Empowerment,Meaningful Learning and Social Entrepreneurship in Work Training at a Non-governmental Organization in Sweden

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe empowerment processes and meaningful learning in social entrepreneurial work training at a non-governmental organization in Sweden from a participant perspective. The social entrepreneurship investigated in this study was constituted by work training that took place within the framework of a non-governmental organization in Sweden. The study is theoretically grounded in ethnographic methodology, where the researchers cohabited with the participants and conducted nineteen semi-structured life-world interviews with twenty-three participants. The interviews were subjected to a qualitative content analysis. The main findings are the participants’ accounts of how they underwent positive transformation through various means. The positive transformation in the results section is discussed in terms of four main themes: (i) undergoing change together; (ii) undergoing change through helping others; (iii) changing one’s self-perception; (iv) changing hope for the future. The most important success factor for the empowerment and meaningful learning processes that the participants underwent was the simultaneous emphasis on both individual adaptation and flexibility as well as togetherness and solidarity.

“Experiencing a sense of solidarity and undergoing empowering positive change through helping others are present in most of the various activities that the employees described.”

Introduction

Idea-driven organizations, civil society, or the third sector (hereafter referred to as “NGOs”) have gained a more significant role in facilitating social inclusion. When conventional initiatives fall short in providing solutions to social challenges such as unemployment, segregation, health issues and environmental concerns, people often rely on NGO actors (Anheier et al., 2019; Escobar & Ahl, 2023; Hussain et al., 2023; Lindberg et al., 2022; Martin & Osberg, 2015). A common description of NGOs is that they are neither controlled by the state nor have a profit motive. Structurally, NGOs can be bureaucratic or more flexibly organized. Regarding funding, many are externally funded through the “development industry” such as the United Nations, the European Union and similar bodies (Lewis, 2010). Globally, the marked neoliberal trends of the past forty years with its new political, economic, and social arrangements that stresses market relations, converts the role of the state, and focuses on individual responsibility (Springer et al., 2016). This has meant that expectations of NGOs have changed and activities by NGOs being not only supplementary to public welfare efforts but also a substitute (Kashwan et al., 2019; Spicer et al., 2019).

In response to these needs, concepts such as “social entrepreneurship” (SE), “social innovation,” “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR), “social economy,” “social enterprise” (hereafter referred to as “SE”) have become popular (Spicer et al., 2019). These concepts combine the individual’s need for work with the market’s need for products or services and society’s need for rehabilitation services and new job opportunities (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2015). SE refers to “the activities of individuals and groups (social entrepreneurs) who identify gaps in the social system as an opportunity to serve groups who are marginalized and aim to address these needs in entrepreneurial ways” (Hansson et al., 2014, p. 35). This means that any potential profit is reinvested to develop the innovative or complementary measure that SE entails (Dacin et al., 2010). Historically, these concepts and phenomena have been associated with the public sector, however an expanding number of private actors (Jeffries, 2023) and NGOs have shown growing interest in SE. Regardless of whether the SEs are associated with the public or private sector or NGOs, it addresses social challenges and thereby generate social value (Bacq et al., 2016; Spicer et al., 2019).

In this article, the context is an NGO and the activity SE. García-Jurado et al. (2021) state that much SE in fact takes place within NGOs, or at least the two are connected (Cavalcanti, 2021; do Adro & Fernandes, 2021). For example, municipalities and regions/county councils can make use of NGOs to implement SE-projects due to the NGOs’ better conditions for achieving social change (Deslatte et al., 2020; Saebi et al., 2019; Schin et al., 2023). Previous research on SE within NGOs has focused on organizational conditions and relationships between the State and NGOs (Anheier et al., 2019; Cho & Sultana, 2015; Curado et al., 2023; Fernández-Laviada et al., 2020; Koehne et al., 2022; Wry & Haugh, 2018), while educational and learning processes have been mainly overlooked. In Sweden, the majority of research in this area has also adopted an organizational and management perspective, emphasizing the role of NGOs as a complement to state-financed and organized social welfare (Einarsson & Wijkström, 2021; Lindberg et al., 2022; Meeuwisse & Scaramuzzino, 2019; Vamstad, 2018; von Essen & Svedberg, 2020). Empirical studies incorporating participant perspectives are not well researched, rather a lot of focus lands on the consequences for social welfare (Henrekson & Neubeck, 2022; Segnestam et al., 2021). However, there are examples of studies that do include participants, but then the focus is on the participants who give support rather than those receiving it (Povrzanovic Frykman & Mäkelä, 2019) or on the relationship between participants and the leaders (Wettermark & Berglund, 2022).

