Highly Skilled South Asian Migrant Women in Australia: Hidden Economic Assets (original) (raw)
Related papers
This review addresses the career trajectory of highly skilled Asian migrant women. Previous studies have highlighted a plethora of experience of these women across work, family and immediate environment. This review offers a feminist perspective on this category of women as a productive part of labour force in the host country and to bring popular research pieces of the last decade under one roof is the objective of this review. The countries in focus are traditionally immigrant friendly nations such as USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Experiences at each level of work life are traced: right from job search to on- the-job experiences. Coping mechanisms of situations are detailed with possible influence in the identity of the worker. The review concludes with instances of highlight for this category of women in the state policy framework. Keywords: Job Stress, Job Burnout, Indian Sectors, Recession, India
Migration as feminisation: Chinese women s experiences of work and family in contemporary Australia
2006
Throughout the Western world, governments have increasingly viewed migration through the lens of economic efficiency. In the era of globalisation, they argue, migrants should be selected on the basis of their skills and qualifications. Australian governments have been strongly committed to this policy direction, and over the last two decades, have reoriented the country's migration program from the recruitment of unskilled labour to targeting educated professionals. The current Liberal-National Coalition government claims that this policy redirection has paid off, with migrants more skilled than ever, and successfully contributing to the economy. The government bases these claims on research conducted by scholars of migrant employment, who equate high levels of human capital with successful employment outcomes. Using the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (LSIA), these researchers show that migrants with qualifications and English language ability have higher rates of labour force participation, lower unemployment, and higher occupational attainment and incomes, compared to their less skilled counterparts.
"Making it work: Migration, motherhood and employment in Australia"
The transition into motherhood is often associated with a reduction in women's labor force participation, reinforcing gender employment hierarchies. Our study compares women's employment status and paid work time prior to and following birth among immigrants and native-borns in Australia. We also consider how these outcomes differ by generation status and racial and ethnic background. Australia provides a valuable context to understand these outcomes given its skilled migration policy, racial and ethnic diversity, limited childcare and family leave policies, and high rates of part-time work among mothers. We examine longitudinal data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) for women from 2001 to 2016. We find that migrant women show lower employment levels and commensurate work hours than native-borns prior to childbirth. After childbirth, migrant mothers maintain lower employment levels, but higher work hours than native-born mothers. Overall, we find that relative to native-borns, migrant women typically experience a smaller reduction in employment and work hours following childbirth, but some of this is likely due to their lower starting position prior to childbirth. Our findings have implications for skilled immigration policies and highlights the unique work-family pressures facing immigrant and native-born women.
Migration as feminisation? Chinese women's experiences of work and family in Australia
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2006
Like many Western governments, the Australian government increasingly views migration through the lens of economic efficiency, arguing that skilled professionals achieve the best employment outcomes and therefore constitute the ideal migrant. This paper challenges these claims, showing that skilled migrants do not always successfully transfer their skills to new labour markets. It argues that the government’s ‘success story’ narrative disguises a much more complex reality, in which migrants’ employment outcomes are shaped by broader social and cultural factors, as well as just economic ones. In particular, it shows that men and women typically experience migration differently, and the challenges of re-negotiating work and care in a new setting often lead to a ‘feminisation’ of women’s roles, as they find themselves taking up more traditional gender roles as wives and mothers. Using in-depth interviews with Chinese women and survey data from the Australian government, I show that, in Australia, migrant women often experience downward occupational mobility and a re-orientation away from paid work and towards the domestic sphere.
Qualitative Sociology, 2006
In this paper, I examine the lived experience of motherhood among Cambodian, Lao and Vietnamese immigrant women in Australia. The women in this study felt a profound change through the process of becoming a mother; they experience the "transformation of self." The results reveal several discourses of good motherhood. Becoming a mother was experienced as a moral transformation of self and women were urged to perform their moral career. The representation of mothers as the "keepers of morality" is prominent. Women's moral career is influenced by an ethic of care and responsibility for others, particularly their children. The paradoxical discourse of motherhood is profound in the women's narratives of their lived experiences of motherhood. It is clear that motherhood is not an easy task. When this is combined with difficulties resulting from migration, motherhood becomes double burdens. Lack of sufficient English, financial difficulties and support network in a homeland make the task of good motherhood difficult to achieve. Social and health care services need to take women's experiences into account if sensitive care for immigrant women is to be achieved.
