is relatively gender-responsive and emphasizes inclusivity with a strong focus on strengthening “Icelandic as a language of communication that immigrants are enabled to learn and enjoy the support of society to do so” [8]. However, the successful implementation of this policy may face challenges as governance of integration in Iceland is inherently complex due to the country’s political-administrative structure as a unitary state, where local municipalities possess a “strong cultural territorial identity” [9] but often have limited influence over national government decisions and limited capacities for gender-responsive policies, especially in times of crisis such as COVID-19 [10,11] (pp. 3–5). This dynamic further complicates the integration process, particularly at the local level, where smaller rural communities face additional challenges due to extensive responsibilities and limited integration infrastructure and services [12].

Despite Iceland’s globally recognized high standards of institutionalized gender equality and advancements in Sustainable Development Goal #5 [13], its exemplary public safety rates, and a comprehensive welfare system, the distinctive context of its northern communities poses challenges for immigrant women across personal and social domains of gender equality. These remote Arctic urban and rural settlements, defined by more severe climatic conditions and smaller, more dispersed populations, coupled with the historically entrenched social homogeneity of these close-knit communities, create a dimension of complexity to achieving robust standards of gender equality in the integration processes for immigrant women in these Arctic regions, challenges that became particularly pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic had profound impacts across all Arctic communities, and as an expanding body of literature indicates, these devastating effects were experienced differently across genders, with women disproportionately affected [14]. Although scholarly discourse on women’s experiences during the pandemic in Iceland is gradually expanding [11,15,16], the lives of immigrant women—one of the most vulnerable groups during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic—remain largely understudied, particularly in remote northern communities. As a result, the multifaceted constraints they encounter in the process of integration into smaller urban and rural settings—both during periods of crisis and beyond—that may influence sustainable development as well as the advancement of gender equality standards remain critically underexplored.

To address this gap, this study is anchored in intersectionality theory [17] using gendered lenses within the framework of immigrant integration. While there are myriads of immigrant integrations, and the topic is constantly evolving, in this paper, integration is predominantly conceptualized as a multidimensional process occurring across various domains, aligned with Heckmann’s definition as “a long-lasting process of inclusion and acceptance of migrants in the core institutions, relations, and statuses of the receiving society” [18] (p. 15). Integration is a highly complex phenomenon, and it does not occur solely at the national level but is shaped by the specific localities in which immigrants reside [19,20,21].

Given that integration is highly “contextualized” and “can be measured only in relation to particular populations, in a particular context, and within a particular timeframe” [22] (p. 21), the integration experiences of immigrants residing in smaller towns and rural areas—traditionally homogeneous communities with limited histories of immigration and diversity—are likely to differ from those of immigrants who settle in the more diverse capital region [6,23,24,25]. In the latter context, immigrants also can benefit from greater access to specialized support programs, institutionalized immigrant networks, and infrastructure designed to address their needs. Given this context, the focus on female immigrants’ experiences in smaller and more distinct remote communities of the North is therefore of critical importance.

1.2. Goal and Research Questions

This study aims to deepen the understanding of the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on female immigrants by examining how intersecting identities—including gender, ethnicity, religion, motherhood, and immigration status—shape their integration experiences in the Northeastern Region of Iceland.

The primary questions that the research team seeks to address in this paper are as follows:

• What are underlying and pandemic-driven factors influencing immigrant women’s experiences in personal and social domains of integration in Iceland’s northern communities?
• What are constraints and strengths for integration of immigrant women?

1.3. Conceptual Framework

Our conceptual framework is grounded in the concept of integration, as defined by Berry [26], and comprehensive, multidimensional models of integration, drawing on Ager and Strang’s [27] core domains of integration as revised by the UK Home Office [22], alongside the frameworks developed by Bosswick and Heckmann [19] and the UN International Organization for Migration’s Immigration Policy Lab (UN IPL) [28]. The IPL outlines six key dimensions of integration, and, in addition to the more “traditional” dimensions—social, economic, and political—it incorporates navigational and linguistic aspects while emphasizing the often-overlooked psychological domain [29]. This psychological dimension aligns closely with the concept of identificational integration described by Bosswick and Heckmann [19].

While acknowledging the significance of more recent approaches to integration that adopt a transnational perspective—describing it as a “three-way street” [30] and emphasizing the roles of immigrants, host communities, and transnational actors (e.g., countries of origin, transnational networks)—this study employs a conceptualization of integration as “a dynamic, two-way process of mutual accommodation by all immigrants and residents of [receiving countries/communities]” [31] (p. 17). In this paper, we place a strong focus on the personal and social domains to better capture the immediate and nuanced experiences of immigrant women. While the economic, civic, and political dimensions are also important, they fall beyond the scope of this study and constitute important directions for future research.

Description of Personal and Social Domains of Integration

Personal domain: We capitalize on the conceptual framework of Bosswick and Heckmann [19] that incorporates a personal (psychological) dimension: “Inclusion in a new society on the subjective level—identificational integration—is indicated by feelings of belonging to, and identification with, groups, particularly in ethnic, regional, local, and/or national identification” [19] (p. 10). Bosswick and Heckmann [19] further emphasize that most communities have become increasingly heterogeneous, enabling individuals to join diverse social groups. For immigrants, particularly during the initial stages of integration, affiliation with immigrant communities can offer a limited, yet meaningful, sense of belonging. Additionally, drawing on the concept of UN IPL [28], this dimension captures not only a migrant’s sense of belonging but also their emotional well-being, as well as experiences of isolation and alienation. Feeling safe and having a vision of a better future and continuing to live in the host country are important “facilitators” playing a crucial role in integration processes. Additionally, categories such as health, and particularly mental health, are included. During crises such as the pandemic, these personal experiences may become particularly pronounced. Social restrictions and limited opportunities for interaction with the host and sending community, often combined with heightened levels of migrant-phobia and discrimination in the host country, can significantly impact feelings of belonging and trust [32].

Social Domain: Primarily based on Ager and Strang’s model [27], it includes such important elements of integration as “social bridges” (connection to diverse people or groups of larger host country community), “social bonds” (connections with others with a shared sense of identity, either in the sending country(s) or/and in a receiving country), “social links” (connection to the public structure of the host country, relationships between immigrants and the institutions/the power structures of the host society), “digital skills” (communication technologies facilitate access to people, services, and rights, enhance ability to find trustworthy information, communicate with e-government, gain access to local knowledge, online participation in social events, integration classes during the pandemic, etc.), and housing. In addition, linguistic integration plays a major role in this domain, as immigrants’ ability to communicate freely in the host community language is crucial for communication and participation in society [28]. During the pandemic, immigrants may have reevaluated these various dimensions, given the substantial changes in the social landscape, increased social isolation, often disrupted social bridges, and limited channels of communication that increased the need for specific (digital) skills and access to technologies.

This framework enables the identification and differentiation of underlying pre-existing factors of immigrant integration that stem from long-term and entrenched patterns and processes alongside pandemic-driven factors that emerged during and after the pandemic. Together, these factors have shaped the integration process of immigrant women in personal and social domains since 2020. The underlying and pandemic-driven factors identified in the interviews are examined through the lens of strengths and constraints impacting women’s integration. This approach is particularly valuable to decision-makers and practitioners as it enables proactive investment in preparedness for future crises, including pandemics [33].

2. Methods

This interview-based study was conducted in Iceland between August 2022 and September 2023, with follow-up feedback collected in October 2023 during preliminary results presentations for local communities.

2.1. Study Region

The research involved immigrant women residing in the Northeastern Region of Iceland, specifically in the city of Akureyri, the town of Húsavík, and neighboring rural communities. These rural locations are not disclosed due to small population sizes, which could potentially compromise participants’ confidentiality. The Northeastern Region of Iceland is increasingly attracting diverse groups of female migrants. This trend is shaped by a combination of push factors—such as limited economic opportunities and lower levels of public safety in migrants’ countries of origin—and pull factors, including a relatively stable local economy, a strong demand for labor in female-dominated sectors such as hospitality, and opportunities in fields such as childcare, health, and social services. Additionally, similar to non-metropolitan areas in Iceland, this region is characterized by exceptionally high levels of public safety as well as a strong emphasis on family-oriented community life [34]. Altogether, these pull factors make the region an appealing destination for migrants seeking both social and economic stability [35,36,37,38]. Akureyri and Húsavík also attract female migrants through a combination of educational opportunities, marriage-based migration, and asylum pathways [25,39]. Akureyri is home to the University of Akureyri, and Húsavík hosts a robust whale-watching industry and a marine biology-focused research center—both offering educational and employment opportunities.