Since both SE and NGO have primarily interested entrepreneurship researchers, it is not surprising that pedagogical perspectives and learning have not received any attention. But as there are an endless number of initiatives and projects that aim to rehabilitate and include individuals in society, there are opportunities to examine pedagogical and learning processes from a participant perspective. This present article therefore aims to describe empowerment processes and meaningful learning in social entrepreneurial work training at a non-governmental organization in Sweden from a participant perspective. The research questions are: (1) How do the participants describe their lived experiences of meaningful learning in work training? (2) Which factors contribute to their functioning in a workplace?

Theoretical Framework

Empowerment constitutes the theoretical framework and comprises three components: power, control, and self-efficacy (Rappaport, 1997; Zimmerman, 2000). It is understood as a process rather than a goal, through which self-determination gradually increases within one’s life (Rappaport, 1997). The component power means a recognition of the individual as an agent who is capable of taking control of his/her own life. The control component aims at an acceptance by an individual to assume greater control over his/her life, which in turn signifies a commitment to a particular self-concept that is grounded in the third component, self-efficacy (Zimmerman, 2000). In this study, we focus on the process of change inherent in empowerment, directing the reader’s attention to pedagogical aspects that positively impact participants’ self-perception in relation to meaningful learning in work training at an NGO.

The processes of change related to empowerment are, in turn, connected to Jarvis’ theory of adult learning, where experiences of social situations undergo cognitive, emotional, and practical transformation before being integrated into an individual’s biography (Jarvis, 2006). Learning is understood as a combination of processes where the person’s knowledge, ability, feelings, values, assumptions and impressions together form the experience that arises in a social situation. As this experience is processed, it will be integrated into the individual’s being (Jarvis, 2005). This integration leads to a more experienced person, which in this context, results in an individual more prepared for employment. While empowerment focuses on the individual’s process towards self-determination, Jarvis’ definition of learning contributes by drawing attention to the social context within which the individual’s process towards self-determination takes place.

Methods

This study is inspired ethnographic studies (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007), where the researcher participates in the environments and situations in which the researcher wishes to gain knowledge of. According to Bengtsson (2005), people can only be understood through participation in the regional life-world they inhabit. The life-world is the concrete everyday world which people live their lives in; a world that continually surrounds us and forms our “taken-for-granted” everyday existence (Bengtsson, 2005; Merleau-Ponty, 1962/1999). Our role as researchers is similar to Schütz’s (1944/1976) description of the researcher as a “stranger” in unusual and specific environments. According to Schutz, the researcher’s ability to be accepted by the interviewees is crucial in order to enable the interviews.

This study concern SE-related work training at an NGO encompassing diverse activities, including a second-hand store, a car wash, a dog day-care facility, a tire storage facility, a conference facility, refugee accommodation, a cafeteria and a large logistics operation sending goods to various Eastern European countries. By participating in these context for ten days, observe what happens and asking question, the experiences of the participants can be understood in their authentic context. The collection of the empirical material was carried out during autumn 2022. The sample consists of 23 participants with various roles, collectively referred to as “Employee 1-23” in the results, since this is how they describe themselves and identify each other.

