Migrants and employment in New Zealand: experiences of professional Asian women working in multicultural Wellington

Abstract

Previous research shows that for many ethnic people living in New Zealand society, it is relatively difficult for migrants to find employment, especially in a type of job that is appropriate to his/her background qualifications and experiences. Given this general trend, it is therefore very interesting and important to know the experiences of Asian women who managed to obtain a professional position in formal employment sectors in Wellington. Two assumptions underlie the research. It is assumed that, first, the women carry cultural differences with them, and second, that these differences caused them multi-layered difficulties in maintaining their social lives in Wellington, including in finding employment. Nine women were the subjects in this research. They shared their experiences and ideas through in-depth interviews and by filling-in a self-administered questionnaire. Their stories were treated in a subjective manner and were approached using a Critical Thinking perspective. When analyzing the research inputs, comparisons were made to previous research reports and/or other recent materials (books/journal articles) related to the field of migrant employment. As expected, in various ways, being discriminated against, experiencing prejudice, including being negatively stereotyped, were common issues faced by the women both during the process of finding employment and at work. To deal with these issues, the women applied several different strategies, varying from one context to another, but basically adopted an integration rather than assimilation approach. Applying this approach, the women generally sought to educate themselves about local cultures, and adapt their distinctive 'ethnic' cultures to their new surroundings. The women also shared their thoughts of why they experienced such unfortunate circumstances. It was speculated that the difficulties that they found were related to two unavoidable, and often taken for granted, sociological conditions. First, New Zealand being a white nation where 'white superiority' dominates every aspect of social life within the country, and second, New Zealand being officially a bicultural nation while in actual fact its society is multicultural. These background conditions, in combination with the specific contexts of relations and expectations in the work environment, provide an explanation for ethnic migrant difficulties in the employment sector.