The Social Construction of Muslim Women’s Careers in the United Kingdom

Recent conceptual career developments have been arguing for the emergence of ‘new careers’ due to a weakening of the organizational bond leading to a greater emphasis on the agency of the career actor. Muslim women in particular are at the interaction of several forces, such as culture, family, soci...

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Main Author: Lehmann, Nicole
Format: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37258/
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author Lehmann, Nicole
author_facet Lehmann, Nicole
author_sort Lehmann, Nicole
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Recent conceptual career developments have been arguing for the emergence of ‘new careers’ due to a weakening of the organizational bond leading to a greater emphasis on the agency of the career actor. Muslim women in particular are at the interaction of several forces, such as culture, family, society, economy as well as their own perceptions and values, which questions the extent of individual choice within those socioeconomic constraints. Through qualitative in depth-life history interviews, eight women in various employment relations were asked to narrate on the perception of their careers, especially with regards to being a Muslim woman. The analysis, following a social constructionist framework, revealed how the Muslim women’s careers were significantly influenced by family and social relations, institutional and economic forces as well their own faith, values and priorities. Furthermore, the subjective perception of their careers emphasized the importance of meaning at work over status and financial incentives as well as the social and interrelational aspects of work. Hence, this study highlights the significance of researching the experiences of minorities as well as those in less privileged positions in order to better account for the larger segments of the current workforces and thereby questions the applicability of current career theories.
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spelling nottingham-372582017-10-19T17:13:39Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37258/ The Social Construction of Muslim Women’s Careers in the United Kingdom Lehmann, Nicole Recent conceptual career developments have been arguing for the emergence of ‘new careers’ due to a weakening of the organizational bond leading to a greater emphasis on the agency of the career actor. Muslim women in particular are at the interaction of several forces, such as culture, family, society, economy as well as their own perceptions and values, which questions the extent of individual choice within those socioeconomic constraints. Through qualitative in depth-life history interviews, eight women in various employment relations were asked to narrate on the perception of their careers, especially with regards to being a Muslim woman. The analysis, following a social constructionist framework, revealed how the Muslim women’s careers were significantly influenced by family and social relations, institutional and economic forces as well their own faith, values and priorities. Furthermore, the subjective perception of their careers emphasized the importance of meaning at work over status and financial incentives as well as the social and interrelational aspects of work. Hence, this study highlights the significance of researching the experiences of minorities as well as those in less privileged positions in order to better account for the larger segments of the current workforces and thereby questions the applicability of current career theories. 2016-09-29 Dissertation (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37258/1/Dissertation%20Final%20Print.pdf Lehmann, Nicole (2016) The Social Construction of Muslim Women’s Careers in the United Kingdom. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] New Careers Women Social Constructionism Structure Agency
spellingShingle New Careers
Women
Social Constructionism
Structure
Agency
Lehmann, Nicole
The Social Construction of Muslim Women’s Careers in the United Kingdom
title The Social Construction of Muslim Women’s Careers in the United Kingdom
title_full The Social Construction of Muslim Women’s Careers in the United Kingdom
title_fullStr The Social Construction of Muslim Women’s Careers in the United Kingdom
title_full_unstemmed The Social Construction of Muslim Women’s Careers in the United Kingdom
title_short The Social Construction of Muslim Women’s Careers in the United Kingdom
title_sort social construction of muslim women’s careers in the united kingdom
topic New Careers
Women
Social Constructionism
Structure
Agency
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37258/