Fourteen of the participants were women and nine were men. They were between 20-60 years old and had different educational backgrounds and professional experiences. What most of the participants had in common was that they had ended up in a life situation where they were far from the labor market and were in need of work training in order to function in a workplace. The participants were recruited to the NGO via the Swedish Public Employment Services and Swedish Social Insurance Agency.

Semi-structured life-world interviews (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009) were conducted with the 23 employees. A life-world interview aims to through the interviewee’s stories about his/her life, clarify the meaning of the depicted phenomena. The length of the interviews varied between 25–67 minutes. All of the interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim.

Ethical Considerations

During our interviews and observations, we adhered to the ethical requirements formulated by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet, 2024). These ethical requirements can be summarized into four general main research requirements: (i) Inform those affected by the study about the purpose and what is expected of them; (ii) Every participant must provide their consent and participate in the study voluntarily. They also have the right to withdraw from the study at any time; (iii) Individuals information should be treated confidentially, and data should be protected from unauthorized access; (iv) Information collected about individuals may be used for research purposes only.

The participants were informed about the study’s purpose and consented to participate. The participants’ right to confidentiality entailed that they were described confidentially. The participants are identified in the text as “E1,” “E2,” and so on. In addition, the researchers conducted a seminar with the participants where preliminary results and potential citations were presented for the participants for them to express their views.

Interpretation and Analysis of Data

The interviews were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis at a latent abstract level where the researchers interpreted the content (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004). The analysis was conducted in three steps (Creswell, 2014). First, the interviews were transcribed. Next, a thorough reading of the transcripts followed, where the interviews were coded with keywords. In the final step, the interviews were read again, and content categories were formulated based on the keywords and their relation to both the concept of empowerment and Jarvis’ theory of adult learning. In this process attention was paid to both the more individual processes linked to empowerment as well as the more social aspects linked to the conditions for meaningful learning. Statements which could be linked to expressed feelings of self-fulfillment, better self-perception, performance and so on, were interpreted as expressions of empowerment. Statements regarding collaboration, the culture and the social atmosphere, were interpreted as conditions for meaningful learning. Four themes were formulated: (i) undergoing change together (ii) undergoing change through helping others; (iii) changing one’s self-perception; (iv) changing hope for the future.

Findings

The results describe the personal experiences of 23 employees regarding how empowering processes of change and meaningful learning were enacted and materialized during their time at the NGO. Prominent in the employees’ descriptions are that they underwent empowering positive changes and meaningful learning, which are described in the themes below.

Undergoing Change Together

The word together recurred in most of the interviews and is one of the organization’s foundational pillars. The togetherness signaled and was experienced as meaning that no one was alone, that everyone present was a resource for each other regardless of what position or role they held. This is how employee 13 expressed the emphasis on doing the work together: “This idea of together is something I’m passionate about, working together, doing things together, regardless of the position one holds.”

The focus on togetherness also contributed to creating security and a prominent theme in the employees’ descriptions is their reports that they develop in a safe and tolerant environment. A safe environment was characterized by a diversity of individuals with different backgrounds. Employee 1 described it as follows: “I would say it’s a very secure environment [...] when everyone´s different, everyone fits in.” Employee 13 stated: “It’s pretty good here; you can just be yourself, and it’s not dangerous.” These employees all have experienced a prolonged period of unemployment, leading many to experience extended social isolation without any meaningful social context. According to several employees, this shared experience fosters a sense of solidarity, where there is an understanding of each other’s predicament. Employee 10 described it as follows: “There´s some kind of solidarity within the group, knowing that we’re all in the same boat [...] and you help each other, and you try.” Solidarity manifests itself in actions, as employees see and care for each other in the interpersonal encounters that occur throughout the workday: “The conversations when you go down to get coffee...or say hello...or if you stop by someone...it’s hard to say if it’s part of my job or just pleasant...but I enjoy those conversations” (E14).