The city of Akureyri, Iceland’s second-largest urban center after the capital Reykjavík, is characterized by a gender-balanced population of 19,542 people (49.7% of male, 50.2% female, and 0.06% non-binary/other) [40]. Over the past decade, the immigrant population in Akureyri has grown significantly—from 2.6% in 2015 to approximately 9% of the total population today [40], with the increase accelerating following the conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent influx of refugees. These changes have led to a transformation in the town’s ethnic composition, characterized by greater ethnic, racial, cultural, and religious diversity. Akureyri is a major service hub for the Northeastern Region of Iceland. The public sector, hospital, and university play a pivotal role in shaping the city’s economic and social profile.

The town of Húsavík is a smaller settlement in the Northeastern Region with a population of 2449, of whom 47.3% are women, 52.7% are men, and 0% are non-binary/other [40]. The population of the Municipality of Norðurþing—which includes Húsavík and several neighboring rural settlements—has become increasingly ethnically diverse over time, with immigrants comprising 7.2% of the population in 2015 and rising to an average of 19.9% in 2024 [40]. Despite growing diversity, the town has maintained a high level of community cohesion and a close-knit society.

2.2. Research Approach: Qualitative Interviews

The study is designed to integrate diverse information streams from participants across various age groups (20–50 y.o.), professions, and both urban and rural remote areas in the Northeastern Region of Iceland. The research team implemented a content analysis using qualitative methods.

The study is based on sixteen in-depth interviews with open-ended questions conducted with immigrant women. These semi-structured interviews were arranged in safe places and lasted for a mean time of around 85 min (ranging between 1 and 2.5 h depending on participants’ time availability). With the research participants’ permission, the interviews were audio recorded. Participant recruitment was carried out by the Icelandic partners through several means: (1) personal contacts; (2) social media platforms (Facebook); and (3) snowball sampling to approach contacts of interview participants. The following recruitment parameters have been set as selection criteria: gender (females), age (the participants must be aged 21 years or older), immigrant status (immigrants), and residence location during the COVID-19 pandemic (Akureyri, Húsavík, and neighboring rural settlements). Our research participants originated from North America, as well as from Western, Northwestern, Southern, and Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. Information on employment, marital status and children, homeownership was voluntarily provided by most interview participants. The research participants encompassed a diverse range of immigration backgrounds, including high-skilled expatriates, marriage-based immigrants, and refugees.

Research Design Limitations

This study is limited by its underrepresentation of certain growing immigrant populations, particularly those from African and Asian countries—especially war refugees and newly forming diasporas resulting from marriage-based immigration (e.g., Thai and Filipino communities)—who may not be fluent in English or Icelandic. Their experiences are essential for achieving a comprehensive understanding of gender equality issues through an intersectional lens, particularly in the context of female immigrant integration during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Incorporating these perspectives into future study designs represents an important direction for further research.

2.3. Research Principles

Research principles are listed in

Table 1. Principles for conducting research implemented in this study.

Research Principles	Research Principles Implementation in This Study
Research responsive to community needs	The research goal, objectives, and questions should be relevant to community needs to ensure that the outcomes are practical, meaningful, and beneficial for addressing the specific challenges the community faces.
A voice-centered approach to interpretation	The research team included extensive quotes from the interviews in the paper to allow readers to directly engage with the participants’ voices and to ensure that their experiences are conveyed in their own words, adding credibility to the research findings [41] (p. 213).
Open-ended questions that invite personal storytelling and are also practically oriented	The open-ended interview questions were designed to allow the engagement of participants in meaningful conversation and sharing through personal stories [42] (p. 158).
Research verification/soliciting feedback/knowledge-sharing and reporting back	The preliminary results of the study were presented to communities of the Akureyri and Húsavík regions to facilitate knowledge sharing, ensure the accuracy of the interpretations, and allow participants to contribute feedback [43] (p. 115).

.

2.4. Data Collection and Interview Procedures

This paper is a part of the project “Understanding the Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 in the Arctic” (COVID-GEA). All COVID-GEA researchers underwent the ethics training (CITI) and human subjects Institutional Review Board (IRB) process to ensure that all interviewees were safe disclosing their personal information. The study was approved by The George Washington University IRB (approval NCR213739).

Prior to interviews, the participants were informed about the purpose of the study and research objectives, research project design and research procedures involved, the study sites, the duration of participation, potential risks and benefits, the process of privacy and confidentiality, and data protection. Participation was entirely voluntary, and participants had a right to decline to participate and withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. Additionally, all participants were offered the opportunity to exclude questions they were uncomfortable discussing. The study provided compensation of $50 to all participants for their time as a part of the project funding provided by the National Science Foundation.

Upon the completion of each interview, the researchers shared with participants the summary of information and its interpretation to solicit immediate feedback and correct the statements that needed more accurate interpretation. To ensure the accuracy of the interview interpretations, the preliminary results of the study were presented to communities in the Akureyri and Húsavík regions, and the input was incorporated into the final version of the paper.

2.5. Data Management

The use of interviews for research purposes and subsequent treatment of these data were conducted with all measures to preserve the confidentiality of the respondents. All audio-recorded interviews were transcribed to undertake a content analysis; individually identifying information was removed from recordings or transcripts to protect the participants’ anonymity. No direct identifiers were included in the database. The research team used a code alphanumeric system (e.g., interviewee 1, interviewee 2), and only de-identified quotes are included in the publication.

2.6. Data Analysis

We used “ATLAS.ti” software (Version 24.1.0) for thematic coding, content and discourse annotation, and qualitative analysis. The analysis began by reading the content of each transcript. The next step involved focusing on the major domains of gender impacts. When analyzing primary data, the research team considered the cultural or institutional contexts in which the data were generated for potential biases. After discussion, the final set of themes and codes was agreed upon, and the results were described in this paper.

3. Results

The analysis of interviews highlighted the significance of this study’s conceptual framework to comprehensively understand the gendered impacts of the pandemic, along with underlying factors on the integration process, framed through the dimensions of strengths and constraints (

Table 2. Immigrant women’s integration strengths and constraints. (Based on interviews with research participants.).

		Underlying	Pandemic-Driven
Personal	Strengths	Sense of safety • Sense of attachment to place • Appreciation of more equal gender roles at home • A positive image of Icelandic women • A positive outlook on local informal societal norms and egalitarian traditions • Respect for the trust-based political culture • Freedom of choice in adapting gender roles at home.	Feeling lucky and privileged • Access to nature for physical, mental, and emotional well-being • Positive solution-seeking orientation • Perception of equal treatment during pandemic • Feeling grateful to the political environment and political culture • Appreciation for Icelandic society’s resilience.
	Constraints	Feeling alienated • Legal and financial marital-based dependence • Parental guilt over inability to provide.	Feeling of profound loneliness • Decline of long-distance family relationships • Increased sense of insecurity • Aggravated feeling of a “small place” • Compounded mental and physical health issues • No ”me time” for mothers of toddlers • Feeling left behind: (a) perceived unequal access to healthcare and vaccines, and (b) perceived lack of prioritization • Reinforced traditional gender roles at home.
Social	Strengths	Aspiration for inclusion in the local community • Motherhood as a pathway to social inclusion • Ability to form informal immigrant networks.	Public safety.
	Constraints	A close-knit host society • Limited social connections, including: (a) Limited social support networks; (b) Limited inclusion in local social groups; (c) Language insufficiency; (d) Limited common ground with locals • Traditional gender norms and family roles • Diversity-phobia • Domestic violence, systemic vulnerability, and a limited trust in institutions.	COVID-19-related immigrant-phobia • Quarantine-driven social exclusion • Widened gender disparities in the digital divide • Challenges in retaining social activities • Substandard immigrant housing • Re-focusing on the country of origin.

).

The research findings are presented below in a structured progression in personal and social domains, starting with an analysis of the strengths and adaptive strategies, followed by an examination of the constraints faced by the research participants.