Women, Migration and Domestic Work in ASEAN. Serving “The Success Story”
JustJobs Network: People on the Move Advancing the Discourse on Migration & Jobs , 2018
In the last 15 years, the number of international migrants has grown rapidly, a trend that will most likely accelerate in years to come. This trend has fueled a surge of interest in the development impacts of international migration for work. A growing body of research has shed new light on the nature of the migration-development nexus, with emerging evidence showing a positive effect of migration on poverty reduction in migrant-sending countries.3 Yet migrant workers are more than “remittances heroes.” Remittances help families invest in health, education and entrepreneurial activities in origin countries. But migrant workers also contribute to new skills, change cultural norms and patterns of behavior, and convey new values and ideas to their families and communities. More recently, a closer look at the demographic composition of contemporary global migrant populations has also revealed the highly gendered dimension of mobility processes. In many Asian countries, women migrate not only for economic reasons but also to escape physical or psychological violence and abuse. This “feminization of migration” is especially pronounced in the domestic and care sectors of destination labor markets where many female migrant workers find employment. Within the domestic and care sectors, however, the often unregulated nature of reproductive labor, which includes paid domestic work such as care giving and household tasks (i.e. cleaning, cooking, washing, etc.), places migrant women at risk of exploitation in the form of low wages, poor working conditions, and even physical and/ or sexual abuse. This chapter provides an analysis of these quality of work issues with a specific focus on women’s migration for domestic work in the ASEAN region (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). It examines disadvantages inherent in the domestic work sector and the insecurities women migrant workers face at various stages of the migration journey. The first section provides a panoramic view of the flows and trends of women’s migration for work in the ASEAN region. Next, the chapter investigates challenges and vulnerabilities that migrant domestic workers face. Finally, the last section discusses how to reduce domestic workers’ vulnerabilities in countries of origin as well as in host nations so that women migrant workers can achieve their full potential as agents of equitable and sustainable development. Conceptually, our analysis of the migration-development nexus moves beyond the pure economic logic that dominates the migration and development narrative to provide a notion of development that encompasses not only the economic welfare but also the socio-cultural and rights-based well-being of migrants. As such, it also addresses the often disregarded or undervalued human and social capital transfers of migration.
Changes. Challenges. …, 2007
Issues related to 'work-life balance' have recently come to the fore in public policy debate and academic inquiry in Australia. As yet, however, these questions have been relatively under-explored in the context of Asian business and society. This paper reports on focus group and interview data gathered from professional women between the ages of 25 and 45 and living in Singapore, Hong Kong and China. The data collected was used, first, to describe how these women perceive why they engage in paid work, and what approaches the women in these countries use to handle work/life conflicts in the context of varying economic, political, cultural and social/family situations (e.g. making use of family members and/or maids for help with household chores and child caring, rather than a spouse or a childcare facility/centre)
International Migration of Highly Qualified Housewife Mothers and Their Career Concerns
IJBMR, 2021
The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of highly educated mothers with at least one child who have left their jobs and have immigrated to the UK because of their spouse's job. The study investigates the barriers that these Turkish women may face in the UK. Research on immigrants has been mostly restricted to quantitative methods which rely on statistical data sets. A search of the literature revealed that qualitative studies are rarely used within the field. In order to examine this issue, in-depth interviews were held with 20 Turkish participants who meet the research criteria. Integrating these findings with relevant international migration theories, this study reveals that those highly educated Turkish women with advanced career success who took part in this research have not managed to break the cycle of traditional gender roles. It also shows that these women have not only taken care of their children, but also have established a harmonious family environment in order to assist their husbands' career. The findings of this study show that moving to the UK with their spouses inevitably has resulted in a decline in the career success, financial and social status for the participants.