The lived experiences of foreign women: Influences on their international working lives

Abstract

We explored the lived experiences of foreign-born women to discover influences on their international working lives. Life history narratives were collected in interviews with a sample group of participants (#12) in the United Arab Emirates. A phenomenological framework of content analysis was applied to these data, which resulted in identification of three emergent themes of influences on participants' working lives; becoming a new generation of expatriates; adjustment to socio-cultural change; centrality of womanhood. We discuss the implications of these themes for the human development and professional identity of foreign-born working-women. Insight arises from the study, for business practitioners and policy makers, about the actual and potential contributions of these women to a national workforce. The study contributes a new classification, the Foreign-born Working-Woman, to the body of academic knowledge on expatriate workers. A research direction is proposed for further study about the influences on the economic participation of foreign-born women.