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Navigating the In-Between: A Narrative Inquiry into the Early Career Choices, Pathways and Experiences of Ethnically Diverse Second-Generation Individuals from Refugee and Migrant Backgrounds in New Zealand

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Date

2024

Authors

Han, Tracy

Supervisor

Myers, Barbara
Harris, Candice

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Master of Business

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Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Migration is a process that enables international mobility and the movement of people around the world. It continues to have diverse implications explored across fields such as psychology, health and migration studies, however, the effect it has on the early career experiences of second generation from refugee and migrant backgrounds (SGRMB) remains largely unknown. While there is increasing research exploring the lived experiences of the SGRMB, research on the early career development experiences of SGRMB remains largely limited to European, North American and Australian contexts (Belfi et al., 2022; Zwysen & Longhi, 2018; Abkhezr et al., 2022; Gabrielli & Impicciatore, 2022). Furthermore, the body of knowledge predominantly focuses on employment outcomes instead of the influence of upbringing and culture on career decision making and workplace dynamics within their early careers. To a large extent, existing literature has assumed that SGRMB would achieve greater outcomes than their first-generation parents (former refugees and migrants) as per classic assimilation theory (Zhou, 1997). However, SGRMB are also as likely to experience institutional biases such as racial discrimination and stereotyping (Muñoz-Comet & Arcarons, 2021; Huang, 2021). Furthermore, research exploring the impact of cultural identity on the early career development of SGRMB has largely taken place only within the Asian-American contexts (Yoon et al., 2017; Yoon et al., 2011; Parks & Yoo, 2016). This suggests that there is a lack of consensus and an evident knowledge gap around the role of upbringing and culture on the early career choices, pathways and experiences of SGRMB, which this study seeks to explore. This study explores how upbringing and culture directly and indirectly influence firstly career development of SGRMB through early career choices and pathways, and then the way they impacts their early career experiences. Furthermore, being based in New Zealand, this study contributes to the limited understanding of the early career experiences of individuals from SGRMB beyond European, North American and Australian contexts. It used a qualitative research approach based on a narrative inquiry methodology to explore how upbringing and culture influence the early career choices, pathways and experiences of SGRMB through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Using a blend of narrative and thematic data analysis frameworks (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Fraser, 2004; Bamberg, 2012; Kim, 2012), a bespoke four-step analytical framework was developed and applied to understand the influence and impact of upbringing and culture on career development and experiences. Findings from this study highlight the symbiotic relationship between their personal experiences throughout their upbringing and their professional careers. Therefore, there are implications for SGRMB individuals, their careers, organisations they are a part of, and for career development professionals. This study found that the early career choices and pathways of SGRMB were shaped by intersecting family, cultural and socio-economic influences. Family influences shaped by collectivist cultural values around maintaining the collective identity contributed to expectations and parental involvement within the early careers of SGRMB. Participants reflected on the challenges involved with growing up in lower socio-economic circumstances impacted by their parents' status as former refugees and migrants and the institutional barriers they faced with achieving upward mobility. Thus, participants' parents strongly emphasised the importance of education, particularly higher education and qualifications, to empower and enable the SGRMB to achieve a better quality of life. While participants have made considerable progress and achieved notable milestones in their early careers, their achievements were often relative to their first-generation parents. The degree to which their parents had acculturated had a flow-on effect on how participants negotiated cultural differences within the workplace and how well they could engage in organisational politics or injustices within the workplace. Participants also reflected on the impact of racial stereotyping and discrimination throughout their early careers, in which they had to minimise or reject aspects of their cultural identities in an attempt to fit into the dominant culture.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10292/17509

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