The implementation of a voice-centered methodology, combined with the integration of direct participant quotations, provides perspectives grounded in lived reality across diverse social contexts and mitigates the risk of diminishing the value of participants’ narratives. By centering the voices of immigrant women and creating space for them to be meaningfully heard, this study enables their stories to speak directly to readers, conveying experiences with authenticity and nuance.

3.1. Personal Domain of Integration

The study highlighted the following underlying strengths within the personal domain that facilitate immigrant women’s integration, as revealed through interview analyses.

First, a strong sense of safety was identified as a key factor in immigrant women’s well-being. It serves as a driving force behind their intentions for integration. The interview narratives highlight that feelings of security and fulfillment are often closely tied to women’s roles as caregivers, reflecting the intersection of gender and migration in shaping their sense of stability and gratitude within the host country:

“Yes, <here, I feel –authors> safe and happy. I’m doing what I really want to do… When I see the situation back home, I just feel like I’m lucky to be here with my children.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

A sense of attachment to place was evident—either explicitly or indirectly—among most of our female participants, who expressed a desire to establish roots and envision a long-term future reflecting the importance of place in fostering emotional and social integration:

“I want to live there. I want to just get a future here.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Another recurring theme was appreciation of more equal gender roles at home. For some immigrant women, the absence of rigid gender roles within the household emerged as a significant factor influencing their integration intentions. This shift toward shared responsibilities fostered a sense of partnership, challenging traditional gender norms that many had experienced in their home countries or observed among older generations of Icelanders:

“My <Icelandic> husband sometimes does more household jobs than I do. We’re just sharing… We just do stuff when one has time and there is no person that needs to do it always… I think there are completely no gender roles <at our home–authors>… We are both in this together as humans rather than a woman and a man… And I’m really grateful for that… And he said, is that he never wanted to be like his dad, and his dad’s an Icelander …who is just coming home from work and being in front of the TV…”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

As explicitly articulated by our participant from a Muslim country, exposure to more egalitarian family structures and the opportunity to adopt Icelandic norms of gender equality within the home were particularly significant. This shift enables women like herself to pursue their professional careers while easing their pressure with household responsibilities and giving them more freedom in financial decision-making:

“When you come here and see other examples, you start adapting new ideas, new values… like, why don’t men, for example, cook or clean or take care of children? … When I started working in Iceland, I just felt the pressure that I’m working outside, inside <at home>, taking care of the school, the children’s activities and everything. I had to sit down with my husband and just divide the responsibilities. So, after I come back home, either he cooks, or I cook and then the other one will go with the child to the sport. It’s much better for me and him because I was really under pressure.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

However, this process is multifaceted, highly contextualized, and often shaped by the sociodemographic characteristics of immigrant women. While some women gain greater personal and financial autonomy, enhancing their overall relatively low chances of inclusion in Icelandic society, others face significant risks. These include resistance from male partners, divorce, disapproval from extended family, estrangement from their community of origin, and, in some cases, acts of honor-based violence [44], and can be further compounded by financial hardships:

“He’s coming at four and I’m coming at four, he’s tired and I’m tired… Why does he go to take a nap and I have to stand cooking? That’s why some of them <immigrant women–authors> are having this divorce. They’re getting divorced because women just start to know maybe more about… <their> rights, but men couldn’t accept this, that woman will be as equal as them, so they end up just separating… And others are just the opposite, still controlled financially, socially, and even some of them are working. They are still under man responsibility for the house expenses, and he will control the expenses even when you have a salary, so he will just go into your bank account. I’m not talking about me. It’s kind of different… being highly educated and working.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Interviews demonstrated that a positive image of Icelandic women plays a crucial role in the integration process by encouraging immigrant women’s willingness to identify with relevant local social groups, fostering a sense of connection and belonging. As revealed in our interviews, Icelandic women are often perceived as exemplifying a strong sense of emancipation and self-confidence, which often stands in contrast to immigrant women’s experiences shaped by cultural and gendered expectations in their countries of origin. This positive perception underscores the significant role of local gender norms in shaping immigrant women’s aspirations, with some expressing a willingness to adopt these values as a means of achieving a greater sense of agency and professional growth. It is important to note that this also reflects the embedded hierarchies within Icelandic society and the internalized sense of inferiority, particularly among Eastern European women [24]:

“Icelandic women are really, really emancipated. They came already really far.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

“Icelandic women, they’re so sure, they’re so confident. … they’re not like Eastern European women, in that they sometimes feel that they’re suffering, because “This is my destiny, I need to work for 10 years, in this lower wage job always.” Like second class citizens… They <Icelandic women-authors> give the impression that they’re just blooming wherever they are, and they have this self-confidence…”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

A positive outlook on local informal societal norms and egalitarian traditions becomes particularly meaningful during pivotal moments in women’s lives. For instance, a less formal approach in the provision of gender-sensitive support during childbirth significantly shaped one of our participant’s perceptions of the host community by emphasizing that such support fostered a deeper connection to her new social environment, particularly when compared to the norms and practices in her home country:

“My husband was with me all the time <during labor> and I didn’t have to wear a mask. Of course, he had to wear a mask, but I didn’t have to wear a mask. And everybody said, “No, no, no, you’re busy with something else at the moment. You don’t worry about this kind of stuff.” So yeah, this is something that I found really, really positive here.”

(This quote has been anonymized to protect the participant’s privacy.)

The prevalence of an informal management style that encourages creativity, as well as observable social equality in workplace interactions, is perceived positively as it diminishes hierarchical barriers particularly critical for immigrant population:

“And just for example, that university director can drink coffee together with cleaning ladies at the same table? It says a lot about society.”

(Akureyri, 50s.)

Interviews also highlighted respect for the trust-based political culture as a critical element in fostering their personal sense of stability and social cohesion, while offering a stark contrast to their experiences in their countries of origin. The high level of trust in authorities and the role of professional expertise contribute to a more transparent and supportive societal environment, particularly important in times of crisis. One participant noted:

“Iceland … has a very high level of trust to the authorities, and this always helps in those <crisis--authors> cases.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Another interviewee reflected on the response to the pandemic, stating,

“I think about the bigger picture, … how politicians coped with this <the pandemic--authors>, I can always compare with my homeland. It was much clearer that professionals were here in the first line. Trust generally in society was so high, so I think it contributed to a healthier atmosphere in society, maybe less confusion, and a lot of information provided.”

(Akureyri, 50s.)

Another prominent narrative that emerged from the interviews was that a freedom to adopt traditional gender roles at home constituted an important expression of personal autonomy, allowing some immigrant mothers to prioritize family life based on their values and preferences. This flexibility can foster a positive perception of the host country, as it reflects respect for individual choice. However, for many immigrant women, the decision to engage in part-time employment is influenced by structural factors such as wage disparities and societal expectations of “good motherhood.” While this arrangement may provide short-term stability, it can also contribute to long-term economic insecurity and poor integration in the labor market as well as deepen financial dependence on a spouse:

“For me, it was never a problem though being the person who is more home with my child and my husband getting higher wages. It’s never been a problem in our family. I’m not that type who has to be completely equal. I would love to be a housewife if I could. I haven’t yet chosen to take any extra job because I don’t really need to.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

The study also identified several pandemic-driven strengths within the personal domain that supported immigrant women’s integration. First, feeling lucky and privileged during times of the pandemic, attributed to Iceland’s relatively lenient restrictions, had a significant impact on immigrant women’s overall well-being and contributed to shaping a more favorable attitude toward the country and a sense of contentment. As one participant noted,

“We were privileged, I would say, in Iceland”

(Akureyri, 50s.)

while another emphasized,

“We were very lucky in Iceland that things weren’t as strict here as they were in other countries”

(The anonymized small rural settlement, 40s.)

Participants reported that access to nature played a crucial role in supporting immigrant women’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to engage in outdoor activities without significant restrictions provided a sense of freedom and healing, contrasting with the experiences of confinement in more urbanized settings and reinforcing their appreciation for Iceland’s natural environment as a source of resilience:

“…extra appreciation to… that you’re not locked in an apartment in a big metropolis, but you can at any time go into nature, which is so healing in these crazy times…We added a lot of outdoor activities. Because in Iceland, there’s still enough space, and basically there are no restrictions on how long you can be outside, just keep your two meters… So that’s just contributed to a healthier life.”

(Akureyri, 50s.)