Employee 17 said something similar about the culture that distinguishes the NGO and that contributes to creating a sense of security: “I feel good here, I get along with everyone...everyone greets each other, and it feels like a family...a loving place, everyone´s nice, people laugh, you have fun.” Some employees also reported that, for the first time in several years, they had gained new friends with whom they stay in touch during evenings and weekends: “I´ve made many good friends who call me on weekends...So, you make time for that. It has resulted in a lot of friendship outside of work, which, I think, feels very nice” (E6). Prominent in the employees’ descriptions was that they had been positively received in an organization without hierarchies, where everyone is respected and perceived as equally valuable in the collaborative work that they do:

Everyone who comes here, whether they´re employed, a volunteer, or a work trainee, shouldn’t really know who´s who. Here, everyone is equal; everyone should be treated with respect, love, and care. And [you can] work based on your own abilities. (E12)

Another employee draws attention to the equality that distinguishes the NGO and how it contributes to creating an increased vision of possibilities regarding the future:

As few hierarchies as possible...whether you’re the highest boss or a work trainee, we share life...we do things together, and you can feel it in the atmosphere...you see it immediately when you come here, that there are no bosses telling you what to do. (E3)

In addition to optimism, there also seems to be a kind of power in the environment that is made up of the diversity that is contained there, and it gives a sense of opportunity despite the employees' fundamentally difficult situation. Here is how one employee described their experience of coming to XXX after a long period of unemployment and social isolation:

I´ve been on sick leave on and off for the past twenty years. Then, positive things started happening in my life...I´ve been led towards well-being...I visited here and immediately felt in my heart that this is where I should be. (M15)

In summary, the NGO is perceived as a place where one can undergo empowering positive changes and experience meaningful learning together with others in a secure and tolerant environment without any hierarchies. The togetherness creates a culture in which the will to cooperate strengthens self-confidence in one’s own abilities. The power is clearly divided between employees through the few hierarchies, and this shared power contributes to a sense of enhanced self-perception.

Undergoing Change through Helping Others

Many of the employees expressed that they need to work on something that is important to someone else. The knowledge that one’s own efforts benefit others contributed to a sense of self-worth. Employee 7 claimed: “As a work trainee, you make a big difference to people; even if you only manage 2 hours a day, it makes a difference. Both for yourself and for someone else.” A salient point raised in the narratives was how the employees were able to articulate an increased sense of self-worth through the solidarity they experience at work and by knowing their work is of help to vulnerable individuals in society: “We work with unaccompanied minors who are undocumented. […] Sweden mistreats them, and we must help them somehow...the authorities create completely impossible situations for these guys and girls...we must find a solution so that they survive” (E3).

Improved self-esteem through solidarity extends even to fellow human beings in other parts of the world through the international projects the organization engages in:

All of XXX’s values are about helping other people...if you come here and pack toys for an hour, you can provide breakfast for five children in Africa for a week. [...] I can come here and make sure those children get breakfast. [...] It’s a very nice feeling. (E1)

Experiencing a sense of solidarity and undergoing empowering positive change through helping others are present in most of the various activities that the employees described. One employee described feeling an increased sense of self-worth and meaningfulness through working on something meaningful for the dogs at the dog day-care facility: “To get a pair of dog eyes that look at you and just confirm [your existence], and you build a relationship without having to take full responsibility for the dog 24/7” (E5). Changing or helping oneself through helping others regardless of whether it concerns humans or animals, is also evident in the care shown between employees when they see and affirm each other: “I care a lot about others. A greeting or a hug...I grew up not being seen myself...there’s nothing worse than feeling very small, not seen, and not needed, so I can give that to someone else” (E15).

