Racism and White privilege: highly skilled immigrant women workers in Australia

Carangio, Vassilissa; Farquharson, Karen; Bertone, Santina; Rajendran, Diana

doi:10.1080/01419870.2020.1722195

Cited by 27 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Their experiences of subtle racial and ethnic prejudice were a powerful reminder that they were viewed by many as not belonging in an upper-level position that usually belonged to White Icelandic men. The SRMM women were situated in a White Icelandic space (Ahmed, 2007; Carangio et al. , 2021), which shapes their racial and ethnic minority background as a disadvantage (Samaluk, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The feelings of workplace powerlessness experienced by many SRMM women can stem from this invisible regime of power of Whiteness. Thus, viewing the position and experiences of SRMM women within the context of a predominantly White labor market through a lens of Whiteness can bring to light who is considered White and not White and thus privileged or disadvantaged in each context (Carangio et al. , 2021).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Whether you like my skin or not, I am here”: skilled racial minority migrant women's experiences of navigating career challenges in the White Icelandic labor market

Christiansen

Kristjánsdóttir²

2022

JGM

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PurposeThis study aims to explore the lived experiences of skilled racial minority migrant (SRMM) women who hold management positions in the White Icelandic labor market and to understand how gender, race, ethnicity and migrant status intersect to shape experiences of privilege and disadvantage.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper phenomenological methodology was applied to analyze in-depth interviews with twelve SRMM women. Iceland provides rich context of high gender and social equality, but limited recognition of ethnic and racial differences.FindingsSRMM women's self-efficacy and agency allowed them to source strength from their background and experiences of challenges. Through reframing they adopted a mindset of resilience and determination, proactively redefined the context, turned negatively stereotyped identities into positive assets and engaged strategically with barriers based on gender, language or migrant status. In contrast, the subtle and covert nature of racial prejudice in the context of the invisible norm of Whiteness felt impossible to address.Originality/valueThe study provides insight into the experiences of SRMM women who have attained upper- and middle-management positions. The findings illuminate the overt and covert barriers that the women experience on their career journey in the context of a White labor market that emphasizes egalitarianism and gender equality but does not engage with ethnic or racial prejudice. They highlight the role of self-efficacy and agency in deploying strategies to negotiate intersecting barriers and how that agency is disadvantaged by the invisible norm of Whiteness.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Whether you like my skin or not, I am here”: skilled racial minority migrant women's experiences of navigating career challenges in the White Icelandic labor market

Christiansen

Kristjánsdóttir²

2022

JGM

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“…Discriminatory practices in employment, family practices and public participation may also act as drivers of migration (Ruyssen & Salamone, 2018). However being highly educated does not mean either entering through skilled routes or working in skilled occupations (Boucher, 2020;Carangio et al, 2021), hence the conversion of education into skilled employment post migration may be fraught with barriers, especially where income constitutes a major determinant of entry through skilled channels (Boucher, 2016;Kofman, 2014), as in the UK and the EU Blue Card. Women in skilled sectors are concentrated in regulated professions where they encounter barriers to recognition and consequently circulation.…”

Section: Skilled Sectors and Gendered Migrant Division Of Labourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered Labour

Christou

Kofman

2022

IMISCOE Research Series

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As we saw in Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-91971-9_1, the gendered transfer of labour globally and within Europe has been the focus of attention and the core of the discourse concerning the feminization of migration. Whilst gendered labour migrations are not new, their composition, extent, and how we analyse them, theoretically and methodologically, have evolved. As data show, migrants and especially females, are heavily concentrated within certain sectors producing not just a migrant division of labour (Wills et al., 2010) but a gendered migrant division of labour. Some sectors such as household services (domestic work and care) or social reproductive labour are not only predominantly female but, especially in Southern Europe, overwhelmingly filled by migrant women. Although this type of work has attracted much attention in studies of female labour migration, other sectors, both lesser skilled and more skilled, have also relied heavily on female migrant labour but have been much less studied. Mirjana Morokvasic (2011) questioned the basis of our preoccupation about migrant women as subaltern and victims, exclusively filling low skilled sectors. Thus domestic and care workers have become the emblematic figures of globalised migrations in stark contrast to the easily mobile male IT worker (Kofman, 2013). This is not to deny that domestic and care work globally employ more migrant women than any other sector, and that demand has not grown in response to the inadequacies of public provision across different welfare regimes, leading to the search for cheap solutions to fulfil reproductive needs by using migrant workers, including men. However it does raise issues around our lack of attention to other low skilled sectors such as hospitality and contract and commercial cleaning in hospitals, offices and public spaces, which also employ large numbers of migrants. Skilled labour, especially in welfare sectors, such as education, health and social work is also sourced globally to make good shortfalls in professional reproductive labour (Kofman & Raghuram, 2015). Thus at all skill levels migrant women are employed disproportionately in diverse sectors of social reproduction in sustaining the wellbeing of the household and of society more generally.

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“…In conceptualising racism in this article, we note that racism is described as an ongoing inequality of 'power, resources or opportunity' (Walton et al 2013: 75) within complex social structures, and repeated unequal practices become 'normalised', thereby enhancing discrimination against minorities (Essed and Muhr 2018: 183). While little work has sought to explicitly focus on the racism faced by Korean Australians, we understand that anti-Asian racism in Australia is constantly allowed in 'subtle and covert' (Seet and Paradies 2018: 455-456) forms, resulting in often vague and difficult to articulate feelings of 'oppression' (Essed 1991: 149;Carangio et al 2021: 88) at various levels. Asian Australians are continually othered (Aquino 2018: 51;Chakraborty and Walton 2020: 674), and are likely to suffer racism issues in their everyday life regardless of their specific national origins or class backgrounds.…”

Section: Migration Belonging and Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Disclosing Racism, Awareness-Raising and Seeking Support: Korean Women Migrants’ Use of Online Cafés

Roh

Kanai

2021

Journal of Intercultural Studies

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In recent years, Korean migrants to Australia have turned increasingly to digital culture as a space of information exchange, support, and belonging. The need for a space in which the 'politics of listening ' [Dreher, T., 2009. Listening across Difference: Media and Multiculturalism Beyond the Politics of Voice. Continuum (Mount Lawley, W.A.), 23 (4), 445-458] is made possible becomes even more crucial in face of continued exclusions and everyday practices of racism in contemporary multicultural Australia. This article discusses the use of popular online 'cafés' by Korean women migrants to Australia as means of negotiating experiences of racism and alienation. Analysing participation in three Korean online cafés, Missy Hoju, Missy Melbourne and Hoju Melbourne Gongdong Gumae, racism can be understood as holding a significant place in shaping in Korean women's identities. As a profoundly affective experience, racism, both indirectly encountered and directly experienced, leaves longlasting affective impacts, shaping women's sense of safety and belonging. We suggest the gendered intimacy of these cafés as online 'intimate publics' [Berlant, L. G., 2008. The Female Complaint: The Unfinished Business of Sentimentality in American Culture, Durham. Durham: Duke University Press] allows for such painful experiences to be witnessed and heard, producing possibilities and practices of solidarity between Korean women migrants.

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Racism and White privilege: highly skilled immigrant women workers in Australia

Cited by 27 publications

References 40 publications

“Whether you like my skin or not, I am here”: skilled racial minority migrant women's experiences of navigating career challenges in the White Icelandic labor market

“Whether you like my skin or not, I am here”: skilled racial minority migrant women's experiences of navigating career challenges in the White Icelandic labor market

Gendered Labour

Disclosing Racism, Awareness-Raising and Seeking Support: Korean Women Migrants’ Use of Online Cafés

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