“I was really happy to be here… during COVID because of the access to nature.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Immigrant women’s narratives of positive solution-seeking orientation revealed a notable degree of adaptability during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they effectively leveraged available opportunities to support their personal and professional growth. Their proactive engagement in government-sponsored educational programs, alongside strategic family planning, serves as a testament to their resilience and resourcefulness under unprecedented pressure in their new country:

“I really wanted to see the positive side of it, of having more time as nobody wanted to hire me… The studies <sponsored by the government free online university courses during the pandemic--authors> I’m going to finish now in autumn. So that was basically my conclusion: I tried to turn all this negative stuff into something really positive.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

“We tried to turn it around so that we don’t want to look at it as lost two years. We were trying to use the time as much as possible and as positively as possible… I did my studies and now we have our second child…”

(This quote has been anonymized to protect the participant’s privacy.)

This approach also strengthened women’s adaptability to new working and living conditions during the pandemic, as they effectively managed the transition to online environments, restructured daily life, and supported their children’s education and extracurricular activities through virtual means:

“Most of the work moved online… For myself, it was like for most of families, just arranging life at home, following children in the classes, arranging even piano lessons through video, a whole new and pretty flexible approach.”

(Akureyri, 40s.)

In addition, perception of equal treatment during the pandemic is a significant factor contributing to the positive integration experiences of immigrants. One participant reflected on this experience, stating,

“The vaccine process was handled pretty well here in Iceland. We didn’t have any problems getting vaccinations, anything. At least based on genders or nationality I think it was really fair for everybody.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Feeling grateful to the political environment emerged as another recurring theme in our interviews. Women expressed a favorable perspective on Iceland’s trust-based political culture and transparent government during the pandemic. The participants highlighted the inclusive and collective nature of the national response, a sense of unity and shared responsibility, contrasting with the more individualistic approaches they had observed in their home countries. The transparent communication and collaborative spirit during the pandemic also, to a certain degree, alleviated feelings of “collective isolation”. This positive perception of the political environment influences the integration process by enhancing their trust in the host society:

“The spirit in Iceland in general was amazing. Europe was more an individual thing like us against politics… Here it felt more like it’s a national duty. You go and get the vaccination and it’s a national duty to stand together and follow these isolation rules. …We didn’t feel left alone…We felt included and that really changed the entire take on the coronavirus… It was a really, really positive spirit. It’s not a support program in itself, but it really helped to get through this, yeah like the transparent communication.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

Finally, appreciation for Icelandic society’s resilience during the pandemic stemmed from a prevailing sense of collective perseverance within the community, combined with proactive responses. This sentiment, as highlighted in the interviews, emphasized the historically ingrained and enduring resilience of Icelandic society [45,46], drawing parallels to previous crises such as the financial crisis of 2008–2009:

“So, it was kind of the same <like in the Icelandic financial crisis of 2008–2009 -authors> during the pandemic: “Okay, the situation is scary, but we will somehow go through this.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

Our interviews with immigrant women also revealed several key underlying constraints to integration within the personal domain. Immigrant participants from countries with significant cultural and religious differences reported feelings of alienation, indicating that they faced additional barriers that contributed to heightened emotional discomfort and a sense of perceived rejection, impeding their overall sense of belonging:

“I have Icelandic citizenship, but I don’t feel <being treated> as an Icelander… we will always be immigrants. Even though we live here for many, many <years>… I use only Icelandic when I’m here, try never to use English, but we will always be on the other side I would say.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Legal and financial marital-based dependence has also been indicated by migrant women. As a part of structural inequities, legal frameworks can create vulnerabilities for immigrant women through their dependency on marital status for residency rights. This dependence may limit their autonomy, reinforcing gendered power dynamics within the household and increasing their susceptibility to various forms of domestic abuse, preventing them from achieving larger social and economic independence:

“Their (<foreign wives–authors>) visas are through marriage, so there’s this additional layer of vulnerability.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

“There were a lot of women from the Philippines… and a lot of elderly Icelandic men were getting married… I took an Icelandic course, and there were two women who had already lived 15 years in Iceland, but they were more or less prohibited from learning Icelandic because they would gain independence. Just after they got divorced, they were finally learning Icelandic. But the problem is also for these women… their permit to stay was strongly connected to the marriage certificate. So, the moment they got divorced, they might have to leave the country even though they had kids here, they had been living here for 10 years… This made them even more vulnerable.”

(Húsavík, age group is anonymized.)

As one of the study’s interview narratives highlights, there is a prevalent issue of financial marital-based dependence among immigrant women. While part-time employment due to their husband’s higher income may offer some immigrant mothers greater flexibility for social integration, it also reinforces economic reliance on their spouses and may ultimately affect their long-term integration and overall resilience:

“I’m not working full-time. I only work part-time, but that is because my husband has a higher salary. So, together it works out. But I don’t know how I would manage if I was alone… I am very happy as it is with my just part-time job, which I can help with a child and with the house—just thanks to my husband being better paid working full-time.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

Inability to ensure proper supervision over children—compounded by the absence of familial support networks readily available to many local women—underscores how immigrant women’s colliding roles as caregivers and providers are shaped by structural constraints that intensify their parental guilt over inability to provide:

“I feel like most of them <Icelandic women> decide to work at schools or kindergarten so they can have free time with the children. … For me, when I was working, my son who’s in ninth grade should take care of his brother. While I saw my neighbor, she had a grandmother, grandpa, and then a family who can take care of them, which just makes it <feels> sometimes harder. I felt sometimes guilty like, oh my God, I’m leaving my six, seven years old son with his brother for eight hours. But sometimes you just have no choice…”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Our study participants reported several significant pandemic-driven constraints within the personal domain that hindered immigrant women’s integration. Among these was a feeling of profound loneliness. The interview narratives illustrated how the COVID-19 pandemic amplified both physical and emotional separation from extended families by disrupting already strained support systems, further undermining cultural traditions, and intensifying the emotional toll on immigrant communities:

“My family is in another country. I have no other family that’s here with me, so it makes it very difficult … not being able to get support from them, to give support to them because of the lack of travel and the concern about spreading the virus.”

(Akureyri, 40s.)

“Once the pandemic came… I felt very trapped. I was trapped on this island. Nobody could come and visit me… I was thinking, “Okay, well, when do I see my family? When do I get to see all these people who live away from me? When do my children get to see their grandparents?”

(The anonymized small rural settlement, 40s.)

“We really care about our traditions. And Christmas…, as my mom says, I can be wherever I want, but for Christmas I always must be back. And this was really the first and only year that I didn’t spend with my family back in my home country… ”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

“I guess traveling was the biggest issue for me as a foreign person living in Iceland. The traveling, the obligation to quarantine, that was the most difficult part.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

In addition, some immigrant women’s sense of extended family connection was reshaped by the decline of long-distance family relationships, with physical distance often challenging the ability to maintain intergenerational bonds:

“Because we’re originally from Europe, both of us, our families did not see our children. The parents-in-law, they… saw the first born the first time when two and a half years old. So, this is something that also really affected us … the relationships with our families.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

For some immigrant women, an increased sense of insecurity surfaced as heightened perceptions of Iceland’s geographic isolation and extreme dependence on external resources exposed economic vulnerabilities, thereby calling into question the country’s attractiveness as a new permanent destination.

“All these issues like food security and the economy rely almost 100% on foreign and external conditions, which notoriously are the least easy to control.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

As one interviewee highlights, expat women with extensive international experience may find small communities like Akureyri particularly confining during the pandemic, experiencing an aggravated feeling of a “small place.” The combination of limited career stability and an elevated sense of stagnation and entrapment compels them to reevaluate their long-term commitment to staying in the area:

“I live in a small community. I used to like it because it was a safe place where I could go back to and relax. But two years almost without going anywhere really makes you understand how small the place is and how much lack of stimulus you have…It made me reconsider whether I want to stay here or not… I don’t know if, at this point, I want to stay here any longer.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Compounded physical and mental health issues highlighted in our interviews pointed to the intersection of stress-related illnesses related to family separation and job losses, as well as long-term health complications, such as long COVID-19, overall limiting immigrants’ ability to fully participate in work and social life and hindering their confidence in building a secure future:

“I’ve been diagnosed with anxiety… It’s just I think the worry of feeling so not in control of anything, not in control of our lives, what we can do, what our children can do, or the future.”