The employees’ awareness that their work generates value used to help distressed fellow human beings is described as fulfilling a real function. Employee 23 reported: “I go to work, and I do something that actually means something.” In the work of preparing items for sale in the second-hand store, most employees described feeling satisfaction when they see that their work is appreciated by their customers:

Someone has donated something they don’t want, and we’ll sell it, and on the way, it goes through me, and I make it look nice. And then we can sell it; it’s very satisfying...look, they bought the thing I fixed. It’s very satisfying and good for [my] self-confidence. (E1)

In summary, the theme refers to an increased self-esteem through solidarity that makes going to work something important. Employee 15 described it like this: “I get up in the morning, I’m going to work, and I have a purpose, you know, it’s magical.” The feeling of being important to someone else and that one's abilities are in demand for this solidarity work can contribute to one's own appreciation of one's abilities. In addition, the shared power mentioned in the previous theme contributes to a distributed control, where employees can influence what and to what extent they engage in a certain activity. This in turn creates confidence in their own ability to manage themselves and sometimes find other activities to engage in that still involve practicing solidarity.

Changing One’s Self-Perception

Having the opportunity to enter an environment which focuses on togetherness and engaging in meaningful tasks perceived to truly benefit other human beings was described by the employees as positively impacting their sense of belonging and ultimately also their self-perception. Seeing oneself as a resource for others changed the self-perception from being a societal burden to having in-demand and important abilities. Another activity that caused the self-perception to increase further was the encouragement the employees received from their colleagues:

Yes, encouragement, I´ve never received it, and here I get it all the time, and I think that’s what´s lifted me up or strengthened me as a person because I´ve never heard such, and when people say to me...wow, you’re really good, I get really happy. [...] I think that’s what´s made me as strong as I am today. (E17)

The employees described that they felt that they were seen, considered to be competent, and their efforts appreciated as crucial work contributing to the overall functioning of the NGO: “Being seen, having hope but also being seen, that I´m someone. I can be important even if it’s sorting DVDs, no one else does this” (E5). Some of the employees described positive changes in their self-perception when they were viewed as important and competent individuals who gradually take on more significant responsibilities in different parts of the NGO:

I think it’s fun with [taking on] responsibility, so of course, it’s fun when you get more responsibility...I find it enjoyable. I don’t see any limit to it; I think I take every step as it comes. It’s not that I have ambitions to climb higher, but I say yes to everything new that comes. (E7)

An increased or improved self-perception can cause the employees to initially perform a work task: “Oftentimes, it’s about daring to try” (E9). The positive change in self-perception is also described as involving a greater awareness of the importance of supporting new employees. Consequently, at the NGO, the opportunity to serve as a mentor for new colleagues is provided: “To be there and support you, not that you know everything, but you know much more than you think, and I’m with you, showing you how you can do it” (E8). Taking the step of becoming a mentor for new employees signaled a major change that also affected their self-image. They are not only able to do their own work but also able to support others. Several employees described that during their time in work training, they had learned a lot about themselves and developed greater self-awareness:

I´ve learned to like myself; I´ve learned to receive compliments when others give them to me. I´ve learned that we´re all different, and I learn, of course, a lot about myself inside, what I need. I´ve learned to be a bit selfish…in a good way…maybe self-awareness. (E15)

In summary, the employees reported that work training together with their colleagues had contributed to a more positive self-perception through which they believed in their own abilities. Moreover, the external confirmation that comes from other employees can eventually turn into an internal confirmation that leads to employees with greater courage, which leads to daring to perform additional tasks, act as a mentor to others, and more.

Changing Hope for the Future

A recurring theme in the employees’ narratives was that they had expanded their horizons. Several employees told us about a positive development where they had gradually managed to work more hours each day. Some of the employees reported that this has changed their hopes for the future. They can now see themselves as individuals who are competent and capable of functioning in future employment:

When I started here, I had a work-training position at twenty-five percent, then I went up to fifty percent, and now I’m at seventy-five, and I´d like to go up to a hundred percent, and in the future, the goal is to have a job that can support me again. But I feel optimistic about the future. I want to move forward, get a job, develop...I think the future looks bright. (E18)

The opportunity to transition from being a work trainee to becoming a permanent employee was something that attracted the majority of those interviewed. Even though it is not possible for everyone to become permanently employed, the stay at XXX has at least contributed to the participants daring to dream and they have revised their visions of the future:

