Crisis of habitus: the experiences of South Asian migrant managers and professionals in Australia

The aim of this paper is to examine the career experiences of managers and professionals who choose to migrate from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) to Australia. Using a combination of phenomenology and analysis of narratives, data was collected from 21 migrants through in-dep...

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Main Authors: Mohyuddin, Syed, Pick, David
Format: Conference Paper
Published: Society for Global Business & Economic Development (SGBED) 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27099
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author Mohyuddin, Syed
Pick, David
author_facet Mohyuddin, Syed
Pick, David
author_sort Mohyuddin, Syed
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The aim of this paper is to examine the career experiences of managers and professionals who choose to migrate from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) to Australia. Using a combination of phenomenology and analysis of narratives, data was collected from 21 migrants through in-depth face-to-face interviews. Analysis of the data reveals a ‘crisis of habitus’ that leaves the participants with a sense of disembeddedness that prompts them to reconcile this crisis through processes of acculturation and sense-making. The analysis suggests that participants tended to make assumptions about their environment that often hindered their adaptation and career progression. While the research is limited to Australia, the results have wider significant theoretical and practical relevance. Applying the concept of habitus contributes to current understandings about the career challenges faced by migrants. This brings to light new and significant insights and have the potential to raise awareness amongst policy makers and business organisations.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2011
publisher Society for Global Business & Economic Development (SGBED)
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-270992023-01-27T05:25:52Z Crisis of habitus: the experiences of South Asian migrant managers and professionals in Australia Mohyuddin, Syed Pick, David The aim of this paper is to examine the career experiences of managers and professionals who choose to migrate from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) to Australia. Using a combination of phenomenology and analysis of narratives, data was collected from 21 migrants through in-depth face-to-face interviews. Analysis of the data reveals a ‘crisis of habitus’ that leaves the participants with a sense of disembeddedness that prompts them to reconcile this crisis through processes of acculturation and sense-making. The analysis suggests that participants tended to make assumptions about their environment that often hindered their adaptation and career progression. While the research is limited to Australia, the results have wider significant theoretical and practical relevance. Applying the concept of habitus contributes to current understandings about the career challenges faced by migrants. This brings to light new and significant insights and have the potential to raise awareness amongst policy makers and business organisations. 2011 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27099 Society for Global Business & Economic Development (SGBED) restricted
spellingShingle Mohyuddin, Syed
Pick, David
Crisis of habitus: the experiences of South Asian migrant managers and professionals in Australia
title Crisis of habitus: the experiences of South Asian migrant managers and professionals in Australia
title_full Crisis of habitus: the experiences of South Asian migrant managers and professionals in Australia
title_fullStr Crisis of habitus: the experiences of South Asian migrant managers and professionals in Australia
title_full_unstemmed Crisis of habitus: the experiences of South Asian migrant managers and professionals in Australia
title_short Crisis of habitus: the experiences of South Asian migrant managers and professionals in Australia
title_sort crisis of habitus: the experiences of south asian migrant managers and professionals in australia
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27099