(The anonymized small rural settlement, 40s.)

“I have since <COVID infection> suffered a lot of multi-organ damage and have a long COVID still two years after…”

(This quote has been anonymized to protect the participant’s privacy.)

For some immigrant mothers, postpartum depression was particularly acute, worsened by travel bans and social isolation and the lack of traditional support networks, negatively impacting their maternal well-being:

“So that was 2020. That was very much total isolation, which was really, really hard for me as a first-time mom… for me, personally, it had a really terrible effect that I suffered from this depression, and it in a way really negatively affected the relationship with my child…not having any support system around you that can help you.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

Several interviews highlighted that immigrant mothers of toddlers often had “no ‘me time’” due to the absence of traditional family support networks, placing them at a disadvantage compared to local families, ultimately widening the social gap:

“When you don’t have any support system around you that can help newly baked <immigrant> mothers. What I hear from them is that it affected them in the same way that often they felt left alone, that if the situation at home and with a baby becomes overwhelming, you had nobody to go to. Maybe sometimes these 30 min that you would take as a mom just to take a shower alone, take care of yourself, do some self-care in some sense where you would maybe have your mother coming over to take care of the baby. This is something that didn’t happen for a certain time and that was really difficult for the mothers <particularly, immigrants without extended family support--authors>.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

During the pandemic, immigrant women often were feeling left behind, as limited access to resources such as healthcare and targeted support reinforced their sense of exclusion and made integration even more challenging. Perceived unequal access to healthcare and vaccines was reflected in immigrant women’s interviews sharing perceptions of disparities in healthcare access and vaccination during the pandemic, reinforcing feelings of unequal treatment as systemic barriers to integration:

“My Icelandic neighbor got vaccinated months before me… I’ve been here for … years, working, paying taxes and speaking the language and doing everything. And then when it comes to the pandemic, they just try to protect their people but not the others … In a country like Iceland or in Europe, you should be treated all equally, that’s what they say. But I felt like when it comes to reality, are we treated equally?”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

As our respondent shared, single immigrant women with stable incomes often perceived not being prioritized. They felt overlooked in policy discussions and social support initiatives, as they were not perceived as a vulnerable group. This lack of recognition during the pandemic reinforced their perception of social isolation and being left to navigate challenges on their own:

“I feel like they <the government, socially-oriented NGOs—authors> didn’t really target foreign women. COVID simply exacerbated it… It feels like nothing is really targeting single women living alone, as opposed to women that have family, kids…”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

The interviews highlight a strong trend of reinforced traditional gender roles at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, disproportionately affecting immigrant women’s employment prospects, particularly those in the tourism and hospitality sectors. The pandemic exacerbated gendered divisions of labor in the households, with fathers often continuing to work while mothers took on primary caregiving and household responsibilities, reverting to traditional roles reminiscent of past decades. As a result, many women saw their professional aspirations sidelined, leading to greater economic dependency—a situation that some perceived as fair given circumstances, while others experienced it as a source of significant psychological distress:

“It’s always the women who stayed home with the kids… husband continued working.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

“I had this strong feeling that people made 10 steps back when it came to traditional roles and emancipation of women.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

“I heard that from these mothers, more often the fathers were still going to work and the mothers, they chose to go in even longer isolation and stay home. This goes back to the 1960s where the moms stayed at home, taking care of all the household work, taking care of all the kids, and then the father’s going out to work. So, we kind of moved backward there… I personally have the feeling that emancipation went a bit backwards to 1960…”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

“Women just in general, were probably very disproportionately affected on all levels, from COVID… Everyone got sick, but yet the mother is the mother, and she’s got to be responsible, regardless of whether she’s sick or not.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

As reported in the interviews, even after the pandemic, the increased cost of living and diminishing sources of income in many immigrant households have disproportionately impacted immigrant women by amplifying their unpaid domestic workload. This shift toward more home-based responsibilities, such as cooking and cleaning, persists, further limiting their social engagement and economic opportunities, ultimately slowing their integration process and deepening inequalities:

“This is something we noticed that prices really went up… We were in a restaurant for the first time since months this weekend and we were shocked that, well, just a cake without anything for four people was like 40–45 Euros. Just four pieces of cake which is crazy… I guess, this is over for us–with kids now. Now, I prefer to bake at home, but this is due to it being a lot more economical…”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

3.2. Social Domain of Integration

The study’s interview participants highlighted several underlying strengths within the social domain that contribute to the process of integration. They emphasized that an aspiration for inclusion in the local community was a crucial social competency for engaging with the local society and actively seeking interactions. In this context, linguistic integration serves as one of the key factors in overcoming social isolation, further reinforcing the idea that integration is a dynamic, “two-way street” that requires effort from both immigrants and the host society:

“… being open to the community. It’s not just that Icelanders need to be open, but immigrants, we need to be open, and I met a lot of very good, very nice Icelanders… And it’s, I think because I was quite open to talk…I think I was trying really to get to them, and I was always open to it. So, I get to interact with Icelanders, and I think that really helps. And if somebody is really planning to stay here, then I think that the language is really good to know, to learn, to make this effort.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

As shared by immigrant women, in northern Iceland, where child-centered values are strongly dominating, motherhood often functions as a significant pathway to social inclusion for immigrant women. Children act as bridges to local communities, facilitating connections through school, sports, and social activities. This children-driven integration enables immigrant women to build relationships with local parents and engage with social institutions, fostering community involvement that might otherwise be difficult to establish:

“… I think, for mothers, it is easier in a way, like my parents-in-law who are not originally Icelandic. They got into the community when the kids started school because then they got to know the other parents, like kids started playing different sports and doing activities that brought them together with the other locals. And before that, they were a little bit outside.”

(This quote has been anonymized to protect the participant’s privacy.)

Our study participants demonstrated a strong ability to form informal immigrant networks, such as circles of friends with immigration backgrounds or online groups, to share information and resources in navigating daily challenges. This ability is highly important, particularly in contexts where formal support structures are insufficient:

“<My female friends> who have Icelandic husbands, they’re consulting me with all kinds of questions because I’m the only one among them who speaks Icelandic. So, I get a lot of questions… It can be basic things like the schedule from the kindergarten and up to which institution is responsible for this…”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

“People were also complaining they’re missing social contacts. And there were some, I know, created Facebook groups where foreign women could meet and chat and get some mutual support. That is more like grass springing up.”

(Akureyri, 50s.)

The pandemic-driven strengths within the social domain were notably underrepresented in the interviews, with only a single example consistently mentioned by all participants. For them, public safety played a crucial role in supporting integration experiences by providing a sense of security in a new environment, especially during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. As explicitly stated by one participant,

“If something is going on like COVID, it’s better to be in a smaller place rather than in a big, big city. Especially here in Iceland. I felt really safe at some point. It’s just really nice.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

The underlying constraints outlined below within the social domain underscore the multifaceted challenges that immigrant women encounter on their pathways toward integration in the Northeastern Region of Iceland.

As described by all study participants, Iceland’s relatively small-sized, historically isolated, close-knit host society—until recently predominantly homogeneous—imposes significant constraints on female newcomers who struggle to integrate into well-established social circles and networks:

“The problem with Icelandic society is that they all know each other for a very, very long time. They’re all somehow related… and they don’t need an additional friend or whatsoever.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

Moreover, some participants noted that in smaller, remote northern communities where traditional local norms remain firmly established, individuals tend to exhibit greater caution and restraint in expanding their social networks:

“There are some people that I have known for 20 years, they greet you on the street and that’s it. Of course, when they had to drink, then they would start talking, but they would never come up to me like, “Hey, I heard you have a second kid or whatever.”—No, never. And even in school, I was partying with people. They were telling me the most intimate things. And the next day at school, they didn’t even greet me. They didn’t even know or pretend not to know who I am. But this is something I hear from a lot of foreigners, that you have to meet people 10 times and then they say hi to you on the street.”

(This quote has been anonymized to protect the participant’s privacy.)

