Standing in the Foyer: Work Experiences of Indian Women Migrants in New Zealand

Abstract

International population mobility has increased dramatically in the last ten years due to immigration policies, globalisation and skilled individual’s quest for better prospects. New Zealand has consciously invited migrants onto its shores and it is now a land of tremendous diversity. The basis for this paper is a qualitative study on first generation Indian immigrant women seeking employment in the host country New Zealand. The research examines in‐depth what it means to seek entry into the world of work as a migrant, from the perspective of legitimate peripheral participation in learning to function in the host country. The results suggest a many layered experience, and a complex terrain, with a landscape of initial hope, followed by feelings of being devalued, a downward spiral of weeping, regret letters and lowered self esteem. The paper sketches emergent cameos of these women and draws out some of the significant variables in their learning trajectories. In sights for creating conditions for legitimate peripheral participation are offered emphasising a worldview that embraces both the internal and external realities as stepping stones in the topography of work experiences for migrants in New Zealand.