Contextualizing privilege and disadvantage: Lessons from women expatriates in the Middle East

Abstract

This article explores how the simultaneity of privilege and disadvantage shapes the experiences of women expatriates in the Middle East. The article problematizes the simultaneity of being an elite group (e.g. expatriates) and a disadvantaged group (e.g. women) within the context of Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Drawing on the literature about women and work expatriation, the article analyses the narratives of women expatriates to highlight the complexity and multidimensionality of their experiences, positioning the discussion within the framework of gendered institutions. The article concludes that privilege and disadvantage are inseparable to the way the experiences of women expatriates unfold in the Middle East, and that institutional settings articulate this inseparability in order to regulate and help to maintain the gender social order. The article contributes a nuanced understanding of the experiences of women expatriates, challenging dominant views that present this group as generally privileged by virtue of their skilled and mobile status.

Why work it when you can dodge it? Identity responses to ethnic stigma among professionals

“…Privileged identities (e.g. White ethnicity, male gender, heterosexuality) become the normative benchmark for other groups (Rodriguez and Ridgway, 2019), being less salient than ‘tainted’ counterparts (Atewologun and Sealy, 2014; Sellers et al, 1998), and requiring minimal identity work (Pratto and Stewart, 2012). In contrast to the acute awareness triggered by disadvantaged, subordinate or stigmatized identities (Sanders and Mahalingam, 2012), privilege is often invisible, unconscious and unarticulated (McIntosh, 2011).…”

‘I’m a migrant, but I’m the right sort of migrant’: Hegemonic masculinity, whiteness, and intersectional privilege and (dis)advantage in migratory academic careers

“…Extant literature can veer between emphasizing positive and negative experiences of skilled migrants. Expatriate adjustment literature contains ideas about both privileged careers, pay and conditions relative to locals, but also disadvantages associated with the disruptions of international mobility (e.g., Rodriguez & Ridgway, ; Stahl et al, ). However, in critical migration studies, the very category of ‘expatriate’ can be critically problematized as made up of ‘complex configurations of racialisation, gender, class and nationality, often involving problematic reproductions of the colonial past’ (Kunz, , p. 89).…”

The Female and the Male Professional: Gender, Career and Expatriation Interfaces in Trajectory for Female Expatriates

“…In affirming universal values, as manifested in the American liberal feminist movement, they focus primarily on the interests of white, heterosexual, and middle / upper class women. This perspective, propagated and corroborated by organizational discourse and, in many cases, by women themselves (Hryniewicz & Vianna, 2018), does not discuss gender relations and is critically viewed by research that indicates the urgency of progress (Souza, Corvino, & Lopes, 2013;Rodriguez & Ridgway, 2019).…”

“…In subsequent years, the author developed research aimed at demystifying the low participation of women in expatriations (Adler, 1984(Adler, , 1987(Adler, , 2002. Studies on organizational barriers imposed on women's participation in expatriations (Linehan & Scullion, 2004;Polson, 2016;Rodriguez & Ridgway, 2019) comparative on success and failure of expatriate men and women and gender differences in adaptation (Caligiuri & Lazarova, 2002;Haslberger, 2010;Selmer & Leung, 2003) are widely explored topics. The role of companies as facilitators, and even supporters in social interactions -which are critical factors for adaptation in the destination country, are part of the research concerns (Lee & Kartika, 2014;Abdulla & Jin, 2015).…”

“…Internationally, research discusses why women are deprived of expatriation over men, recognizing that gender inequality operates as a barrier to access for international experiences (Polson, 2016;Domínguez, Rivo-López, & Villanueva-Villar , 2019;Rodriguez & Ridgway, 2019), considered by many companies as a basic requirement for management development (Altman & Shortland, 2008;PwC, 2015). Given the lack of progress in the discussion of the topic in Brazil, there is no reference to estimate the percentage of women within the population of expatriates, whether organizational or voluntary.…”