Among additional significant underlying constraints discussed, immigrant women highlighted various forms of limited social connections, such as limited social support networks. Women with children in the narratives they shared experienced additional burdens in balancing childcare and work due to the absence of extended family networks and safety nets, a support often readily available to their Icelandic counterparts. This lack of immediate assistance also hinders not only economic opportunities but also their broader integration in the social fabric:

“They <Icelandic mothers> have a lot of social support networks that you don’t have as a foreigner. When my first kid was born, the maternity time was just 10 months in total. But the kindergarten didn’t accept the kids until they were one year old or even older. What am I supposed to do in these two months in between? And I asked here in social service in town hall, what am I supposed to do?—“This is where the grandparents come into play.”… Icelanders are also struggling, but then they have some family around <to rely on–authors>.”

(This quote has been anonymized to protect the participant’s privacy.)

Interview narratives also highlighted limited inclusion in local social groups as a significant barrier to the early stages of immigrant women’s integration into Icelandic society. Insufficient language proficiency and the tightly knit nature of local networks often exclude immigrant women from community spaces, such as mothers’ groups:

“If you don’t have a social network, like a social group, especially if you have a small kid and you’re not working, and even if you’re working, it can be difficult to get into a social context here… Before I got secure in Icelandic, my experience was that I was sometimes not let in. We had this mother’s group who met with their little babies and most of them were all either related or classmates or somehow knew each other from before. And me then being a bit insecure in Icelandic and not knowing them or who they talked about… I went twice, and I came home crying both times and it was not a good experience.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

“Those <moms’> groups, they didn’t reach out to the foreigners. I’ve never seen somebody else with a foreign background at those meetings …because everybody just speaks Icelandic and it’ll be really hard to fit in. And then we also have the issue of a small town. Everybody knows each other. They <Icelandic women> already know each other since kindergarten. So even when I’m sitting there, I cannot follow the conversation because “The neighbor did this and that…”.

(Húsavík, 30s.)

Limited common ground with locals was identified as another barrier for female immigrants with diverse backgrounds. Despite meeting formal integration requirements—such as language proficiency and citizenship—many interviewees shared that they often formed deeper connections with fellow immigrants rather than with locals, suggesting that shared experiences and broader perspectives play a crucial role in social belonging:

“Many of my friends in town are immigrants. Even though they have learned Icelandic… I often connect better, have more in common or just have a little bit of a wider perspective, horizon… Even though I’m an Icelandic citizen today and speak Icelandic fluently, I still connect sometimes better with the foreigners than with the locals.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

As our interview participants noted, traditional gender norms and family roles contribute to increased gender inequality among immigrant women. Despite Iceland’s advanced gender equality policies, societal norms with caregiving expectations allow placing the childcare and household responsibilities on women, thus seriously limiting immigrants’ potential for integration through career advancement and social and civic engagement:

“It’s kind of like two works. When you work full time till three, four o’clock, and then you have to come home and then work again–cooking, cleaning… Some <immigrant> women decided to quit their jobs because they couldn’t take it anymore.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

“If there’s something going on with my son in kindergarten, if he has fever or something, they call me. They have the phone number of my husband as well…but it’s always the mother and the institutions are reaching out to the mother in the first place… Even though the Icelandic employers are allowing the fathers as well to take parental leave, to go to kindergarten to pick up the kids when they’re sick, but somehow the mindset in the society is still there…–it’s the task of the mom… It takes time to change this mindset…”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

Some participants expressed concerns about a perceived diversity-phobia, which they identified as a challenge to immigrant integration in Iceland. As the country experiences increasing cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity, some Icelanders perceive unprecedented large-scale immigration as a potential threat to national identity and linguistic heritage. This makes it especially difficult for immigrant women who wear visible cultural or religious markers to feel fully accepted in Icelandic society:

“They <Icelandic people–authors> are still afraid of accepting the diversity…because as a small society as Iceland, 350,000, and to have a lot of immigrants, you of course would feel that you need to protect your identity as an Icelander. Like if everyone speaks English and they will use English, then no one will use Icelandic… I understand their fears of the face of society changing. When I came to Akureyri, there were only three other women with headscarves… but now, you see people like me and others from Africa, different colors everywhere. I sometimes understand why Icelanders are afraid they will lose control if they don’t have this way of protecting themselves. But I feel like they can do it in different ways.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

This phobia is multifaceted, with varying degrees of perceived “foreignness” largely determined by cultural proximity. Immigrants from regions with significant cultural and religious differences—particularly those belonging to visible minority groups—are often perceived as outsiders, more distinctly “foreign”:

“When you are a person from Ukraine, it’s different when you come from a war from <Middle East, Africa>… Even though we all come from a war, I know that people from Ukraine… when they come here and you see the way that they are offered jobs, you feel the difference. I heard it myself from someone who said, “They are white and with blue eyes, just like us…” … I think the differences should be between immigrants themselves, not immigrants and locals”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Women interviewed also pointed out that domestic violence, systemic vulnerability, and a limited trust in institutions create additional challenges to social integration of immigrant women, many of whom are in the position of economic dependents. Policies linking residence permits to marital status may place immigrant women in abusive relationships at a heightened risk out of fear of deportation and separation from children. Often influenced by immigrants’ background, limited trust in institutions is sometimes reinforced in Iceland stemming from past (and present) cases of victim-blaming and injustice toward local women. This distrust discourages immigrant women from seeking help, particularly in rural areas, where local community solidarity is high and government support systems are limited:

“…Violence against women… There’s a lot of factors that go into that–economic capabilities, someone’s economic status, someone’s social status,–all effects put them in a different risk category towards violence.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

The study also identified pandemic-driven social constraints that illustrate the additional burdens faced by immigrant women, which likely contributed to slowing down their integration processes.

For instance, many interviews stated that COVID-related immigrant-phobia was common in Iceland and led to a feeling of greater social exclusion and stigmatization of immigrants in Iceland in general. The country’s geographic isolation, with Icelanders viewing the virus as an external threat, led public discourse and policies during the pandemic to disproportionately blame “outsiders” for spreading the virus, reinforcing racial and ethnic divisions, with many immigrant women reporting feeling “criminalized” or unwelcome. While some community efforts aimed to “assist” immigrants, these actions often carried an undertone of exclusion:

“I think the situation in Iceland with immigrants has gotten worse. And I think the pandemic just highlighted some differences. Another key factor was some public statements from the head department of health or some politicians that the problem was not the Icelanders going <abroad> on holidays, but “he immigrants who went to their home countries, stayed there and then came back to Iceland with the virus.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

“After I came back to Iceland, I was in the quarantine hotel… I wasn’t really happy with how they treated us after coming to Iceland, that I felt a bit like I was a criminal coming from abroad… There is a bit of trauma in how Iceland treated me…”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

“<Icelandic> people really didn’t want to eat with the certain Europeans at the canteen at the university… I think these perceptions were due because we are on an island, so everything comes from outside.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

“Some local Icelanders, without asking me, made a specific Facebook group to “help” me …with grocery shopping, and were sending me food in a way I will not need to go outside.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Immigrant women further highlighted that quarantine-driven social exclusion during the pandemic disproportionately affected them, deepening their sense of isolation and reinforcing pre-existing social barriers. Those lacking familial bonds in Iceland were completely excluded from traditional gatherings, further delaying the integration process:

“Christmas <bubble> approach in Iceland… 2020 that everybody should choose their Christmas bubble. Imagine you put the family … within that circle of people, and you don’t meet any other people… that means that all the Icelandic families chose their closest family to stay with… But in our case, <although> we are well-integrated, we speak Icelandic, we still stayed outside of all of these “Christmas ornaments.” I know more immigrant women to whom this happened as well. So, they also felt left out, really isolated.”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

Several women also remarked that the pandemic widened gender disparities in the digital divide, particularly as major government and commercial services transitioned online. This shift disproportionately affected immigrant women’s access to integration and other services, with older women facing especially significant barriers due to limited digital literacy, language constraints, and restricted or no access to online platforms. The move to digital integration courses during the pandemic further marginalized those struggling with remote learning formats, leading to higher dropout rates and delays in the process of social integration:

“Most of the work moved online. And since I work with immigrants, this online format is not always the best way to communicate. And probably it was one of the obstacles for some <immigrants> to look for <integration> services or reach out to us… Because first of all, there’s a language. Secondly, not everyone is familiar technically with how to use all these new formats like Zoom… And then, in social services, a special program was designed to have interviews, to book appointments. But again, it was mostly Icelandic and English. So, I would imagine quite a few people couldn’t really cope with it… There was some online <integration> teaching, but it didn’t fit everyone. One group, especially if you talk about women … <some> are not comfortable <with online sources>. And if you don’t know your rights, you cannot use them. And you must know in order to ask.”