I'm very happy with what's here for myself and I'm getting old now, but you probably have at least ten years left to work. If I can be here at that time, I´m extremely grateful and happy for it. You never know how it will turn out, but at least that´s my vision and hope. (E6)

Expanded horizons also include future educational opportunities. One employee shared her dreams for the future that were inspired by the work training experience: “I´d like to become a special education teacher” (E20). In summary, the employees reported that their hopes and visions for the future have changed positively. The foundation for this can be said to have been laid through togetherness, meaningful solidarity tasks and a culture that strengthens the self-perception.

Discussion and Implications

The results indicate that the employees underwent significant empowering changes and meaningful learning during their work training, aligning with Jarvis’ learning theory (2005; 2006) and the components of “empowerment” (Rappaport, 1997; Zimmerman, 2000). The employees’ participation in the social contexts that their work training entails means that they get flexible and well-adapted cognitive, emotional and practical experiences that not only make them more experienced but above all they experience themselves as capable. The results address social challenges in an expanding number of private actors and NGOs (Jeffries, 2023) and show how job training can create social value (Bacq et al., 2016; Spicer et al., 2019) between participants and not only between participants and the leaders or organizers (Wettermark & Berglund, 2022). Furthermore, the employees enjoyed a sufficient degree of power and control over their respective work situations, allowing them to vary their tasks depending on how they felt that day. This could contribute to an increase in self-confidence as they became aware that even if they were incapable of performing a specific task, there were other tasks that they could undertake. Instead of feeling being underutilized due to, for instance, not having the energy to perform social tasks on a given day, they stated that they could be valuable in other areas. The fact that several of the tasks were also significantly important to others added value that further strengthened the employees’ self-efficacy (Rappaport, 1997; Zimmerman, 2000).

This study has shown, based on employees’ experiences, how meaningful learning and empowering change in work training can be staged within the framework of SE in an NGO in Sweden. The NGO under investigation clearly demonstrates that it can offer an opportunity to serve groups who are marginalized and address these needs in entrepreneurial ways’ (Hansson et al., 2014, p. 35) and all profit is reinvested in the NGO (Dacin et al., 2010). Working simultaneously to both create a flexible and individually adapted environment while emphasizing togetherness and solidarity has resulted in great progress for the employees, probably due to the NGOs’ better conditions for flexibility and bringing about social change (Deslatte et al., 2020; Lewis, 2010; Saebi et al., 2019; Schin et al., 2023).

The study shows several important practical implications: (a) Prioritize learning over rapid employment. Safe and meaningful environments where individuals are given time to develop can be more effective for vulnerable groups than a focus on rapid employability, (b) create real tasks. When participants see that their efforts are making a difference, their self-esteem and motivation are strengthened, (c) offer flexibility and self-determination. The opportunity to influence their tasks creates a more inclusive and sustainable work environment, (d) promote community and mutual learning. Learning also occurs between participants, not just in relation to supervisors, (e) allow time for change. People far from the labor market need time to rebuild trust in their ability to learn and contribute. For future research, the results point to the need to reassess how learning and empowerment can occur in work-integrated environments, especially within NGOs. These environments challenge the dominant policy focus on rapid employability and show how a sense of being needed can drive meaningful development. There is also reason to explore collective dimensions of empowerment and how civil society workplaces can be designed to strengthen participants’ self-worth. Finally, future studies should compare how different types of organizations (public, private, and nonprofit) enable learning and change.

Limitations

One limitation of this study is that it is focused on the experience of work training within one NGO. Additionally, we have not been able to follow employees for an extended period as we visited various operations within the NGO and only met those employees whom we interviewed for a few days at most. Another limitation is that one of the responsible individuals at the NGO served as a gatekeeper and assisted us in arranging most of the interviews that we conducted, which may have contributed to a biased selection of employees favoring the NGO.