Highly skilled migrant women: a career development framework

Abstract

Yvonne du Plessis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human ResourceManagement, University of Pretoria and has international work experience. She has coauthored several academic books on Management and Project Management and has presented extensively at national and international conferences. She has received numerous awards and research grants, with work published, inter alia, in the South African Journal of Human Resource Management and the Journal of Contemporary Management. Currently, she specialises in contemporary people management aspects in multi-cultural work settings, Applied Organisational Behaviour, International Human Resource Management (expatriation and repatriation) and the people side of Project Management. 1 AbstractPurpose -This paper aims to explore and interpret the pre-migration and post-migration career development and success of highly skilled professional migrant women with special reference to the Netherlands.Design/Methodology -An exploratory approach rooted in a phenomenological perspective was followed. Two in-depth Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) focus group sessions were held with a total of 21 self-initiated expatriate (SIE) women.Findings -An integrated career development framework proposed in this study indicates that individual drivers such as identity, social support and life phase play a role in women"s premigration and post-migration career success or exits. Identity embeddedness, host country culture, openness to foreigners and existing prejudices and stereotypes against women seems magnified for women from outside the host country.Research Implications/Limitations -The research results may lack generalisability, therefore more research is encouraged to further test the proposed framework.Practical Implications -Organisations should re-think existing systems for retaining highly skilled women migrants. Specific personnel management requirements and practical recommendations are provided for HR policy development with regard to migrant women.Originality/value -An integrative approach and framework for understanding the career development decisions of professional and highly skilled migrant women who are also selfinitiated (SIE) is proposed. Insight is provided into the personal adjustment and professional developmental experiences of a group of women often overlooked by the research community.

Using narratives to understand the motivational factors and experience of being a self-initiated academic expatriate in South Africa

“…On the contrary, findings of previous studies (Inkson, Arthur, Pringle & Barry, 1997;Myers, 2013;Richardson & McKenna, 2002;Van den Bergh & Du Plessis, 2012) cited that exploration acted as a motivator to expatriate. However, as found in this study, exploration amongst SiEs comes as a secondary factor; perhaps this is because of the sample being from developing countries.…”

“…As in previous studies, lack of housing led to family separation which eventually led to loneliness (Mostert, 2014). Furthermore, the inability of the family members to adapt to the host country's culture and language led to family separation ( Van den Bergh & Du Plessis, 2012). Furthermore, as in previous studies, most participants felt like outsiders because of culture and language differences which made it difficult for them to blend in with the community (Froese, 2012;Richardson & McKenna, 2002).…”

“…New life experiences and career development have been noted as some of the major factors that influence expatriation (Andresen et al, 2012;Froese, 2012;Mostert, 2014;Van den Bergh & Du Plessis, 2012). In addition, through good resources and facilities, participants were able to advance and develop their careers (Andresen et al, 2012).…”

“…Previous studies have shown that people seek expatriation as a way to escape from their current situations (Selmer & Lauring, 2010;Van den Bergh & Du Plessis, 2012). Many of the participants originated from countries with poor economic and political conditions.…”

Narratives of Settling in Contexts of Mobility: A Comparative Analysis of Irish and Polish Highly Qualified Women Migrants in London

“…While much has been written about “trailing wives” (Purkayastha, ), there is also increasing diversification within female migration including growing numbers of highly qualified and skilled women who may move alone, unaccompanied by family members (Kofman, ; Raghuram, ; Van den Bergh and Du Plessis, ; Ryan and Mulholland, ). There have also been calls for more comparative research to challenge ethnic exceptionalism and explore shared experiences across groups of women migrants (Mahler and Pessar, ).…”