(This quote has been anonymized to protect the participant’s privacy.)

Study participants observed that challenges in retaining social activities after the pandemic have disproportionately affected immigrant women, as they depend more on public events and community gatherings to build social connections than Icelandic counterparts:

“In Húsavík, they were also talking about some events for mothers with children. They were saying that it’s difficult to get people together <after COVID>… They were trying to organize mother’s mornings, … And it went more slowly than before COVID. And this affects immigrant women, I think more, because they might not have the network. … Icelanders can meet at home with their old school friends and meet at the people’s homes. But then those public events are more maybe where you go when you’re new to the community, and they’re looking for some new context…”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Immigrant women further indicated that the impact of substandard immigrant housing became particularly acute during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for families with children and those women balancing remote work, studies, and increased caregiving responsibilities. Immigrant families often live in smaller, often overcrowded households, which can negatively affect mental health and overall well-being, especially in times of crisis such as the pandemic:

“It’s specifically about all immigrants, … people are agreeing to live in bad conditions, just simply to have a place to stay, because the real estate market is really bad… I see people are fighting for a place to rent because again, came this Airbnb era and short rent apartments… Iceland is just somehow losing the high standards of living, and soon you may see people on the streets.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

Many interview participants reported a renewed focus on their country of origin during the pandemic. Increased online communication facilitated the renewal of previously weakened ties and reoriented immigrants’ focus toward “social bonds” from their country of origin. As a result, relationships with family and friends abroad became more central, complicating immigrants’ attachments to their new communities:

“I heard from more friends overseas that I don’t speak to them as regularly… Definitely, that was the biggest change…”

(Húsavík, 30s.)

“Regarding friends and family, you suddenly appreciate it much more, so I think, you bond again with your friends much tighter, especially with those who are abroad.”

(Akureyri, 50s.)

“I have mostly friends and relatives in Europe, and I keep in touch through FaceTime, through Messenger, through the phone, through the computer, and chatting quite often. I would say that my life got a bit more on the phone than before. I spent much more time in front of the screen.”

(Akureyri, 30s.)

4. Discussion

Consistent with the research goals and objectives, this study identified underlying and pandemic-driven strengths and constraints influencing immigrant women’s integration processes in Iceland in personal and social domains (Table 2). Unlike most studies on integration, which take a linear approach based on formal quantitative indicators to measure progress, this research prioritizes an approach focusing on immigrants’ personal perceptions [18,47,48].

This study expands upon earlier work by Hoffmann [37], Einarsdóttir, Heijstra, and Rafnsdóttir [49], Tietgen [50], Skaptadóttir, Wojtyńska, and Innes [23,24], Nouh, Hjálmsdóttir, and Meckl [51], Kjaran and Halldórsdóttir [52], and Wojtyńska, Hoffmann, Sigmarsdóttir, and Marcinek [53] on immigrant women’s integration experiences in Iceland. The analysis of interviews allowed us to better understand both strengths and constraints associated with women’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic while on the pathway towards their integration. Despite the growing body of literature documenting the impacts of the pandemic on women in Iceland in general, to our knowledge, this is the first study to examine immigrant women’s integration experiences—through the strength and constraints lens—in the Northeastern Region of Iceland.

Our findings reveal that while immigrant women across different demographic and ethnic groups demonstrated similar strengths and faced similar constraints in integrating into smaller, more remote areas, their experiences and possible paths and pace of integration varied significantly based on factors such as motherhood status, marital status, religious identity, and type of immigration (work-based, marriage-based, or refugee), and to a certain degree, the country of origin. The findings also highlight both systemic and structural barriers to integration—some underlying and others pandemic-driven—as well as key strengths that help facilitate this process.

4.1. Research Findings in the Personal Domain of Integration

Our study findings indicate that immigrant women’s underlying strengths within the personal domain encompass their overall positive disposition toward the host country, respect for traditions and informal sociocultural norms of the receiving society, alignment with its political values, high appreciation of public safety, Icelandic nature and easy access to it, as well as a demonstrated willingness to stay there. Our results support Ager and Strang [27], Heckmann [18], and Hoffmann [37] studies that building social bridges with host society and a sense of belonging in a new host country are fundamental to immigrant integration. Our findings are also in line with existing understandings of the importance of immigrants’ subjective intentions and hopes for positive integration outcomes [54] and that “those expressing a high degree of… satisfaction are significantly more likely to intend… to stay… forever” [55] (p. 969).

Although additional research should be conducted to evaluate immigrants’ attitudes towards Iceland’s gender equality standards, and immigrants are not fully integrated into the gender equality discourse in Icelandic society, our findings indicate that female participants’ perspectives on gender norms in the personal domain largely align with those of Icelanders [56]. Moreover, some participants expressed expectations for even greater gender equality, not only in formal public statements and gender gap indicators [57] but also in everyday practices. Our findings confirm other studies that immigrant women’s backgrounds—including demographic and socioeconomic status, religious identity, cultural framework, and household power dynamics—significantly influence women’s attitudes and their capacity to adhere to gender-equal norms in both public and private spheres [39,51]. In particular, the literature indicates that while Arab Muslim immigrant women are generally adapting well in Iceland however, they require more time to achieve full integration into Icelandic society [39] (pp. 107–109).

At the same time, our study findings also reveal significant underlying constraints within the personal domain affecting the integration process. These challenges are often linked to the traumatizing experiences of immigration and feelings of loneliness, social network deficit, as well as diversity-phobia and elements of discrimination, which tend to vary based on immigrants’ backgrounds [32]. Our study confirms prior research by Kristjánsdóttir and Skaptadóttir [58] and Nouh [39] that, in general, Arab Muslim women who are relatively new to the country more often experience discrimination, struggle with finding a sense of belonging, and have acute feelings of being permanent outsiders. Without social support measures, as identified in previous studies, Muslim women can face heightened risks, with serious consequences such as honor-based violence, identity loss, social stigma, depression, and even suicidal attempts [44,59,60,61].

Pandemic-driven personal strengths: Consistent with previous studies of Jóhannsdóttir and Cook [46], our findings indicate that immigrants recognize and appreciate the role of Icelandic societal values in fostering resilience during crises, such as the pandemic and other historical challenges. Our study participants particularly noted the influence of social solidarity, responsibility, trust in authorities, adherence to rules, solution-seeking orientation, and adaptability. One possible explanation for this remarkable resilience is its historical embeddedness in past traumas and harsh natural conditions, which have played a crucial role in shaping Icelandic society’s capacity to adapt and withstand challenges [45,46].

Among the pandemic-driven constraints identified in the personal domain, our findings align with previous research indicating that in addition to elevated female job-related health risks and mental overloads, both immigrant and local women experienced reinforced traditional gender roles within the household [11,16,62]. As our participants shared, in some cases, they voluntarily assumed these roles as part of new family dynamics, particularly when their husbands continued working while they faced job loss. In other instances, immigrant women, especially mothers, experienced a disproportionate burden of childcare and family responsibilities compared to many local counterparts, who often had access to well-established social support networks and family assistance. This dynamic further intensified intersecting inequalities related to gender, immigration status, and motherhood, thereby demonstrating a decline in gender equality standards and restricting immigrant women’s capacity to actively engage in their integration process. Our findings suggest that immigrant women’s experiences of (un)equal treatment during the pandemic varied: while some participants felt overlooked and not prioritized, others perceived their treatment as truly fair and equitable, especially in relation to vaccine distribution.

4.2. Research Findings in the Social Domain of Integration

Underlying social strengths: Consistent with the concept that integration is a two-way process [18,37], [31] (p. 17), our participants expressed varying degrees of aspiration for inclusion within the local community, and particularly women with children had more opportunities for social engagement with local residents. Similar to previous research by Ager and Strang [47] and Strang and Quinn, which emphasizes that “social relationships are at the core of a sense of belonging” [63] (p. 330) for immigrants, our interviews revealed that many newcomers initially strengthen their “social bonds” by connecting with individuals who share common identities or life experiences such as immigration. In the context of limited integration infrastructure, especially in smaller communities, this social network support played a crucial role in facilitating women’s access to local knowledge, promoting social integration, and enhancing their mental health and overall well-being.

Underlying social constraints: Our study confirms previous findings by Skaptadóttir, Innes, and Wojtyńska [23] and Kristjánsdóttir [45] that one of the primary challenges for immigrants—building “social bridges” with the local community—is not migrant-phobia, but rather the close-knit, strongly family-oriented nature of northern Icelandic communities. These communities maintain well-established social circles and networks of long-standing friends, family, and relatives, which often do not easily accommodate newcomers, whether they are immigrants or Icelanders relocating from other areas. As Kristjánsdóttir notes, in Iceland, “relationships are made early on in life and can last a lifetime,” thus inclusion into these social structures is a gradual process, and “it may take a long time for Icelanders to become friends with those who belong to the outgroup, especially foreigners, and even with other Icelanders they have not met before” [45] (p. 2). Limited inclusion in Icelandic-speaking communities is both a cause and a consequence of immigrants’ limited language proficiency, creating a cycle that undermines social integration.

Regarding “social links”—the relationships between immigrants and the institutions—our interviews revealed that, despite immigrant women expressing overall high levels of generalized and political trust, they admitted that these links do not function effectively, particularly in relation to the domestic violence prevention system. While none of our study participants reported experiencing domestic violence firsthand, their observations align with previous research on the intersection of gender, immigrant status, and domestic violence [64]. Despite Iceland’s relatively low official records of domestic violence, participants acknowledged that the country is not exempt from various forms of domestic abuse, which increased during the pandemic, with immigrant women accounting for 70% of shelter residents [65,66]. Such a disproportionately high number of foreign-born women in shelters does not necessarily indicate that they experience abuse more frequently than native Icelandic women. In many cases, this is due to limited access to social and family support networks, financial resources, and legal services, making foreign-born women more reliant on the shelter system [65]. As another study by Kjaran and Halldórsdóttir [52] showed, immigrant women—particularly those in economically dependent positions or whose residency status is marriage-based—often face significant barriers in seeking institutional protection.

Pandemic-driven social strengths were primarily linked to recognized high levels of public safety, as well as open and meaningful public discussions during the pandemic surrounding the previously overlooked #MeToo movement [52]. Although further research is needed, our preliminary findings suggest that these factors may contribute to a greater sense of security and optimism among immigrant women regarding a safer future within Icelandic society.

Pandemic-driven social constraints: During the pandemic, immigrant women experienced negative impacts of heightened social isolation and elevated migrant-phobia, as the virus was often perceived as being introduced to the island by foreigners. Based on our interviews, during the pandemic, most participants strengthened their “social bonds” primarily by communicating with extended family overseas and reconnecting with old friends from their countries of origin. At the same time, “social bridges” were severely disrupted, significantly limiting or completely cutting interactions between immigrants and the broader host society. While previous studies by Ager and Strang [27] and Strang and Quinn [63] emphasize the importance of “social bonds” in providing essential support for mental health and well-being, particularly for newcomers, our study, in line with Waldinger [67], suggests that the loss of “social bridges” during crises, such as the pandemic, poses additional risks. Immigrant women without family ties to Icelandic people, particularly those with limited language proficiency, experienced a profound sense of exclusion, which exacerbated the risk of segregation and reduced the level of generalized trust and contributed to a regression in the integration process.

Additionally, immigrant families faced adverse impacts of substandard housing conditions, as immigrants’ access to affordable housing and bank mortgages has been a longstanding challenge in Iceland, largely due to a tight, tourism-oriented rental market, which “disproportionately affects immigrants, who account for 35% of renters and just over 10% of homeowners” [4] (p. 36). As identified in our study, while this pre-existing housing issue did not worsen during the pandemic due to reduced demand, the substandard, smaller-sized yet high-cost living conditions of many immigrant families had a negative impact on women’s mental health and overall well-being, particularly for women with children.

For many of our study participants, post-pandemic recovery has been a slow and challenging process. After the pandemic, housing availability has significantly declined, and rental prices have increased, as immigrants now compete with Airbnb tourist schemes for limited housing options, while social housing remains largely inaccessible. Additionally, some research participants reported psychosocial distress stemming from social exclusion during quarantine, as they felt left behind within tightly knit local family circles. This exclusion has contributed to a decline in generalized trust, particularly regarding immigrant expectations of equal treatment during times of crisis, the genuine commitment to gender equality principles beyond formal policies, and the prospect of improved opportunities for social inclusion in the future.

4.3. Immigrant Women’s Perceptions of Individual Pathways to Integration

Based on our research findings, immigrant women demonstrate a clear understanding of distinct pathways to integration within the personal and social domains. They are associated with a strong aspiration for inclusion within the local community, with participants emphasizing the importance of building “social bridges”—relationships with locals beyond their own ethnic or cultural networks—while maintaining “social bonds” within their communities of origin. Social inclusion through motherhood also emerged as a significant pathway, particularly through interactions with other parents in child-centered contexts such as schools, sports, and community activities. Additionally, naturalization and the length of time spent in Iceland were viewed as critical to building trust. Icelandic language proficiency was identified as foundational, often followed by obtaining local university degrees or completing local professional training programs to facilitate social participation through career advancement. As one participant explained:

“First, it’s the language, second… if you are coming from a different country, you might have a foreign degree. To pursue a career here, it’s better to have a local degree. It might be another master or might be a professional diploma… Third, citizenship, because if you don’t have a citizenship, you might have been seen as a person who might want to move back to your country, so that they cannot rely on you.”

(Akureyri, 30s)

However, the aforementioned individual pathways to integration require substantial long-term investments of both time and financial resources and may not be accessible to all immigrant women, while marriage with local residents and motherhood are also not universally applicable pathways. These findings highlight the critical need for targeted and comprehensive government integration policies and support programs to address the constraints faced by immigrant women.

5. Conclusions and Policy-Relevant Highlights

Iceland is undergoing an unprecedented and historically rapid transformation, shifting from a relatively isolated, homogeneous, kin-based society to a diverse, international immigrant destination. This ongoing transition necessitates the refinement of immigration management practices. Given the significant and increasing proportion of immigrants, occurring also in the smaller communities of the Northeastern Region of Iceland, the development and implementation of comprehensive, gender-responsive, and effective integration policies are imperative to ensure future social cohesion and long-term social sustainability [68].

This study’s findings reveal that, despite substantial governmental efforts to support all demographic groups, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing systemic and structural inequalities while introducing new, pandemic-driven challenges that were particularly pronounced across the personal and social domains of immigrant integration. The pandemic amplified gender disparities, disproportionately affecting immigrant women by placing many of them in a vulnerable position, yet, simultaneously, it underscored their resilience and strengths within the integration process.

In light of the forthcoming Iceland’s Policy on Matters of Immigrants for 2025–2038, this research informs the development of tailored integration programs designed to address the specific needs of a diverse group of immigrant women. A key priority is ensuring their inclusion in both gender equality and integration policy frameworks at all stages and across various sectors and levels of decision-making. This approach ensures that their interests are represented, their voices heard, and their perspectives effectively embedded into policy development and implementation.

Notably, highly educated and skilled women constitute a significant portion of Iceland’s immigrant population, making targeted initiatives, particularly a comprehensive and accessible system for professional linguistic integration and culturally competent labor programs, essential for addressing chronic underemployment and ensuring their skills and expertise are fully utilized in the labor market. Additionally, strengthening domestic violence prevention mechanisms remains a critical component of gender equality and integration policy frameworks, acknowledging immigrant women’s distinct vulnerabilities and ensuring access to protective services and legal recourse.

While the Icelandic government performed exceptionally well in maintaining public safety measures during the COVID-19 crisis, the pandemic’s memories of social exclusion, compounded by a widening socioeconomic divide between immigrants and the native population, have had enduring implications for immigrant women’s sense of belonging and generalized trust in Icelandic society. Restoring confidence in “social bridges” and promoting fair labor practices are vital steps toward more inclusive integration pathways. In a future health, financial, or other crises it will be important to design and implement policies that ensure that immigrant women are not further marginalized in social domains and that possible emerging vulnerabilities are promptly mitigated.

In the long-term, comprehensive, gender-responsive, and locally adaptive decentralized integration policies are crucial not only for shaping the future of Iceland’s immigrant population but also for ensuring the nation’s social sustainability and strengthening its position as a global leader in gender equality.